Breakdown of مدیر دلیل را توضیح نداد.
راrâ
definite direct object marker
مدیرmodir
manager
دلیلdalil
reason
توضیح دادنtowzih dâdan
to explain
Questions & Answers about مدیر دلیل را توضیح نداد.
How do we form the negative past tense for "didn't explain" here?
The verb is a compound verb: tozih dâdan (to explain, literally "explanation to give"). To make it negative in the simple past, we add the prefix na- to the past stem of the helper verb. The past stem of dâdan is dâd. Since the subject is the manager (third-person singular), there is no personal ending. So we get tozih nadâd.
Why doesn't the negative prefix go on the word tozih?
In Farsi compound verbs, the first word is usually a noun or adjective (like tozih, which means explanation), and the second word is a helper verb. You only ever add verb prefixes and endings to the helper verb. That is why na- attaches only to dâd.
Why is ra used after dalil?
The word râ marks the specific direct object of a sentence. Because the manager didn't explain the reason (a specific reason, rather than just a reason in general), we must place râ directly after dalil (reason).
Does the prefix na- change how the verb is stressed when speaking?
Yes! When you add a negative prefix to a verb in Farsi, the spoken stress always shifts to that prefix. So in the word nadâd, you pronounce it with a stronger, higher emphasis on the na- syllable.