Breakdown of چرا دیر آمدی؟ چون ترافیک سنگین بود.
بودنbudan
to be
سنگینsangin
heavy
آمدنâmadan
to come
دیرdir
late
Questions & Answers about چرا دیر آمدی؟ چون ترافیک سنگین بود.
How does chon work as "because" in this sentence?
chon connects the explanation to the question. Just like in English, you can use it to start a reply to a cheraa (why) question. Here it sits right before the reason: chon teraafik sangin bud (because the traffic was heavy).
Do Farsi speakers actually use the English word "traffic"?
Yes, teraafik is a very common loanword. Interestingly, Farsi also copies the English way of describing it: the word sangin literally means "heavy", so teraafik sangin is exactly the same as saying "heavy traffic" in English.
How do we know "you" are the one who is late?
Farsi often drops the subject pronoun (like "you" or to) because the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action. The verb aamadi ends with -i, which is the ending for the informal singular "you".
Why does the verb bud come at the very end of the reply?
Farsi sentences generally follow a Subject-Object-Verb order. Because of this rule, the main verb of a clause is almost always placed at the very end. That is why bud (was) comes after teraafik sangin (heavy traffic).