talktajik

намак

намак: salt

Намакро барои пухтани қариб ҳамаи таомро истифода мебаранд.
Salt is used for cooking almost all meals.
Дар як тонна оби уқёнус сию панҷ килограмм намак мавҷуд аст.
In one ton of ocean water there are thirty-five kilograms of salt.

Bonus:
The first sentence is literally “They use salt for cooking almost all meals”, but it doesn’t mean specific people; it is in a general sense. In English we might say, “one uses salt for cooking almost all meals”.

намакдон: salt shaker
кони намак: salt mine
намакин: salty
намакшинос: grateful, thankful
кӯрнамак: ungrateful, not thankful

Намак хӯрду намакдон шикаст. – He ate the salt and broke the saltshaker. This idiom means that he repaid a good deed with a bad one.

чунон

чунон: so, such that

Кабӯтар чунон баланд парид, ки аз назарҳо ғоиб шуда рафт.
The dove flew so high that it disappeared from view.
Чунон зиндагӣ ва рафтор кун, ки дигарон аз ту ибрат гиранд.
Live and behave in such a way that others will follow your example.

Bonus:
Synonyms: он гуна, ҳамон тавр

форам

форам: pleasant

На ҳамаи парандагон овози форам доранд.
Not all birds have a pleasant voice.
Ҳаво на сард буду на гарм ва бағоят форам буд.
The weather was not cold and not hot and very pleasant.

Bonus:
Antonym: нофорам
Synonyms: дилкаш, гуворо

барқ

барқ: electricity

Дар шабонарӯз тақрибан даҳ соат барқ мегирем.
In one day we get about ten hours of electricity.
Аз рӯзи якуми октябри соли 2017 нархи барқ ба ҳисоби миёна понздаҳ фоиз зиёд гардид.
From the first of October 2017 the price of electricity went up an average of fifteen percent.

Bonus:
Барқ also means lightning.
Add the suffix ӣ to make an adjective –
барқӣ: electric
as in чароғи барқӣ (electric light)

кашф кардан

кашф кардан: to discover

Норманҳо ҷазираи Гренландияро кашф карданд.
The Normans discovered the island of Greenland.
Астрофизикҳо сайёраи аҷиберо кашф карданд, ки дую ним баробар калонтар аз Замин мебошад.
Astrophysicists have discovered an amazing planet which is two and a half times larger than Earth.

Bonus:
Synonym: ошкор кардан

кашф шудан: to be discovered
кашфиёт: discovery

ҷануб

ҷануб: south

Ман дар деҳаи Қаротоғ, ки дар ҷануби Тоҷикистон воқеъ аст, ба дунё омадаам.
I was born in the village of Karatog, which is located in the south of Tajikistan.
Писта дар қисматҳои ҷанубу ғарби ҷумҳурӣ парвариш меёбад.
Pistachios are grown in the south and west parts of the country.

Bonus:
To make this word into an adjective add the suffix ӣ.
ҷанубӣ: southern
Example: сарҳади ҷанубӣ (southern border)
It is also used in that form for countries.
Examples: Америкои Ҷанубӣ: (South America), Кореяи Ҷанубӣ (South Korea), Африкаи Ҷанубӣ (South Africa)

шимол: north
ғарб: west
шарқ: east

китф

китф: shoulder

Мӯи сараш то сари китф дароз буд.
Her hair was to the top of her shoulders in length.
Пеш аз сароидан китфҳоро боло набардошта, оромона нафас гиред.
Before singing breath softly without raising your shoulders.

Bonus:
Often this word is pronounced and even written as кифт. The two consonants are switched because it is easier to pronounce that way. Another example of this is қуфл (lock) which is more commonly prounounced as қулф.
To review body parts you can use Memrise, an online site for learning lists of words. Memrise: Tajik Human Body

уқёнус

уқёнус: ocean

Шӯрии оби уқёнус дар ҳама ҷо як хел нест.
The saltiness of ocean water is not the same in every place.
Қариб понздаҳ фоизи масоҳати уқёнус яхпӯш мешавад.
About fifteen percent of the area of the ocean is covered with ice.

Bonus:
Уқёнуси Ором: Pacific Ocean
Уқёнуси Атлантик: Atlantic Ocean
Уқёнуси Ҳинд: Indian Ocean
Уқёнуси Яхбастаи Шимолӣ: Arctic Ocean
қаторкӯҳҳои зериуқёнусӣ: undersea mountain ranges

шаршара

шаршара: waterfall

Дар соли 2014 аз сардии ҳаво шаршараи Ниагара ях баст.
In the year 2014 the Niagara Falls waterfall froze from the cold weather.
Дар Тоҷикистон шаршараи аз ҳама баланд дар саргаҳи Искандардарё воқеъ гардидааст.
In Tajikistan the highest waterfall is located at the beginning of the Iskandar River.

Bonus:
Synonym: обшор
Tajik Wikipedia has a very short and easy to read paragraph about the Iskandar River which flows from Iskanderkul (Lake Alexander): Искандардарё

фаҳмондан

фаҳмондан: to explain

Ман инро ба ту мефаҳмонам.
I will explain this to you.
Ба хона баргашта ба бародару апаам ҳодисаро фаҳмондам.
I went back home and explained the event to my brother and sister.

Bonus:
Here is a joke using today’s word – a grandfather explains to his grandson why he and his wife never argue.

Some Tajik verbs can be made into causative verbs by inserting он in the verb; sometimes a letter is also omitted. Examples –
фаҳмидан: to understand
фаҳмондан: to explain (to make someone understand)
хӯрдан: to eat
хӯрондан: to feed (someone else)
кӯчидан: to move
кӯчондан: to make someone move, to evict
пӯшидан: to put on (an item of clothing)
пӯшондан: to dress (someone else)
тарсидан: to be scared
тарсондан: to scare (someone else)