Breakdown of کلاس دو ساعت طول کشید، اما معلم ادامه داد.
معلمmo'allem
teacher
کلاسkelâs
class / classroom
اماammâ
but
ساعتsâ'at
watch
Questions & Answers about کلاس دو ساعت طول کشید، اما معلم ادامه داد.
How do we form the simple past tense for the verbs in this sentence?
Both verbs in this sentence are compound verbs. طول کشید comes from the infinitive طول کشیدن (to last), and ادامه داد comes from ادامه دادن (to continue). To make the simple past tense for the third person singular (he, she, or it), you just drop the final ن from the infinitive. So, کشیدن becomes کشید and دادن becomes داد.
What does طول کشید literally mean?
طول means length and کشید means pulled or drew (the past tense of کشیدن). So literally, it means pulled length. This is the standard compound verb used to say that an event took time or lasted in Farsi.
Why is it دو ساعت (two hour) instead of using a plural word for hours?
In Farsi, whenever you use a number before a noun, the noun always stays in its singular form. Since دو means two, the word for hour, ساعت, stays singular instead of taking a plural ending like it would in English.
Does ادامه داد also have a literal, two-part meaning like the other verb?
Yes! ادامه means continuation and داد is the past tense of دادن (to give). So ادامه داد literally means gave continuation. This is the normal way to say continued in Farsi.