Resources for learning the Tajik language
Bonus:
Learn the numbers from 1 to 100 on this Tajik Wikipedia page: Шумораҳои ҳисобӣ
дувоздаҳум: twelfth
дувоздаҳсола: twelve years old
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ҳисоб: count
миёна: middle
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In Tajik a causative verb is formed by inserting он into another verb. So, омӯзондан means “to cause to learn” or “to make (someone) learn”. Often there are two forms of the word; in this case омӯзондан and омӯзонидан. These two words are identical in meaning. The first sentence uses the second form of the word.
The Tajik verb without the causative он addition is омӯзидан (to learn), but this is rarely used. Another form of the word омӯхтан is the commonly used form.
Here are some other examples of causative verbs.
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)
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In Tajik you usually say what grade/class someone studies in, not what grade/class they are in. (In the US they say “grade”, and in the UK they say “year” or “class”.)
The word синфхона is classroom, but синф is also used to mean classroom.
The word синф is also used as the taxonomy class, for example the class of mammals is синфи ширхӯрон. You can see all the taxonomy classifications by looking at animals on Tajik Wikipedia, for example саг (dog).
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The second example sounds a bit strange in the translation because in English we would use the passive voice to ask and answer that question, that is, “What is soap used for? (or What does one do with soap?) Soap is used for washing ones hands and face, and for washing clothes.” In Tajik it is very common to use 3rd person plural when talking in general terms about how to do something, for example when telling a recipe.
Lesson suggestion: The second example is a good way to learn new verbs. Prepare a list of nouns. Sit with your language helper, turn on a recording device, and then substitute your nouns into that sentence. What do they do with potatoes? with paper? with an axe? with a cow? Most nouns will produce lots of verbs. Paper, for example, can be folded, torn, written on, drawn on, crumpled, made into a paper aeroplane, cut etc; cows can be raised, bred, pastured, slaughtered etc.
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Synonym: пишак
гурбача: kitten
гурбаи ёбоӣ: wild cat
гурбамонанд: catlike
гурбамоҳӣ: catfish
Ҳайвоноти хонагӣ (domesticated animals, house animals) can be used to mean pets, but is also used for domesticated animals such as camels, cows, goats, sheep etc.
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The first sentence is in the singular, but in English the plural was a better translation. You could also translate it, “The turkey was brought…”.
You can learn more animals at Quizlet – боғи ҳайбонот. The matching game is fun, and if you need a real challenge try the gravity game.
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шуста: washed, clean (adj.)
ношуста: unwashed, unclean (adj.)
бо оби тоза шустан: to wash with clean water
дасту рӯ шустан: to wash hands and face
бо собун шустан: to wash with soap
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The Russian word for temperature, температура, is still commonly used among Tajik speakers in Tajikistan.
ҳароратсанҷ: thermometer
Learn more weather words by clicking the “weather” tag, or by reading the weather forecast.
You can also learn weather words at Memrise – Tajik: Weather. (You have to sign up to use Memrise, but it is free.)