A couple of basic Farsi questions.

Question

1. What does it mean when there is an 'he' ه after a word? For example قشنگه vs قشنگ. 2. Is there a difference between 'ki' and 'keh' or 'chi' and 'che'? 3. How would I express 'I want to' or 'wish to' do something?

Answer 1

Hi!

A. The "eh" sound you see at the end of some words is the equivalent of "is" in English. Depending on whether the last letter of the word (adjective in your case) ends in a vowel or a consonant, that "eh" can turn into "aast". For example the word Zeeba menas beautiful. Since it is ending in a vowel (aa [as in far in English]), if you want to say, "It is beautiful", you say, "zeebast". The word "Ghashang"--the one you have used--means beautiful also, but since it ends in a consonant, you should say, "Ghashang-eh" which means "It is beautiful". Just remember that both these are used in conversation and informal Persian (Farsi).

B. Ki=who; Keh (that, which); Chi= what; Cheh= also means what, but the difference between the usage of these two "whats" is the way they are used and the connotations. Look at these examples: "Chi Khordi? What did you eat?" versus "Cheh Ajab! What a surprise!" The second one is normally used in interjections.

C. "I want to" can be expressed by saying "Meekhaam". For example: I want to study=Meekhaam dars behkhoonam.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.

Best,

Anita