In journalism and breaking news, establishing the correct timeline of events is crucial. To express that one action happens after another, Farsi uses the phrase بعد از اینکه.
Unlike the phrase for "before" (which triggers the subjunctive mood), the event following بعد از اینکه is treated as a real, completed fact. Because of this, verbs following بعد از اینکه take the indicative or perfect tenses.
Reporting Past Events
When telling a story about the past, both the main action and the "after" action are usually in the simple past tense.
| After the incident occurred, the reporter announced the news. | بعد از اینکه حادثه رخ داد، خبرنگار خبر را اعلام کرد.ba'd az inke hâdese rokh dâd, khabarnegâr khabar râ e'lâm kard. |
| After the police arrested the thieves, our reporter published the news. | بعد از اینکه پلیس دزدها را دستگیر کرد، خبرنگارمان خبر را منتشر کرد.ba'd az in-ke polis dozdhâ râ dastgir kard, khabarnegârmân khabar râ montashar kard. |
If you want to emphasize that the first action was completely finished before the second one started, you can use the past perfect tense in the "after" clause.
| We understood the information about the incident after the reporter had announced it. | ما اطلاعات راجع به حادثه را فهمیدیم، بعد از اینکه خبرنگار آن را اعلام کرده بود.mâ ettelâ'ât râje' be hâdese râ fahmidim, ba'd az inke khabarnegâr ân râ e'lâm karde bud. |
Present and Future Routines
When describing a sequence of events that happens regularly or will happen in the future, you simply use the present indicative tense for both actions.
| After the incident occurs, our reporter will send the information. | بعد از اینکه حادثه رخ میدهد، خبرنگار ما اطلاعات را میفرستد.ba'd az inke hâdese rokh midahad, khabarnegâr-e mâ ettelâ'ât râ mifrestad. |
Flexible Placement
Just like in English, you can place the بعد از اینکه clause at the beginning of the sentence, or you can place it in the middle. The grammar rules remain exactly the same.
| After the incident occurred, the media published the headline. | بعد از اینکه حادثه رخ داد، رسانه تیتر را منتشر کرد.ba'd az inke hâdese rokh dâd, resâne titr râ montasher kard. |
| We sent the reporter to the street after that huge explosion happened. | ما بعد از اینکه آن انفجار بزرگ اتفاق افتاد، خبرنگار را به خیابان فرستادیم.mâ ba'd az in-ke ân enfejâr-e bozorg ettefâq oftâd, khabarnegâr râ be khiyâbân ferestâdim. |
