Learn how to use adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello listeners, I'm Brandon. |
| Mohammad: And I'm Mohammad. "Salam!" |
| Brandon: Welcome back to PersianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, Lesson 20 - . In this lesson, you'll learn how to use adjectives in Persian. |
| Mohammad: In order to do that, we are going to listen to a conversation that takes place in a shop. And it’s between the shopkeeper and a customer, Ms. Tahereh. |
| Brandon: That's why they'll use both formal and informal Persian. |
| Brandon: So listeners, are you ready? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Is it true that in Iran, all women have to wear clothing that covers them up, and scarves on their hair? |
| Mohammad: Yes, that's part of the country's religious rules for public places. |
| Brandon: But don't they get tired of wearing the same thing? |
| Mohammad: There are actually so many styles and different colors and designs, that they can be interesting in their own way. |
| Brandon: Really? Can you give examples of some variety in their clothes? |
| Mohammad: For example, you may see some women in long colorful skirts in the countryside, or others with a long coat that is worn together with trousers. |
| Brandon: How about masks? I've heard that women also wear masks on their faces. |
| Mohammad: Yes, but that's only in one part of Iran. In other places, they only wear a scarf on their head. |
| Brandon: So, it also depends on the region. |
| Mohammad: Yes, and the subcultures of those regions. There's a variety as wide as the country itself. |
| Brandon: I see - thanks for explaining 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. The first key phrase for this lesson is...? |
| Mohammad: "kami." It means "a little." |
| Brandon: Which part means "a," and which part is "little"? |
| Mohammad: "kam" is "little," and "i" means "a." |
| Brandon: Didn't we have another word for "a"? |
| Mohammad: Yes. The word "yek" also means "a" or "one." But if we use that, it'll move before "kam" to become "yek kam." |
| Brandon: Does it also mean "a little"? |
| Mohammad: Yes, and in both cases it's considered an adverb. |
| Brandon: What’s an example? |
| Mohammad: "kami sard," which means "a little cold." |
| Brandon: Can you repeat it once more? |
| Mohammad: "ka-mi" (pause), "kami." |
| Brandon: Okay then. Our next phrase is? |
| Mohammad: "rang-e digar." It means "another color." |
| Brandon: Again, which one is "another" and which one is "color"? |
| Mohammad: "rang" means "color," and "digar" means "another." They're connected by the possessive "e," meaning "of." |
| Brandon: So in Persian, the order of words changes. |
| Mohammad: Yes. "color," which is a noun, comes first, and the adjective "digar" goes after it. |
| Brandon: Does that mean that adjectives always come after nouns in Persian? |
| Mohammad: Yes, that's the main rule. |
| Brandon: Okay. For the last time can you repeat it? |
| Mohammad: "rang-e digar" (pause), "rang-e digar." |
| Brandon: Our last phrase is...? |
| Mohammad: "lotf kardan" (pause) "lotf kardan." |
| Brandon: It means "to do a favor" or "to kindly do something for someone." |
| Mohammad: That's right. "lotf konid," without any other verb, is the polite way of asking someone to give us something. |
| Brandon: It seems very similar to "lotfan," or "please." |
| Mohammad: They really are similar. But this one is used to say "Please pass it to me." |
| Brandon: I understand. So let's repeat it once more. |
| Mohammad: "lotf kardan" (pause) "lotf konid" (pause). |
| Brandon: Thanks! Now let's learn more about adjectives in the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use Persian adjectives. We just learned that in Persian, adjectives are added after nouns and the noun's possessive "e." |
| Mohammad: That's right. It's the most important thing to know about Persian adjectives. |
| Brandon: So what's the sign of an adjective in a sentence? I mean, how do we recognize them? |
| Mohammad: Unfortunately, they have no actual signs. You know them only by their meaning. Every adjective has its own special name that differs from others. |
| Brandon: I see. In that case, let's have a few examples. How do you say "big" and "little"? |
| Mohammad: "bozorg" and "koochak." |
| Brandon: How about "long" and "short"? |
| Mohammad: They are "boland" and "kootaah." |
| Brandon: And "cold" and "warm"? |
| Mohammad: "sard" and "garm." |
| Brandon: Okay, lastly what are "far" and "near"? |
| Mohammad: "door" and "nazdik." |
| Brandon: Thanks. Listeners, don't forget to check the accompanying lesson notes to see these in writing. |
| Mohammad: And you’ll find some more adjectives there too. |
| Brandon: By the way, are there comparative and superlative adjectives in Persian? |
| Mohammad: Of course!. |
| Brandon: How do you make them? |
| Mohammad: Well, with comparative ones, we add the suffix "tar" to the end of a regular adjective. |
| Brandon: For example, how do you say "bigger"? |
| Mohammad: We take the word "bozorg," meaning "big," and add "tar." It becomes "bozorgtar." |
| Brandon: How about superlative adjectives? |
| Mohammad: We add another suffix, "tarin," to the end of regular adjectives. |
| Brandon: For example, can you say "shortest"? |
| Mohammad: It's "kootaahtarin." That's "kootah," meaning "short," plus "tarin." |
| Brandon: Okay, they seem a lot like the "-er" and "-est," in "bigger" and "biggest." |
| Mohammad: Yes, they're the same thing! |
| Brandon: Great. Now I have another question. Are there any adjectives in Persian that don't change with "tar" and "tarin," and are considered exceptions? |
| Mohammad: Yes, actually there are. For example "khoob" means "good." But instead of "khoobtar" and "khoobtarin," we say "behtar" and "behtarin." |
| Brandon: What a coincidence! It's the same as in English, where the exception is "good," "better," and "best." Is it the same for "bad," "worse," and "worst"? |
| Mohammad: No. The adjective for "bad" changes the regular way, with "tar" and "tarin." |
| Brandon: Can you say them? |
| Mohammad: It's "bad," "badtar," and "badtarin." |
| Brandon: Okay. Please give us one last example, and then we'll wrap up. |
| Mohammad: Sure thing! The adjective for "happy" is "shaad" in Persian. The comparative and superlative become "shaadtar" and "shaadtarin." |
Outro |
| Brandon: Well, that's all for this lesson, everyone. |
| Mohammad: Please come back soon for more. |
| Brandon: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Mohammad: khodaahaafez! |
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