Word A Day

Ман панҷ ҷуфт барзагов харидаам.
I have bought five pair of oxen.
Гамбуск як ҷуфт чашм, ду ҷуфт бол, се ҷуфт пой дорад.
A beetle has one pair of eyes, two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs.

Bonus:
як ҷуфт кафш: one pair of shoes
як ҷуфт гӯшвора: one pair of earrings

Notice that the noun following the word ҷуфт occurs in the singular form, unlike English where the plural form of the noun is used.

ҷуфт-ҷуфт: by pairs, in pairs, two by two
Вай онҳоро ҷуфт-ҷуфт фиристод. He sent them out in pairs.

як ҷуфт барзагов: one pair of oxen, or two oxen that will be yoked together to plough land.
ҷуфти барзагов: a pair of oxen (alternative way to say it)

Alternate meaning for ҷуфт-
ҷуфт: even

Ба ман як табақ мошубиринҷ ва якта нон диҳед.
Give me one plate of mung beans and rice and one naan.
Рӯзе подшоҳ ба оина нигоҳ карда дид, ки мӯи сараш мошубиринҷ шудааст.
One day the king looked in the mirror and saw that the hair on his head had become salt and pepper coloured.

Bonus:
As you can see in the second sentence, in Tajik мошубиринҷ is used to describe hair that is a mixture of black and white or black and gray. In English we might say salt and pepper to describe that colour of hair, which it how it is translated in that sentence.

мош: mung bean
биринҷ: rice

Мошубиринҷ is a dish like a pillau where mung beans and rice are mixed and cooked together.

In Tajik it is common to combine two similar words with y (and). Sometimes the two words are joined together to make one word, but sometimes they are not joined. Мошубиринҷ can also be written as two words – мошу биринҷ.

Бобои ман нафақахӯр аст.
My grandfather is a pensioner.
Падарам соҳиби ҳафт фарзанд аст ва бист сол боз нафақахӯр мебошад.
My father has seven children and has been a pensioner for twenty years.

Bonus:
Synonym: нафақагир

нафақа: pension
ба нафақа баромадан: to retire
нафақа гирифтан: to receive a pension

The word соҳиб means owner, but is often used when telling how many children somebody has. Падарам соҳиби ҳафт фарзанд… “ – My father owns seven children, or My father has seven children. You can also use the verb доштан, to have. Падарам ҳафт фарзанд дорад. – My father has seven children.

The word боз means again, but it can also be used to show the duration of time:
бист сол боз – (the last) twenty years.

Бо андешаҳои ман розӣ ҳастед?
Do you agree with my thoughts?
Барои чӣ дар дили худ андешаҳои бад доред?
Why do you have bad thoughts in your heart?

Bonus:
Synonyms: фикр, хаёл

андеша кандан: to think
андешидан: to think

андешаманд: thoughtful

The present tense stem андеш can be combined with other adjectives to form compound words which are also adjectives –
бадандеш: evil-minded
озодандеш: free-thinking

Дар байни онҳо ҷосус буд.
There was a spy among them.
Бо мақсади забт кардани ин сарзамин онҳо ҷосусони худро мефиристоданд.
With the intention of conquering this land they sent their spies.

Bonus:
ҷосусӣ: espionage
ҷосисӣ кардан: to spy

Animate objects (people, animals) can take the plural ending -он. This is especially seen in written work. Colloquially and informally, you can still use -ҳо suffix if you prefer.
ҷосусон, ҷосусҳо: spies

Вай дирӯз мактубро фиристод.
He sent a letter yesterday.
Ман шуморо монанди гӯсфандон ба миёни гургон мефиристам.
I am sending you like sheep among wolves.

Bonus:
Synonyms: равона кардан, гусел доштан

фиристанда: sender

The thing that is being sent is the object of the sentence, so needs the object marker ро (мактубро, шуморо).