Questions & Answers about من دیروز خیلی مشغول بودم.
How is the word boodam formed to mean 'I was'?
The word بودم (boodam) comes from the infinitive بودن (budan), which means to be. To make the simple past for 'I', you take the past stem بود (bood) and add the first-person singular ending ـَم (-am).
Why is the word for 'yesterday' so early in the sentence?
In English, we usually put time words like yesterday at the very end of the sentence. In Farsi, time words like دیروز (dirooz) typically go right after the subject near the beginning of the sentence, which is why it comes right after من (man).
Could I drop the word 'man' from this sentence?
Yes, you can! Because the verb بودم (boodam) ends in ـَم (-am), it already tells the listener that 'I' am the one who was busy. You could just say دیروز خیلی مشغول بودم and it would mean exactly the same thing.
I see that the verb is at the very end. Is that normal for the verb 'to be'?
Yes, Farsi sentences usually put the verb at the very end. Even for simple descriptions like this, the verb, which is بودم (boodam) here, must sit at the end of the sentence after the adjective مشغول (busy).