Expert: Behzad - 10/2/2008

Question
Hi Behzad,

Assumptions can be dangerous if incorrect, so if it’s okay I'd like to check this one with you.

According to my understanding, “-ing” as the present participle is “-ande” in Persian. So, crying = نالنده and laughing = خندنده.

I hope that's right so far. My problem is that you also seem to have forms in –a:n such as نالان and
خندان so how do these forms in –a:n differ from those in –ande, please?

I'd be very grateful for sample sentences to illustrate these.

BTW, are any of the above forms used as names in Persian? Turkish has both Nalan and Handan as girls' names.

All the best,

Simon

Answer
Hello Simon,

I am not sure how to replythis question, but as a native speaker I have the feeling that –a:n is something like –ing  and –ande is like –er in English. For example, ra:nande is translated to driver, porsande is translated to questioner, and porsa:n is translated to questioning. However, as you see for driving, not with all the words are these suffixes used normally; for instance, ra:na:n or bi:na:n is quite strange although it is possible to find it in Persian dictionaries. Likewise, I cannot use khandande in a normal sentence though khandande is not a weird word for a Persian-speaking person.

Examples:
1-Ali: “ra:nandeie “ma:shi:ni  bo:d ke “barandeie” mosa:beghe shod.
1-Ali was the “driver” of the car that won (that was the “winner” of) the race.

2-amva:je (mojha:ie) khoro:sha:n di:va:neva:r khodra: be gha:iegh mi:zadand
2-roarig waves hurled themselves madly at the boat.
(the second example is quoted from Aryanpur Dictionary)

Many times –a:n makes an adverb:
3- o: khoshha:l va khanda:n a:mad
3- She came happily and laughingly.

The only name that I can remember following these structures is “po:ia:n” which means “active and dynamic”.

Best regards,
Behzad