Setting up Hypotheticals
When discussing hypothetical situations—like time travel or alternate timelines—Farsi uses suppositional conjunctions. The most common phrases for "assuming that" or "let us assume that" are به فرض اینکه and فرضاً که.
Because these phrases establish an imagined condition rather than a concrete fact, the verb in the clause that immediately follows them must be in the Present Subjunctive.
Notice how به فرض اینکه triggers the subjunctive verb بروی (you go):
| Assuming that you travel to the past, you might cause a paradox. | به فرض اینکه به گذشته بروی، شاید باعث یک پارادوکس بشوی.be farze in-ke be gozashte beravi, shâyad bâese yek pârâdoks beshavi. |
You can use فرضاً که for the exact same purpose:
| Let us assume that a parallel world exists; how can we go there? | فرضاً که یک جهان موازی وجود داشته باشد؛ چطور میتوانیم به آنجا برویم؟farzan ke yek jahân movâzi vojud dâshte bâshad; chetor mitavânim be ânjâ beravim? |
Expanding the Scenarios
While the initial "assuming" clause always remains in the subjunctive, the result (the main clause of the sentence) can be in the present, future, or even conditional tense.
Observe how the verbs for "they disrupt" and "you see" take the subjunctive form after our conjunctions in these science fiction examples:
| Assuming that they disrupt the flow of time, the whole world will be destroyed. | به فرض اینکه آنها جریان زمان را مختل کنند، کل دنیا از بین میرود.be farz-e in-ke ânhâ jaryân-e zamân râ mokhtal konand, kolle donyâ az beyn miravad. |
| Assuming that you see your doppelgänger in a parallel world, you must not talk to him. | به فرض اینکه همزاد خود را در یک جهان موازی ببینی، نباید با او حرف بزنی.be farze inke hamzâde khod râ dar yek jahâne movâzi bebini, nabâyad bâ u harf bezani. |
You can use these structures to set up any hypothetical argument, from everyday plans to the worst-case interdimensional scenario:
| In the worst scenario, assuming that the doppelgängers attack, we must defend the portal. | در بدترین سناریو، به فرض اینکه همزادها حمله کنند، ما باید از دروازه دفاع کنیم.dar badtarin senârio, be farze inke hamzâdhâ hamle konand, mâ bâyad az darvâze defâ' konim. |
