Farsi Lesson 92 - 'There is' and 'There are' in Persian

Salam bach.cheh ha, haletun chetoreh? Khub hastin?

Before we start today, let me thank you for your message of condolences and sympathy on Bam earthquake. I am grateful to all of you.

How is your Farsi now? Have you made any progress? Can you see any difference in you before and after taking this online course? Do you like this course? I hope you do!

So far, we have learned many things. Please review the lessons to keep them fresh in your mind.

Today, we are going to learn a very simple structure. Let’s face it together!

There is a book on the table.

There are two books on the table.

Yes, ‘There is’ and ‘There are’ are what we are going to learn today. Probably, you find these phrases very simple. Believe me or not, lots of English language teachers and students in Iran still have problems translating them into Farsi. I know I will be criticized for this by some language hardliners! Don’t worry, somebody must tell them!

Most of language teachers and students in Iran use the verb ‘To Exist’ for ‘There is’ and ‘There are’. It doesn’t sound wrong, yet it is odd. Today, I am asking you to use ‘To Be’ in this structure not ‘To Exist’. Try to learn it now before you get used to Exist (!) and before you stand against me as a hardliner!

Ok,

There is = There are = /æst/.

Was it difficult? For sure not!! Can you imagine such an easy word has been a hot topic for discussion for years?!

Now, let’s translate our Persian sentences into English. Ready?

There is a book on the table.

There is = /æst/

A book = /keta:bi/ => You could say /yek keta:b/ for ‘A book’. We have studied it before. But here, use NOUN + /i:/ sound. This one is much better. Example: /keta:bi/ – /derakhti/ – /mi:zi/.

On = /ru: ye/

The table = /mi:z/

So, we should have the following sentence in Persian:

/keta:bi ru: ye mi:z æst/.

NOTE: in such sentences, ‘A Book’ or whatsoever that sits in this place, is taken as the subject. Don’t complain! I know it is a bit different from our normal subjects. But, it works as our subject. Ok?

All right,

As I just told you,

There is = There are = /æst/.

I hope you have got the point. We do not need to change our Persian verb in this structure. No matter if there is only one book or one million books on the table. Just use /æst/ as your verb.

Example:

There are two books on the table. /do keta:b ru: ye mi:z æst/.

Example:

There are ten books on the table. /dæh keta:b ru: ye mi:z æst/.

Example:

There are 25 books on the table. /bist o pænj keta:b ru: ye mi:z æst/.

I hope this lesson was very easy for you.

Please go to Useful Drills page to do your share! /dæstetu:n dærd nækoneh/ !!. I will tell you about this phrase next week.

Khoda Hafez.

Quiz:

1- Listen to the audio files first (preferably once). Repeat it for a couple of times. Write it down on a paper. Find their English equivalents. (Seen)

One

Two

Three

2- Find the Persian equivalent for the following words and make four sentences with each of them (in different tenses).

Electricity

To rent

To go

To come

3- Say these numbers in Persian:

19 – 91 – 919 – 991 – 119 – 911

4- Follow the examples, combine the letters, and make words using the given letters. You’ll have to change the big letters into the small ones whenever needed.

Friend <= /du:st/ < ==