Welcome to the 8th lesson about Tajik grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Tajik and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Tajik and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Tajik.
| Prepositions - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| and ва [va] |
| above дар болои [dar Bolo] |
| under дар зери [dar zieri] |
| before пеш аз [pieš az] |
| after пасфардо [pasfardo] |
| in front of дар пеши [dar pieši] |
| behind дар паси [dar paśvi] |
| far from дур аз [Dur az] |
| near дар наздикии [dar nazdikii] |
| in дар [dar] |
| inside дар дарун [dar darun] |
| outside дар берун [dar bierun] |
| with бо [bo] |
| without бе [be] |
| about дар назди [dar nazdi] |
| between дар байни [dar bajni] |
| but аммо [ammo] |
| for барои [Baro] |
| from аз [az] |
| to ба сӯи [ba sūi] |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] ман бе корд хӯрок мехӯрам [man be kord chūrok miechūram] |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] у дар назди калисо зиндагони мекунад [u dar nazdi kaliso zindahoni miekunad] |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] қади ӯ аз ман баландтар аст [k'adi ū az man balandtar astra] |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] у бо саги хӯрдаш омад [u bo sahi chūrdaš omad] |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] шумо бо ман омада метавони? [šumo bo man omada mietavoni?] |
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] ман шуморо мефаҳмам [man šumoro miefaҳmam] |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] ман шуморо намефаҳмам [man šumoro namiefaҳmam] |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] ин калимаи нодуруст аст [in kalimai nodurust astra] |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] меро ягона нагузоред [mierapryjemstva jahony nahuzoried] |
| no problem [negation + noun] хуб шудааст [Chub šudaast] |
| Negative Sentences - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] ман забони фаронсавиро намедонам [man zaboni faronsaviro namiedonam] |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] ӯ ба Олмон нарафтааст [ū ba Olmon naraftaast] |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] ӯ моро намебинад [ū Mora namiebinad] |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] ӯ шоҳмотбозӣ карда наметавонад? [ū šoҳmotbozī kard namietavonad?] |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] мо дер барнамегардем [mo der barnamiehardiem] |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| how? чӣ хел? [čī chiel?] |
| what? Чӣ? [Čī?] |
| who? Кӣ? [Kī?] |
| why? Барои чӣ? [Baro čī?] |
| where? Кучо? [Kučo?] |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] шумо дар кучо зиндагонӣ мекунед? [šumo dar kučo zindahonī miekunied?] |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ӯ забони хитоиро медонад? [ū zaboni chitoiro miedonad?] |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] ин чанд пул меистад? [in čand pul mieistad?] |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] лаббай? [labbaj?] |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] номи шумо чист? [naminalie šumo čysty?] |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Tajik. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| now ҳозир [ҳozir] |
| yesterday дирўз [dirŭz] |
| today имрўз [imrŭz] |
| tonight имшаб [imšab] |
| tomorrow пагоҳ [pahoҳ] |
| soon дар наздикӣ [dar nazdikī] |
| quickly зуд [svierb] |
| slowly оҳиста [oҳista] |
| together якҷоя [jakҷoja] |
| very хеле [chielie] |
| almost тақрибан [tak'riban] |
| always доимо [doimo] |
| usually умуман [umuman] |
| sometimes баъзан [baʺzan] |
| rarely гоҳ-гоҳ [hoҳ-hoҳ] |
| never ҳеҷгоҳ [ҳjeҷhoҳ] |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] шумо щозир маро мефахмед? [šumo ŝozir Maro miefachmied?] |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ба ман фавран ёрь лозим аст [ba man favran jeŕ lozim astra] |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] у бисёр зирак мебошад [ŭ bisier zirak miebošad] |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] ман шуморо щамеша дӯст медорам [man šumoro ŝamieša dūst miedoram] |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] Олмониро якҷоя меомӯзем? [Olmoniro jakҷoja mieomūziem?] |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Tajik. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| I ман [man] |
| you ту, шумо [tuju, šumo] |
| he ӯ [ū] |
| she ӯ [ū] |
| we мо [mo] |
| they онҳо [onҳo] |
| Object Pronouns - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| me маро [Maro] |
| you туро (pl.шуморо) [turo (pl.šumoro)] |
| him ӯро [ūro] |
| her ӯро [ūro] |
| us моро [Mora] |
| them онҳоро [onҳoro] |
| Possessive Pronouns - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| my ман [man] |
| your ту [tuju] |
| his ӯ [ū] |
| her ӯ [ū] |
| our мо [mo] |
| their онҳо [onҳo] |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] ман рафиқи шумо ҳастам [man rafik'i šumo ҳastam] |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] шумо зуд гап мезанед [šumo svierb HAP miezanied] |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] ӯ се саг дорад [ū sioje sah Dorada] |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] ӯ олмониро медонад [ū olmoniro miedonad] |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] мо дер намеоем [mo der namieojem] |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] онҳо шир ванонхариданд [onҳo šyr vanoncharidand] |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] номи шумо чист? [naminalie šumo čysty?] |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] манба шумо пул медиҳам [manba šumo pul miediҳam] |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] ӯ ба вай нома навишт [ū ba vaj Noma navišt] |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] онҳо ӯро дирӯз хабар гирифта буданд [onҳo ūro dirūz Chabarov hirifta budand] |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] ӯ ба мо ёрӣ расониа метавонад? [ū ba mo jerī rasonia mietavonad?] |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] ӯ ба онҳо хӯрок дод [ū ba onҳo chūrok dod] |
| Possessive Pronouns - Tajik + Pronunciation |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] номи ман Майя [naminalie man Majia] |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] бародаратондар инҷозиндагонӣ мекунад [barodaratondar inҷozindahonī miekunad] |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] модари ӯ барои мо хӯрок мепазонад [modari ū Baro mo chūrok miepazonad] |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] касби дӯстдоштаи ӯ китобхонӣ аст [Kasbie dūstdoštai ū kitobchonī astra] |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] орзу дорам, ки ба Париж саёҳат намоям [orzu doram, ki ba Paryž sajeҳat namojam] |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] хонаи онҳо дур нест [chonai onҳo Dur niesci] |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Tajik - Pronunciation |
|---|
| this is my house ин хонаи ман аст [in chonai man astra] |
| that restaurant is far он ошхона дур аст [jon ošchona Dur astra] |
| these apples are delicious ин себҳо бомазаанд [in siebҳo bomazaand] |
| those stars are shiny он ситораҳо дурахшонанд [jon sitoraҳo durachšonand] |
I hope you learned a lot about the Tajik grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |