Word Order for Emphasis
A specific object keeps its را when it moves to the front.
How It Works
Dari usually ends a simple sentence with the verb, and the word right before the verb is the one the listener notices.
| Order | Dari | What stands out |
|---|---|---|
| Usual | مریم این کتاب را نوشت | the book |
| Stress on the writer | این کتاب را مریم نوشت | Maryam |
| Stress on the day | ما به پغمان جمعه می‌رویم | Friday |
| Stress on the place | ما جمعه به پغمان می‌رویم | Paghman |
Three more tools add weight. A word at the very front sets the scene: پیش از همه, before anyone. Words such as همین, تنها and خود stress the word they stand with: همین حالا (right now). A word placed after the verb is an afterthought, as in storytelling: خیلی مقبول بود، آن باغ کهن.
Keep را with a specific object when you move it. A word after the verb is rare outside storytelling, except a که clause or a word that explains what came before.
Where to meet it: speeches, editorials and stories, where the writer wants the reader to hear one word louder. A plain report keeps the usual order. The change works only because the usual order stays steady.
Examples (5)
- این کتاب را مریم نوشت.
It was Maryam who wrote this book.
The object with را moves to the front, and Maryam stands right before the verb.
- ما به پغمان جمعه می‌رویم.
It is on Friday that we go to Paghman.
جمعه stands right before the verb and carries the stress.
- همین حالا باید بروم.
I have to go right now.
همین adds force to حالا, and the time word opens the sentence.
- تنها یک چیز را از شما می‌خواهم: صبر.
There is only one thing I ask of you: patience.
تنها stresses the object at the front of the sentence.
- خیلی مقبول بود، آن باغ کهن.
It was very beautiful, that old garden.
The noun comes after the verb as an afterthought, a storyteller’s way.
Common Mistakes
Dropping را from a specific object that moved to the front.
این کتاب مریم نوشت.این کتاب را مریم نوشت.A specific object keeps را wherever it stands.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Moving a word to the front gives it weight, and a fronted object keeps را, so را comes first.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Word Order for Emphasis in Bubblegum
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