Saturday, 8 September 2012

SE7 – Comparisons

Degrees of Comparison
When comparing one object with another the ending ‘ تر ’ (‘tar’) is added to the adjective describing the object (similar to the ‘-er’ ending in English). The word order follows the usual pattern of following the noun and connected with the ezâfe.

the bigger house       khâne-ye bozorgtar        خانه بزرگتر

However when using a superlative (i.e. the ‘biggest’, or ‘best’) the ending ‘ ترين ’ (‘tarin’) is added to the adjective. This then precedes the noun being described and does not take the ezâfe. It becomes the same as the ending ‘-est’ in English and uses the same word order (i.e.adjective before the noun).

the biggest house     bozorgtarin khâne        بزرگترين خانه

The adjective ‘ خوب ’ (‘khub’) follows the following irregular pattern:
good – better - best          khub – behtar - behtarin         خوب – بهتر - بهترين 


The phrase ‘ هر چه زودتر ’ (‘har che zudtar’) means: ‘as soon as possible’.

Still more verbs:
‘to want’ or ‘to wish’ – خواستن (khâstan)


The verb: خواستن (khâstan) has the present stem: خواه (khâh) and conjugates as follows:
I want           mi-khâh-am    مي خواهم     We want       mi-khâh-im      مي خواهيم
You want     mi-khâh-i       مي خواهي     YOU want     mi-khâh-id       مي خواهيد
He wants     mi-khâh-ad   مي خواهد      They want     mi-khâh-and   مي خواهند

‘to be able’ – توانستن (tavânestan) – stem: توان (tavân):
I can             mi-tavân-am    مي توانم      We can         mi-tavân-im     مي توانیم
You can        mi-tavân-i       مي تواني      YOU can      mi-tavân-id       مي توانید
He can         mi-tavân-ad     مي تواند      They can      mi-tavân-and    مي توانند