Learn how to talk about objects
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Mohammad: Hi. I'm Mohammad. |
| Brandon: And my name is Brandon. Welcome back to PersianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 22 - Setting the Persian Table. In this lesson, you’ll learn about Persian objects. |
| Mohammad: And you’ll also learn some interesting facts about the Iranian table. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, which takes place in a dining room... |
| Mohammad: Ms. Tahereh and Mr. Jamshid will talk together about setting the table using various objects. |
| Brandon: This time the speakers are friends, so they'll use informal Persian. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Can you tell us about some customs and traditions for meal time in Iran? |
| Mohammad: I would say that the main one is to eat all together around “sofre.“ |
| Brandon: What's a “sofre”? |
| Mohammad: It's a tablecloth that is usually spread on the ground instead of the table. |
| Brandon: What's the most special thing about it? |
| Mohammad: I think it’s the fact that it becomes a reason for all the members of a family to spend time together. |
| Brandon: And I've heard that Iranians are very warm and hospitable people. |
| Mohammad: That's true. So much so, that if you suddenly pay a visit to their house, they may spread a colorful “sofre” in front of you! |
| Brandon: Really? I'd like to try that! |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Well listeners, one of the main phrases we had in the dialogue was “Would you pass me [something]...?” |
| Mohammad: Which is “…[something] raa midi?” or “… raa be man midahid?”, where “be man” is “to me.” |
| Brandon: How do we say the whole sentence? |
| Mohammad: First we say the name of what we want, then add “raa” or “ro,” and last we put “midahid?”. |
| Brandon: What are the other forms of this sentence? For example, instead of “Would you pass me”, how do we say “Please give me [something]”? |
| Mohammad: “…[something] raa bede.” The verb changes into “bede.” |
| Brandon: And what’s the infinitive form? |
| Mohammad: It’s “…raa daadan.” |
| Brandon: One more time, listeners, please repeat. |
| Mohammad: “… raa daadan” (pause), “… raa midahid?” (pause). |
| Brandon: What’s our next phrase? |
| Mohammad: “yaad raftan.” It means “to forget.” |
| Brandon: What was the form that we had in the conversation? |
| Mohammad: It was “yaadet nare,” meaning “Don’t forget.” |
| Brandon: Is that the literal translation? |
| Mohammad: No, literally it means “doesn’t go from your mind,” which is for the complete sentence “az yaadet nare.” |
| Brandon: Can you say what every word means? |
| Mohammad: Of course. Az means “from,“yaad“ means “mind,“ “et“ means “of you,“ and “nare“ means “doesn’t go.” |
| Brandon: Listeners, please listen and repeat. |
| Mohammad: “yaadet nare” (pause), “yaad raftan” (pause). |
| Brandon: And our last phrase is…? |
| Mohammad: “baayad.” It means “must” or “have to.” |
| Brandon: What’s the order you use it in a sentence? |
| Mohammad: We say it after the subject at the beginning of a sentence, and then add the verb. |
| Brandon: It’s just like English. For example, please say “I must go to school.” |
| Mohammad: “man baayad madrese beram,” “madrese” means “school.” |
| Brandon: And “beram” is the verb “I go,” right? So once more please. |
| Mohammad: “baayad” (pause), “Baayad” (pause). |
| Brandon: Great! So, now that we’ve started talking about objects, let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn about objects in Persian. So, what is an “object” called in Persian? |
| Mohammad: It’s called a “maf'ool.” |
| Brandon: As a grammar review, an object is the part of a sentence that the verb is done with or acted upon. For example in the sentence “I read a book,” we can ask “What do I read?”, and the answer is “book,” since the verb “to read” is done on the book. So “book” is the object. How would we say this sentence in Persian? |
| Mohammad: “man ketaab mikhaanam,” “ketaab” means “book” and is the “maf'ool” or “object” of this sentence. |
| Brandon: In our dialogue, we had an object in each sentence, so can we review it? First, “We have to set the table.” |
| Mohammad: “baayad miz raa morattab konim,” “miz” is “table,” the object. |
| Brandon: Next, “Are we going to eat lunch?” |
| Mohammad: “mikhaahim naahaar bokhorim?”, “naahaar” is “lunch,” the object. |
| Brandon: Next, “Please bring and put out the dishes.” |
| Mohammad: “zarfhaa ro biaar bechinim,” “zarfhaa” is “dishes,” the object. |
| Brandon: Next, “Would you pass the salt to me?” |
| Mohammad: “namakdoon ro be man midahid?”, “namakdoon” is “salt container,” the object. |
| Brandon: And last, “Don’t forget the yogurt and the bread!” |
| Mohammad: “maast o noon yaadet nare!”, “maast o noon” is “yogurt and bread,” the object. |
| Brandon: The thing that catches my attention the most, is that some of these objects have “Raa” or “Ro” after them, and some don’t. What’s “Raa” anyway? |
| Mohammad: “raa” or “ro” is the mark of an object in a Persian sentence. Its job is to emphasize the object. |
| Brandon: Then why is it that some of them don’t have it? |
| Mohammad: It depends on how known the object is. If it’s just any object, or an object in general that we don’t know, for example “a book,” we don’t use “raa.” |
| Brandon: And when do we use it? |
| Mohammad: In case we know the object, for example, if it’s a book we know, or it’s “the book” or “that book,” we put “raa” after it. |
| Brandon: I think I understand. For example, in the dialogue when we said “Set the table.” it was “the table,” they all already know which one it is. But in “eat lunch,” they meant “lunch” in general. |
| Mohammad: Exactly. “The table” was a known object, so they used “raa,” but “lunch” was just “lunch” so it didn’t need “raa.” |
| Brandon: Alright. Now I have another question. Why is it sometimes “raa” and sometimes “ro”? |
| Mohammad: The answer is that “raa” is used in written texts, and “ro” is said in the spoken language. |
| Brandon: Oh, now it’s all coming together! So it’s more natural to use “ro” when you talk. |
| Mohammad: That’s right. And sometimes when we talk fast, it even becomes just “o.” |
| Brandon: I got it! So “Read the book” will become? |
| Mohammad: “ketaabo bekhoon” when we talk, and “ketaab raa bekhaan” when we write. |
| Brandon: Got it! |
Outro |
| Brandon: Ok listeners, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Mohammad: Until next time, “khodaahaafez!” |
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