Learn about sentence word order
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to PersianPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 13 - Finding Your Way Around Iran, John here. |
| Mehrnaz: سلام (salaam), I'm Mehrnaz. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about word order in a sentence. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Mehrnaz: It's between Shirin Hedayat and Mr. Ahmadi. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak formal Persian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| شیرین هدایت: سلام میشه بی زحمت آدرس اون (آن) نمایشگاه نقاشی رو (را) بهم (به من) بدید (بدهید)؟ |
| آقای احمدی: یک کم آدرسش پیچیده اس (است). باید براتون(برایتان) نقشه بکشم. |
| شیرین هدایت: ممنون میشم (میشوم). |
| آقای احمدی: با مترو می‌‌رید (می‌روید) درسته (درست است)؟ |
| شیرین هدایت: بله! |
| آقای احمدی: ایستگاه اکباتان که پیاده شدید سواراتوبوس های فاز سه میشید (می شوید). |
| آقای احمدی: ایستگاه چهارم پیاده شید (شوید). روبروی ایستگاه یک سوپرمارکت هس (هست). |
| آقای احمدی: خیابون (خیابان) کنار سوپرمارکت را تا چهار راه برید (بروید). |
| آقای احمدی: بعد بپیچید سمت چپ حدود صد متر جلوتر یک بانک هست. |
| آقای احمدی: نمایشگاه تو ساختمون (ساختمان) سبز کنار بانک است. |
| شیرین هدایت: طبقه چندم؟ |
| آقای احمدی: طبقه سوم. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| شیرین هدایت: سلام میشه بی زحمت آدرس اون (آن) نمایشگاه نقاشی رو (را) بهم (به من) بدید (بدهید)؟ |
| آقای احمدی: یک کم آدرسش پیچیده اس (است). باید براتون(برایتان) نقشه بکشم. |
| شیرین هدایت: ممنون میشم (میشوم). |
| آقای احمدی: با مترو می‌‌رید (می‌روید) درسته (درست است)؟ |
| شیرین هدایت: بله! |
| آقای احمدی: ایستگاه اکباتان که پیاده شدید سواراتوبوس های فاز سه میشید (می شوید). |
| آقای احمدی: ایستگاه چهارم پیاده شید (شوید). روبروی ایستگاه یک سوپرمارکت هس (هست). |
| آقای احمدی: خیابون (خیابان) کنار سوپرمارکت را تا چهار راه برید (بروید). |
| آقای احمدی: بعد بپیچید سمت چپ حدود صد متر جلوتر یک بانک هست. |
| آقای احمدی: نمایشگاه تو ساختمون (ساختمان) سبز کنار بانک است. |
| شیرین هدایت: طبقه چندم؟ |
| آقای احمدی: طبقه سوم. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Shirin Hedayat: Hello Mr. Ahmadi, could you please give me the directions to that painting exhibition? |
| Mr. Ahmadi: It's in a bit of a tricky location! I've got to draw a map for you! |
| Shirin Hedayat: I'd be grateful. |
| Mr. Ahmadi: You're taking the subway, right? |
| Shirin Hedayat: Yes. |
| Mr. Ahmadi: Get off at Ekbatan Station and then take the bus for Phase (Fāz) Three. |
| Mr. Ahmadi: Get off the bus at the fourth stop. There's a supermarket in front of the stop! |
| Mr. Ahmadi: Walk down the street next to the supermarket up to a crossroads. |
| Mr. Ahmadi: Then turn left. About 100 meters ahead, there's a bank. |
| Mr. Ahmadi: The exhibition is in the green building next to the bank. |
| Shirin Hedayat: Which floor? |
| Mr. Ahmadi: Third floor. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Mehrnaz, in other lessons we already saw how written Persian is different than spoken Persian. Can you tell us a bit more about this topic? |
| Mehrnaz: Written Persian is considered formal, that’s why it is strange if close friends or family members use the written forms in their conversations. |
| John: In general, when speaking, words are broken into a shorter version, right? |
| Mehrnaz: Right. Also some sounds change, for example aa changes to oo. |
| John: Could you give us an example? |
| Mehrnaz: For example: می‌دانم (midaanam) meaning "I know” changes to می‌دونم (midoonam), or a full verb like است (ast) meaning "is" is reduced to a single sound ه (e). So خوب است (khoob ast), "It is good," changes to خوبه (khoobe). |
| John: That sounds pretty different. |
| Mehrnaz: Another rule is that the letter "d" in all verbs that end in "d" will be replaced by "e." For example: می خورد (mikhorad), "she/ he eats," changes to می خوره (mikhore) |
| John: Some words can have more than one change. |
| Mehrnaz: Right. For example: می داند (midaanad), which means "he/ she knows," changes to می دونه (midoone). |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Mehrnaz: نمایشگاه [natural native speed] |
| John: exhibition |
| Mehrnaz: نمایشگاه[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: نمایشگاه [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: ایستگاه [natural native speed] |
| John: station |
| Mehrnaz: ایستگاه[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: ایستگاه [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: آدرس دادن [natural native speed] |
| John: to give directions (or address) |
| Mehrnaz: آدرس دادن[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: آدرس دادن [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: روبروی [natural native speed] |
| John: in front of |
| Mehrnaz: روبروی[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: روبروی [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: سوار شدن [natural native speed] |
| John: to get on |
| Mehrnaz: سوار شدن[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: سوار شدن [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: پیاده شدن [natural native speed] |
| John: to get off |
| Mehrnaz: پیاده شدن[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: پیاده شدن [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: ممنون میشم(میشوم) [natural native speed] |
| John: I'd be grateful |
| Mehrnaz: ممنون میشم(میشوم)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: ممنون میشم(میشوم) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: جلوتر [natural native speed] |
| John: ahead |
| Mehrnaz: جلوتر[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: جلوتر [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Mehrnaz: پیچیدن [natural native speed] |
| John: to turn |
| Mehrnaz: پیچیدن[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: پیچیدن [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Mehrnaz: بی زحمت [natural native speed] |
| John: please |
| Mehrnaz: بی زحمت[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mehrnaz: بی زحمت [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Mehrnaz: بی زحمت |
| John: meaning "Please" |
| Mehrnaz: This phrase is the most polite way to request something of someone. If we break it down, we get بی meaning "without," and زحمت meaning "trouble." |
| John: This implies that the person who is asking for a favor doesn't want to trouble the other person. |
| Mehrnaz: Right. |
| John: So by saying this phrase, you literally mean "if it won't trouble you." Can you give us a sample sentence? |
| Mehrnaz: Sure. For example, you can say.. بی زحمت یک لیوان آب به من بدهید. |
| John: ..which means "Please give me a glass of water." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Mehrnaz: پیاده شدن |
| John: meaning "to get off, to get down." |
| Mehrnaz: Let’s break this phrase down: piyaadep, پیاده, means "walker" or literally "the one who does not ride" and shodan, شدن, means "become." |
| John: When do you use this phrase? |
| Mehrnaz: We use piyaade shodan, "to get off," when disembarking from any vehicles like trains, cars, buses, ships, boats, air balloons, and even spaceships, if that is the case. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mehrnaz: Sure. For example, you can say.. در ایستگاه آخر پیاده می شوم. |
| John: .. which means "I get off at the last station." Is there any other way to use this phrase? |
| Mehrnaz: Yes, piyaade shodan as a slang term means "it costs (me, he/she, they,...) a lot." For example: با یک کلاهبرداری بزرگ او را پیاده کردند. |
| John: meaning “With a grand heist, they made him lose a lot of money.” |
| Mehrnaz: Note: the word meaning “money” is not explicitly expressed but it is implicit in the meaning of the sentence. |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about word order in a sentence. Mehrnaz, what is the word order in written Persian? |
| Mehrnaz: As far as word order is concerned, the Persian language is more flexible in its word order than English language. |
| John: This means that it’s relatively free, doesn’t it? |
| Mehrnaz: Yes. There are at least 26 word orders in Persian, but we really only need to learn just one or two. |
| John: Because they are more commonly used, right? |
| Mehrnaz: Yes, the most commonly used word order is Subject-Object-Verb |
| John: or SOV. Let’s give an example. |
| Mehrnaz: من همیشه تو را دوست داشتم. |
| John: “I have always loved you.” |
| Mehrnaz: We have first the subject من همیشه, meaning “I always,” then the object تو را, “you,” and finally the verb دوست داشتم “I loved.” |
| John: So literally “I always you loved.” |
| Mehrnaz: Right. Though SOV is the most correct word order in Persian, you can read or hear other word orders such as, subject-verb-object or SVO. |
| John: Listeners, keep in mind that sometimes the subject can be omitted because you can get that information from the personal endings. Let’s see the same sentence with a different word order. |
| Mehrnaz: For example you can say شما ناهار خوردید؟ or, if you choose the SVO order, ناهار خوردین؟ |
| John: Both the sentences mean “Did you eat lunch?” How about spoken Persian? |
| Mehrnaz: As we mentioned, spoken Persian is just a shorter version of the written form, and the structure of sentences stays the same. |
| John: Ok, now let’s talk about the position of time and place adverbs. |
| Mehrnaz: When we add time or place adverbs in a sentence, the best word order is subject - adverb of time - object - adverb of place - verb |
| John: Also in this case, can we find different word orders? |
| Mehrnaz: Yes, it’s possible. |
| John: Just remember that you may read or hear a different word order. |
| Mehrnaz: In many cases, objects and places are the same, like خانه, khaaneh, meaning “home,” in this example, من ساعت پنج صبح به خانه رسیدم. |
| John: which means “I got home at 5:00 am.” Ok, the last topic of this lesson is about omitting certain words. |
| Mehrnaz: In Persian, when we want to put emphasis on the sentence we might express the subject, though it’s not necessary, being already in the personal endings. For example you can either say "dirooz raftam sinemaa." or "man dirooz be sinemaa raftam.", which includes the subject. |
| John: Both meaning “I went to the cinema yesterday.” |
| Mehrnaz: In the first sentence, we have omitted من, man, meaning "I," and the preposition به, be, meaning "to." |
| John: What is the point of omitting the second word? |
| Mehrnaz: Sometimes when we omit به, be, “to,” we can change the word order from SOV to SVO or just keep it as SOV. |
| John: Are there any times when we can’t omit it? |
| Mehrnaz: Yes, in certain cases it’s necessary. For example از انگلیسی به فارسی ترجمه کردن |
| John: which means “To translate from English to Persian.” |
| Mehrnaz: به تو فکر میکنم |
| John: "I'm thinking of you." |
| Mehrnaz: When به, be, “to,” is between two adjectives, two pronouns, or two nouns, it cannot be omitted, |
| John: even if one of the pronouns is the subject and has been omitted, like in the second example. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Mehrnaz: خداحافظ (khodaahaafez) |
Comments
Hide