Breakdown of آنها دیشب مسابقه را باختند.
آنها
they
راrâ
definite direct object marker
دیشبdishab
last night
مسابقهmosâbeghe
match / competition
باختنbâkhtan
to lose (a game, match)
Questions & Answers about آنها دیشب مسابقه را باختند.
How do we know باختند means "they lost" instead of just "lost"?
In Farsi, the ending of the verb tells you who did the action. The past stem for "lost" is باخت (bakht), and the ending -ند (-and) is used for "they".
How do you find the simple past stem باخت (bakht)?
It comes from the infinitive verb باختن (bakhtan), meaning "to lose". To find the simple past stem of any regular Farsi verb, you just drop the final -ن (-n) from the infinitive.
Why is the word را (ra) right after مسابقه (match)?
را is a marker that shows the direct object is specific. Because they lost "the" match (a specific one) rather than "a" match in general, Farsi requires را right after it.
Is دیشب (dishab) a compound word?
Yes! دی (di) is a prefix used for past days meaning "last" or "yesterday", and شب (shab) means "night". Put them together, and you get "last night".
Why is the time word دیشب placed so early in the sentence?
Unlike English, which usually puts time words at the very end, Farsi typically places time words near the beginning, right after the subject (آنها). The verb (باختند) must always be anchored at the very end of the sentence.
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