Learn Farsi: چرا همیشه خودت را اذیت می‌کنی؟

The word خود means "self". To specify who the self belongs to, we attach a possessive ending. Here, we add -at (your) to make خودت (yourself). Because "yourself" is the specific person receiving the action of the verb (being bothered), it must be followed by the direct object marker را.

How would a native speaker pronounce خودت را in everyday conversation?

In casual spoken Farsi, the pronoun ending -at and the object marker را blend together. So, instead of reading it formally as "khodat râ", a native speaker will almost always say خودتو (khodeto). You will hear this shortcut constantly!

What is the infinitive of the verb اذیت می‌کنی, and how does it work?

The infinitive is اذیت کردن (aziyat kardan), which means "to bother" or "to annoy". This is a compound verb made of the noun اذیت (annoyance/trouble) and the "light verb" کردن (to do/to make). When conjugating, only the کردن part changes, becoming می‌کنی for the "you" (singular) present tense.

Could I put the word همیشه (always) somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes! Farsi word order is quite flexible with adverbs of time. Putting همیشه right after the question word چرا is very common and natural, but you could also say چرا خودت را همیشه اذیت می‌کنی؟ The meaning remains exactly the same.