Breakdown of آیا شما جلسهی گذشته حاضر بودید؟
شما
you (plural)
بودنbudan
to be
آیاâyâ
whether (question particle)
جلسهjalase
meeting
Questions & Answers about آیا شما جلسهی گذشته حاضر بودید؟
How is the verb بودید formed here?
It is the simple past tense of the verb بودن (to be). We take the past stem بود (bud) and add the personal ending ـید (id), which matches the pronoun شما (shomâ - you).
Why is there an extra letter ی at the end of جلسهی?
This is the ezafe—the grammatical connector (usually pronounced "e") that links a noun to an adjective. Here it links جلسه (meeting) to گذشته (past/last). Because جلسه ends in a silent ه, we must add a visible ی (ye) in writing to carry the connector sound.
Why do we use گذشته (past) instead of a direct translation of "last"?
In Farsi, گذشته literally means "past". While English speakers say "the last meeting", Farsi speakers say "the past meeting". You will use گذشته a lot to talk about previous events or time, like "last week" or "last year".
Is the word آیا required to ask this question?
No. آیا is a formal word used at the very beginning of a yes/no question. In everyday spoken Farsi, people usually drop it entirely and just raise the pitch of their voice at the end of the sentence to show it's a question.