Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Brandon: Hello everyone, this is Brandon.
Mohammad: And I’m Mohammad. “Salam.”
Brandon: Welcome back to PersianPod101.com. This is “Absolute Beginner, season 1, Lesson 17 - What Time Is It In Iran? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to check the time, and use time-related expressions.
Mohammad: First of all, we’ll listen to a conversation taking place in a house. It’s between Hasani and his mother.
Brandon: They're family members, so they’re using informal language.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Mohammad: Brandon, do you know the story of "Hasani"?
Brandon: Ahh... The Hasani of our conversation? Who woke up late on a school holiday?!
Mohammad: Yes and no! The "Hasani" that I'm talking about is similar, but is a different person.
Brandon: A different "Hasani" who is similar?
Mohammad: Yes. He's the hero of some old Iranian tales. He also always oversleeps and wakes up late, and he likes apples!
Brandon: He seems interesting. What else do you know about him?
Mohammad: An Iranian proverb says, "Hasani never went to school. Whenever he went, he went on Fridays!" Fridays are weekend holidays in Iran.
Brandon: Oh, poor Hasani! And then what happened?
Mohammad: He became famous, and his story was turned into books and movies.
Brandon: Listeners, if you want to know more about "Hasani", search for his books or movies. You won't regret it!
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What's our first phrase?
Mohammad: "az khaab bidaar shodan".
Brandon: It means "to wake up from sleep." Let's break it down.
Mohammad: "az" means "from", "khaab" is "sleep", and "bidaar shodan" means "to wake up".
Brandon: It's two words, but one verb. What are the different tenses of it? For example, how do you say "wakes up"?
Mohammad: "bidaar mishavad." The present form always has a "mi".
Brandon: And "Wake up!" is?
Mohammad: It's "bidaar sho!"
Brandon: Can we please repeat it again?
Mohammad: "bidaar sho", (Pause) "bidaar - sho!".
Brandon: Now, our next phrase is?
Mohammad: "che khoob!" It means "How good!". "che khoob!"
Brandon: We've learned "che" before, which means "what".
Mohammad: And we've also learned "khoob" meaning "good".
Brandon: We use this expression whenever something seems very good to us, or we want to confirm its goodness to those around us. Once more, to confirm the goodness of something we say...
Mohammad: "che - khoob", (Pause) "che khoob!"
Brandon: And our last phrase is...?
Mohammad: "ey vaay!" which means "Oh no!"
Brandon: This one is really fun! It's an interjection.
Mohammad: Yes. An interjection, consisting of two interjections, "ey" and "vaay".
Brandon: What does each one mean?
Mohammad: "ey" is like the English "Hey!", and "vaay" means "Oh".
Brandon: Together they are "Oh no!" And when do we use it?
Mohammad: Whenever we discover something unfavorable or something going against our desire.
Brandon: Then we say?
Mohammad: "ey - vaay", (pause) "ey vaay!"
Brandon: Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Brandon: In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to talk about time. Mohammad, what's an important part of our lives and this lesson?
Mohammad: Time?
Brandon: That's right, Time! And that's why it's important to know how to ask and say it...in any language!
Mohammad: Yes, and it'll come in handy on trips too.
Brandon: So how do you ask the time in Persian?
Mohammad: We say "Saat chande?" It means "What time is it?" "saa’at chande?"
Brandon: "chande" is familiar. We had it before in the shopping lesson! it means "How much is?"
Mohammad: That's right. "chande" means "How much is?"
Brandon: And I'm guessing, "saa’at" must be "time"?
Mohammad: Yes, "saa’at" is "time" or "hour". When we ask for the time, we actually say "How much time is it?"
Brandon: Once again, in Persian it becomes...
Mohammad: "saa’at chande?"
Brandon: Great! Now how do you answer and say the time in Persian?
Mohammad: Well, the regular cardinal numbers are used for that matter.
Brandon: We've learned them in an earlier lesson. Remember to review that, listeners. Ok, for example, What's "five"?
Mohammad: It's "Panj".
Brandon: And "three"?
Mohammad: "se". We can simply say the number, in answer to "saa’at chande?"
Brandon: How about minutes and seconds?
Mohammad: If we need to say them, then we have to add "O" meaning "and" to the hour's number. After that we say the number of minutes, and add the word "daqiqe" meaning "minute".
Brandon: And for seconds?
Mohammad: The same goes for seconds, only instead of "daqiqe", we say the word "saaniye" meaning "second".
Brandon: I see. Let's try these with examples. Can you please say "twelve to four"?
Mohammad: Yes. We say "three and forty-eight minutes" instead. In Persian, that's "se o chehel o hasht daqiqe".
Brandon: Alright. "se" is "three", and "O" means "and".
Mohammad: Right. And "chehel o hasht" is "forty-eight", and then "daqiqe" means "minute". Together they are "se o chehel o hasht daqiqe".
Brandon: Fantastic! Now what about "quarter" and "half"?
Mohammad: Good question. "Quarter" is "rob'", and "half" is "nim". We say them after the first "O", and we remove the "daqiqe" in this case.
Brandon: For example, "five thirty" would be?
Mohammad: "panj - o - nim", "panj o nim".
Brandon: Now, for the last question, how do you say what part of the day it is? For example, "morning," "noon," "evening," or "night"?
Mohammad: "Morning" is "sobh", "noon" is "zohr", "evening" is "asr", and finally "night" is "shab".
Brandon: For example, what is "eight at night"?
Mohammad: "hasht-e shab." We add the possessive "e" or "of" after "eight" and before "shab".
Brandon: It’s as simple as that, listeners!
Mohammad: It really is simple! You just need a little practice to master it.

Outro

Brandon: So, can you say what time it is now, wherever you are listeners? Leave us a comment letting us know!
Mohammad: While for us...It's time to say Goodbye!
Brandon: (laughs) It sure is! Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time.
Mohammad: Khodaahaafez.

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