This fully revised second edition of Basic Persian: A Grammar and Workbook comprises an accessible reference grammar and related exercises in a single volume.
This book presents twenty grammar units, covering the core material which students would expect to encounter in their first year of learning Persian. Grammar points are followed by multiple examples and exercises which allow students to reinforce and consolidate their learning.
Key features include:
• a clear, accessible format
• many useful language examples
• jargon-free explanations of grammar
• abundant exercises with full answer key
• a glossary of Persian-English terms
• a subject index
Rigorous yet engaging, Basic Persian is suitable for both class use and independent study, making it an ideal grammar reference and practice resource for both beginners and students with some knowledge of the language.
Contents
Introduction
Unit 1
The Alphabet
Unit 2
Nouns and adjectives
Singular and plural
The connector ezāfe
Unit 3
Numbers
Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative pronouns
Unit 4
Pronouns
Present tense: to be and to have
Unit 5
Simple present tense: other verbs
Present progressive with dāshtan
Unit 6
Definite and indefinite (1)
Attributive -i suffix
Unit 7
Transitive and intransitive
Direct and indirect objects
Definite and indefinite (2): rā
Compound verbs
Unit 8
Comparison of adjectives
Adjectives as nouns
Question words
Telling the time
Some distributives / quantifiers
‘Double negative’
Unit 9
Imperative
Unit 10
Infinitive - its uses
Past and present stems
Unit 11
Future tense
Unit 12
Simple past tense
Past progressive tense
Unit 13
Past participle
Perfect tenses
Unit 14
Subjunctive
(Present or simple subjunctive)
Unit 15
Perfect (or past) subjunctive
Unit 16
Conditionals and wishes.
Unit 17
From prepositions to conjunctions
Unit 18
Tense in complex sentences:
Time clauses
Unit 19
Relative clauses
Unit 20
Passive
Key to exercises
Persian-English glossary
Index
Biography
Saeed Yousef is Senior Lecturer of Persian at the University of Chicago, USA. He is also a poet and has published books of literary criticism and translations.
Hayedeh Torabi was a Lecturer of Persian at the University of Chicago, USA. She is a published writer, essayist and translator.
'As with English, there’s a lot more to Persian than meets the eye, or ear. It needs an all-round practitioner to teach the subtleties of this apparently easy but eloquently idiomatic and multidimensional tongue. Saeed Yousef fits the bill: an experienced teacher, a connoisseur of his own and several other languages, and a poet. His book is an essential vade mecum for all who have decided to make Persian their own.'
John Perry, Professor of Persian (Emeritus), The University of Chicago
'When I started, I knew about five words of Persian and had a very shaky grasp of Arabic script, which still looked like squiggles if I wasn't really concentrating. I opened the book and began to read. And wow, after a while the squiggles turned into letters which I could see even when I wasn't concentrating, and then lines of letters turned into words, and then lines of words turned into sentences.'
Manny Rayner (April 2019), Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17054287-basic-persian
