Spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan, and Tajikistan.
The written language - Arabic alphabet, written from right to left. This can cause students to reverse letters in words.
- No capital letters. 53.
- Quotation marks are seldom used even though speech is usually
written as direct speech: *She said I will help them. (She said, "I
will help them.") 40d, 49, 62d.
Sentence structure and word order
- Common order is S-O-V. 37c, 62b
- Coordination is more common than subordination. Students might
overuse coordination. 31c.
- Although and but can occur in the same sentence.
*Although it is raining but we will still have the picnic. (It is
raining, but we will still have the picnic.) 62e.
Nouns and pronouns
- No distinction between he and she, and no equivalent
of it. 44a.
- Nonhuman plurals have no plural endings. 58a, 60a.
- No plural form is used after a number: *four new lamp. (four new
lamps) 58a.
- Only one relative pronoun for human and nonhuman subjects or any
case, so students might not distinguish between who and
which. 46a.
- Farsi includes the object pronoun in a relative clause: *The
editor whom you met her last week has gone to Canada. (The editor whom
you met last week has gone to Canada.) 46i, 62f
Verbs and verbals
- No auxiliary equivalent of do. 41c.
- No gerund form (-ing), so students might use infinitive:
*She avoids to go. (She avoids going.) 61d, 63e.
- Uses the equivalent of have to form the past progressive.
41d.
- The spoken language interchanges past tense and present perfect.
41e, 41f.
- Present tense is used in same way as present progressive, present
perfect, and future in English: *I study here for a year. (I am
studying here for a year.) 41e.
Adjectives and adverbs
- Adjectives follow nouns. 45a, 45f.
Articles
- No articles: Farsi indicates definiteness and specificity with a
noun suffix. Any unmodified noun may be generic: *Computer has changed
our lives. (The computer has changed our lives.) Students might have
difficulty with the and with marking generic nouns. 60.
