Maharashtra SSC Persian (MSBSHSE) cheat sheet

Persian is written right to left in a modified Arabic script; the alphabet has 32 letters, and letters change shape according to whether they join the following letter (initial, medial, final) or stand alone.

Seven letters never join the letter that follows them: ا (alef), د (dāl), ذ (zāl), ر (re), ز (ze), ژ (zhe), و (vāv) - so they take only isolated and final forms.

Short vowels are not normally written; they are shown by diacritics - fatḥa (a), kasra (e), ẓamma (o) - while long vowels are carried by ا (ā), و (u), and ی (i).

The letter و represents both the consonant v and the long vowel u/o; ی represents both the consonant y and the long vowel i - context decides the reading.

Persian has four letters for z (ز ذ ض ظ), three for s (س ص ث), two for t (ط ت) and two for q/gh (ق غ); these are homophones in Persian and are distinguished only in spelling, usually by Arabic etymology.

ه is pronounced h at the start of a word but commonly as a vowel -e/-a in final position (خانه = khāne); ة appears only in Arabic loanwords and is read as -e or -at.

The letters ع and ح are pronounced as a glottal stop and h respectively in standard Iranian Persian; the classical distinctions are lost in speech but preserved in writing.

The zero-width non-joiner (نیمفاصله) separates prefixes and suffixes such as می, ها, and ی from the stem (میروم, کتابها) and is a mark of correct modern orthography.

Persian has no grammatical gender and no case inflection; the definite direct object is marked by the postposition را (ketāb-rā didam = I saw the book).

The indefinite article is the enclitic -i (کتابی = a book); the plural is formed with -hā (inanimate, general) or -ān (animate, mainly humans: مردان).

The ezāfe (-e) links a noun to its modifier: possessor, adjective, or genitive - کتابِ نو (the new book), درِ خانه (the door of the house).

Personal endings attach to the present stem to form the present indicative: -am, -i, -ad, -im, -id, -and; the negative prefix is na-/ne- (میروم, نمیروم).

The past simple is built on the past stem (infinitive minus -an: رفتن → رفت) plus the same personal endings, except the third person singular, which has no ending.

The future is formed with خواستن as an auxiliary: خواهم رفت (I will go), خواهی رفت, خواهد رفت - the auxiliary carries the person ending.

The past participle (stem + -e: رفته) combines with forms of بودن to make the perfect tenses: رفتهام (I have gone), رفته بودم (I had gone).

Word order is Subject–Object–Verb; the verb normally comes last, and the ezāfe chain and را are the main devices that mark relationships between nouns.

Persian is an Indo-European language; core vocabulary (آب, مادر, دختر, دو, نام) is cognate with other Indo-Iranian languages, while a large learned layer is borrowed from Arabic.

Productive derivational suffixes include -gar (کارگر), -mand (دانشمند), -var (برادرانه is adverbial instead: -āne), -i (مردی, abstract noun), and -istān (گلستان, place).

The prefix بی- negates nouns and adjectives (بیگناه = innocent, بیکار = unemployed); the prefix نا- does the same with a stronger sense (نادان = ignorant).

Common compound verbs are built with light verbs کردن, شدن, دادن, زدن, خوردن: کمک کردن (to help), بلند شدن (to get up), گوش دادن (to listen).

Idioms are usually verb phrases whose meaning is not literal: دست و پنجه نرم کردن (to grapple with), آب از آب تکان نخوردن (nothing stirred), دلش رفت (he was smitten).

Many Arabic broken plurals survive in formal and religious vocabulary (کتاب → کتب, خبر → اخبار), while colloquial Persian prefers -hā for the same words.

Colloquial Tehrani speech contracts forms: میروم → میرم, خانه → خونه, آن → اون, است → ـه; formal writing keeps the full forms, and exam answers should use formal register.

Numerals follow the counted noun without a plural marker: سه کتاب (three books), not سه کتابها; the counted noun stays singular.

Comprehension answers must be traceable to a stated line of the passage; a choice that is true in general but not stated in the text is a distractor.

Persian prose paragraphs typically open with a topic sentence and close with a moral or summary; the closing sentence usually carries the author's main point.

Inference questions ask what follows from the passage, not what the reader believes; the correct option must be supported by the text alone.

When translating Persian into Marathi or English, render the ezāfe chain from the end backwards: کتابِ دوستِ من = the book of my friend = my friend's book.

The verb-final order of Persian must be reversed in English or Marathi translation; را disappears in translation and is replaced by ordinary object order.

Idioms are translated by sense, not word for word: دلگیر شد = he was offended, not 'his heart was caught'.

Formal letter and essay conventions: opening with بسمالله or a salutation, addressing the reader in the second person plural (شما), and closing with با تشکر / ارادتمند.

Quotations in a passage are introduced by که or by a colon; identifying who is speaking is a common comprehension question type.

The SSC Persian textbook is organised into prose lessons, poems, and grammar drills, and each lesson carries a vocabulary list that examiners draw on directly.

Sa'di (سعدی, c. 1210–1291) is the author of گلستان (Gulistan, prose with verse) and بوستان (Bustan, verse); his style is famous for short, balanced, moral sentences.

Hafez (حافظ, 14th century) wrote the دیوان of ghazals; his verse is associated with ambiguity and with the theme of love and wine in a mystical sense.

Ferdowsi (فردوسی) composed the شاهنامه (Shahnameh), the Persian national epic, completed around 1010 CE and running to some 50,000 couplets.

Rumi (مولانا, 1207–1273) wrote the مثنوی معنوی (Masnavi) and the دیوان شمس; his poetry is central to Persian mystical literature.

Omar Khayyam (خیام) is known for رباعیات (quatrains); Nizami for the خمسه; Attar for منطقالطیر.

Modern prose writers include Sadegh Hedayat (صادق هدایت) and Simin Daneshvar (سیمین دانشور); modern poetry is associated with Nima Yushij (نیما یوشیج), the founder of نیمایی verse.

Persian literary terms to know: غزل (ghazal), قصیده (qasida), رباعی (quatrain), مثنوی (rhymed couplets), بیت (couplet), مصرع (hemistich), ردیف (refrain), قافیه (rhyme).