Life in a remote lighthouse is governed by nature and strict routines. When describing conditional situations that depend on a continuing state—like "as long as the fog persists" or "so long as the generator runs"—Farsi uses the versatile conjunction تا.
"As long as" with تا
You may already know تا as the word for "until" or "to." However, when you pair تا with a verb in an indicative tense (such as the standard present tense, rather than the subjunctive), its meaning shifts to "as long as" or "so long as."
The structure is straightforward: place تا at the very beginning of the condition clause. Because you are stating a fact about an ongoing reality, you use a normal indicative verb like است (is).
| As long as the fog is on the sea, we do not see the horizon. | تا مه روی دریا است، افق را نمیبینیم.tâ meh ruye daryâ ast, ofogh râ nemibinim. |
| As long as the captain is awake, the sailors also do not sleep. | تا ناخدا بیدار است، ملوانها هم نمیخوابند.tâ nâkhodâ bidâr ast, malavânhâ ham nemikhâband. |
Ongoing Actions
This rule works exactly the same way with active verbs. By using the present indicative (verbs starting with the می prefix), تا tells us that as long as the action continues, the result in the second half of the sentence will hold true.
| As long as I monitor the generator, it works well. | تا ژنراتور را پایش میکنم، خوب کار میکند.tâ zhenerâtor râ pâyesh mikonam, khub kâr mikonad. |
| As long as that star flickers on the horizon, we have hope. | تا آن ستاره در افق سوسو میزند، امید داریم.tâ ân setâre dar ofogh susu mizanad, omid dârim. |
Notice how the second clause in these sentences also relies on indicative tenses, describing what naturally happens (or doesn't happen) for the duration of the time frame established by تا.
| As long as the sea is rough, nobody goes to the deck. | تا دریا متلاطم است، هیچکس به عرشه نمیرود.tâ daryâ motalâtem ast, hich-kas be arshe nemi-ravad. |