Persian: از

[wakaba]

! سلام‌
I'm an absolute beginner of Persian, and I'd like to know what "از" in the following sentence actually mean;

.زنی در کتاب فروشی چیزی از فروشنده می خواهد
(A women is asking a store clerk something at a book store.)

I think "از" modifies "فروشنده", but I don't know why this word is put here.
Does "از فروشنده" means "of a store clerk", or "from a store clerk", or anything else?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Qureshpor]

A woman in a bookshop wants something from the seller.

از has basic meaning of "from" but depending on context one can other English equivalents, such as "of", "by" etc

 

[Godot.]

سلام
"از" in Persian is a preposition.
چیزی را از کسی خریدن = buy something from someone. Where did you buy it from? از کجا خریدیش
verbs have their specific prepositions. ...خریدن از - ترسیدن از- جنگیدن با و

 

[wakaba]

A woman in a bookshop wants something from the seller.

از has basic meaning of "from" but depending on context one can other English equivalents, such as "of", "by" etc

Thank you so much for teaching me the exact meaning of this sentence!
I'll keep it mind that "از" also has the sense of "of" or "by" depending on the sentence.

سلام
"از" in Persian is a preposition.
چیزی را از کسی خریدن = buy something from someone. Where did you buy it from? از کجا خریدیش
verbs have their specific prepositions. ...خریدن از - ترسیدن از- جنگیدن با و

Thank you so much for giving me some other examples!
It's very helpful to learn that some verbs have specific prepositions.

Then, could I ask you another question here?
When you said "to buy something from someone" in Persian, you put "را" after "چیزی".
I understand it because "چیزی" is the direct object of "خریدن".

But what about the sentence I asked you first?
".زنی در کتاب فروشی چیزی از فروشنده می خواهد"

Why isn't "را" put after "چیزی" in this sentence?
In English, "something" is the direct object of "want", but is it different in the case of Persian?
I'm sorry if I have asked you something difficult to explain...

 

[Aryamp]

Why isn't "را" put after "چیزی" in this sentence?
In English, "something" is the direct object of "want", but is it different in the case of Persian?
I'm sorry if I have asked you something difficult to explain...

The use of ‘ra’ is somewhat complicated and perhaps requires a thread of its own, but it’s not just about the direct object. Usually, the direct object has to be ‘definite’ or ‘known’ or ‘specific’ somehow, otherwise ‘ra’ is not needed.

"از کسی چیزی را خواستن/ خریدن" makes چیزی more specific (wanting/buying something specific from someone) whereas از کسی چیزی خواستن/خریدن doesn’t have the same sense of specificity, the focus is not on the object چیزی but on the act of خواستن/خریدن. It’s almost like a compound verb.

 

[PersoLatin]

I'll keep it mind that "از" also has the sense of "of" or "by" depending on the sentence.

Example where Persian needs از but English doesn't need 'from': I asked you/از تو پرسیدم

Example of the 'of' sense: this column is made of stone/این ستون از سنگ ساخته شده, of course you can still use from in the sentence.

These example indicate از essentially means 'from'.

 

[Godot.]

زنی در کتاب فروشی چیزی از فروشنده می خواهد"
the woman only wants something from the seller. the sentence does not define it to us what it is. i.e. it doesn't matter to us, or it's clear. she just wants sth. but when we want to specify those things we ask: چه چیزی را خرید؟
آن زن در کتابفروشی کتابی را از فروشنده می‌خواهد
کتابی را می‌خوانم. چه کتابی را ؟ I hope this is helpful.

 

[wakaba]

The use of ‘ra’ is somewhat complicated and perhaps requires a thread of its own, but it’s not just about the direct object. Usually, the direct object has to be ‘definite’ or ‘known’ or ‘specific’ somehow, otherwise ‘ra’ is not needed.

"از کسی چیزی را خواستن/ خریدن" makes چیزی more specific (wanting/buying something specific from someone) whereas از کسی چیزی خواستن/خریدن doesn’t have the same sense of specificity, the focus is not on the object چیزی but on the act of خواستن/خریدن. It’s almost like a compound verb.

زنی در کتاب فروشی چیزی از فروشنده می خواهد"
the woman only wants something from the seller. the sentence does not define it to us what it is. i.e. it doesn't matter to us, or it's clear. she just wants sth. but when we want to specify those things we ask: چه چیزی را خرید؟
آن زن در کتابفروشی کتابی را از فروشنده می‌خواهد
کتابی را می‌خوانم. چه کتابی را ؟ I hope this is helpful.

Aryamp and Godot,
Now, I understand that "ار" can be omitted depending on the importance or definiteness of the object.
Thank you for your great help!

Example where Persian needs از but English doesn't need 'from': I asked you/از تو پرسیدم

Example of the 'of' sense: this column is made of stone/این ستون از سنگ ساخته شده, of course you can still use from in the sentence.

These example indicate از essentially means 'from'.

When I learned "از - پرسیدن" in another website, I wondered what "از" means.
Thank you so much for solving my question!