Existence with وُجود داشتَن — Persian Grammar

To say that something exists - English "there is" and "there are" - Persian has two ways, and neither of them resembles the English construction.

⁧وُجود دارَد⁩ (vojud dârad)

The commonest is (vojud dâradvojud dâradvjvd dard), literally "has existence". (vojudvojudvjvd) is a noun meaning "existence", and (dâraddâraddard) is the verb "to have" - together they say that the thing in question is there.

⁧آیا مُشکِلی وُجود دارَد؟⁩
âyâ moškeli vojud dâradâyâ moshkeli vojud dâradaya mškly vjvd dard
Is there a problem?
⁧ماهی‌هایِ زیادی دَر دَریا وُجود دارَد.⁩
mâhi-hây-e ziyâdi dar daryâ vojud dâradmâhi-hây-e ziyâdi dar daryâ vojud dâradmahy-hay-a zyyady dr drya vjvd dard
There are many fish in the sea.
⁧مَشاغِلِ زیادی وُجود دارَد.⁩
mašâġel-e ziyâdi vojud dâradmashâghel-e ziyâdi vojud dâradmšaġl-a zyyady vjvd dard
There are many jobs.
⁧دَر اِنتِهایِ جادِّه یِک پُمپِ بِنزین وُجود دارَد.⁩
dar entehây-e jâdde yek pomp-e benzin vojud dâraddar entehây-e jâdde yek pomp-e benzin vojud dâraddr anthay-a jadd yk pmp-a bnzyn vjvd dard
There is a petrol station at the end of the road.

Notice that the verb stays singular even where English insists on "there are". Persian readily keeps a verb singular when its subject is a plural of things, and often of animals too, and with (vojud dâradvojud dâradvjvd dard) the singular is by far the usual choice.

The Shorter ⁧هَست⁩ (hast)

(hasthasthst) does the same work in fewer syllables, and is the natural choice in speech and in short sentences.

⁧اینجا یِک سیب هَست.⁩
injâ yek sib hastinjâ yek sib hastaynja yk syb hst
There is an apple here.

Asked in a shop, (hasthasthst) on its own means "do you have any?" - and the answer (nistnistnyst) means there is none.

The Negative

Both negate as you would expect: (vojud nadâradvojud nadâradvjvd ndard) and (nistnistnyst).

⁧مُشکِلی نیست.⁩
moškeli nistmoshkeli nistmškly nyst
There is no problem.

Where the Verb Agrees

With (vojud dâradvojud dâradvjvd dard) the verb can be made plural when the thing that exists is clearly plural and clearly the subject, and both are heard. The singular is never wrong, and it is the one to learn first.

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