ASSEB HSLC Elective Persian key terms

Past simple verb form built from the past stem plus personal endings, e.g. رفتم "I went". It states a completed action in past time and is the base form from which other past tenses are derived.

Past tense made from the past participle plus shortened forms of بودن, e.g. رفته‌ام "I have gone". It reports an action whose result or relevance still holds at the moment of speaking.

Past stem of a verb, obtained by removing the personal ending from the past simple, e.g. رفتـ in رفتم. Participles and most compound past tenses are built on this stem.

Present stem of a verb, seen in the second person singular of the present simple after dropping the ending, e.g. رو in رو. It forms the present simple, the subjunctive and the imperative.

Subjunctive present formed with the prefix بـ plus the present stem and personal endings, e.g. بروم. It appears after expressions of wish, doubt, purpose or necessity such as می‌خواهم or باید.

Active participle, usually the present stem plus ـنده, e.g. نویسنده "writer" or رونده "going". It names the doer of the action and often functions as a noun or adjective in prose.

Past participle, normally the past stem plus ـه, e.g. نوشته "written" or رفته "gone". It serves as an adjective, as a noun, and as the base of the present perfect and passive constructions.

Attached pronoun written joined to the preceding word, such as ـَم, ـَت, ـَش, ـِمان. It marks possession, object or, with certain prepositions, the complement of the phrase.

Detached pronoun standing as an independent word: من، تو، او، ما، شما، ایشان. It is used as subject, as emphasized object, or after prepositions that do not take attached forms.

Linking construction in which a noun is joined to a following noun or adjective, pronounced -e (or -ye after a vowel), e.g. کتابِ خوب "a good book". It marks possession, description or material.

Possessive or genitive compound made with the ezafe, where the second element belongs to or is identified with the first, e.g. درِ خانه "the door of the house". The head is the first word.

Descriptive compound in which an adjective follows its noun with the ezafe, e.g. مردِ دانا "the learned man". The adjective agrees with the noun and adds a quality to it.

Preposition such as در، به، از، با، برای that links a noun or pronoun to another word and shows place, direction, means or relation. Some prepositions take attached pronouns, e.g. با او or در آن.

Complement that completes the meaning of a verb, adjective or prepositional phrase, typically introduced by a preposition, e.g. به مدرسه in به مدرسه رفتم. It answers questions of place, direction or recipient.

Direct object of a transitive verb, normally placed before the verb and often marked by را, e.g. کتاب را خواندم "I read the book". The marker را distinguishes a definite object.

Transitive verb that requires an object to complete its sense, e.g. نوشتن "to write" or دیدن "to see". It contrasts with intransitive verbs, which take no direct object.

Intransitive verb that needs no direct object, e.g. رفتن "to go" or نشستن "to sit". Its subject alone completes the action, and it cannot take the object marker را.

Broken plural formed by changing the internal pattern of an Arabic loanword rather than adding a suffix, e.g. کتاب → کتب or علم → علوم. These plurals are common in formal Persian prose.

Sound plural made by adding a regular ending, either native ـها or Arabic ـان/ـین, e.g. مردان، معلمان. The choice depends on the word's origin and register.

The glottal-stop letter hamza, written as ء, أ, إ or ئ depending on position and the surrounding vowels. Correct placement matters in spelling words of Arabic origin such as مسئله and مؤمن.

Zero-width non-joiner used in modern Persian orthography to separate certain prefixes and suffixes, e.g. می‌روم، کتاب‌ها، بی‌ادب. It keeps letters unjoined without inserting a full space.

Correct spelling according to the accepted conventions of Persian writing, including the handling of hamza, the half-space, and the distinction between similar-sounding letters such as س/ص/ث and ز/ذ/ض/ظ.

Loanword borrowed from Arabic, often following Arabic plural or derivational patterns, e.g. معلم، کتاب، اجتماع. Recognizing such words helps with spelling and with choosing the right plural form.

Synonym: a word with a meaning close to another, e.g. شاد and خوشحال. In comprehension and vocabulary items, candidates must choose the word that best fits the sentence's register.

Antonym: a word opposite in meaning to another, e.g. بزرگ and کوچک, روشن and تاریک. Antonym pairs are frequently tested in vocabulary and comprehension exercises.

Allusive expression whose figurative meaning differs from its literal wording, e.g. دست و پا گم کردن "to lose one's nerve". Understanding the intended sense is essential for prose comprehension.

Simile: explicit comparison of two things using words such as مانند، مثل، چون, e.g. چون گل شکفتن. It is a basic poetic device tested in appreciation of the prescribed poetry.

Metaphor: using a word for something other than its literal referent on the basis of resemblance, without an explicit comparative word. Recognizing it is central to interpreting classical and modern verses.

Word or phrase repeated identically after the rhyme at the end of each verse in a poem, e.g. the repeated ـم in a ghazal. It follows the قافیه and strengthens musical unity.

Rhyme: the final sound or sounds shared by verse endings before the ردیف. Correct identification of rhyme letters is a standard task in poetry appreciation questions.

Metrical pattern of a poem, built from repeated feet of long and short syllables in the Arabic-Persian ʿarūz system. Recognizing the metre helps in recitation and in identifying verse form.

Couplet: the basic unit of Persian verse, consisting of two half-lines (مصراع). A ghazal or qasida is counted in bayts, and comprehension questions often refer to a specific couplet.

Half-line or hemistich of a couplet. The first half is the مصراع اول and the second the مصراع دوم; rhyme and metre operate across the pair.

Central theme or purport of a passage or poem, stated in the candidate's own words. Identifying مضمون is the standard requirement in comprehension and appreciation questions.

Moral or message a literary text conveys to the reader, often expressed in the closing lines of a story or poem. It differs from the plot summary and requires interpretation.

Character in a narrative text, described through actions, speech and the author's comments. Questions on theme and character ask candidates to describe traits and their role in the story.

Formal application letter written to an authority to request something such as leave, admission or a certificate. It follows set conventions: address, subject line, body, closing and signature.

Formal letter with a defined layout: date, addressee, respectful opening, concise body and closing formula. Register is polite and impersonal, unlike a letter to a friend.

Humble petition or application addressed to a superior, traditionally opening with formulas such as به عرض می‌رساند. It is a recognized sub-genre of formal Persian correspondence.

Rendering a text from Persian into Assamese or English, or the reverse, preserving meaning, tone and idiom rather than word-for-word structure. Accuracy of tense and pronoun reference is usually assessed.