Breakdown of ما نمیتوانیم بدون چادر در جنگل بخوابیم.
ما
we
درdar
in
خوابیدنkhâbidan
to sleep
توانستنtavânestan
to be able to
جنگلjangal
forest
بدونbedun-e
without
چادرchâdor
tent
Questions & Answers about ما نمیتوانیم بدون چادر در جنگل بخوابیم.
Why is there an invisible 'e' sound between bedun and chador?
The word bedun (without) requires an ezafe (the short 'e' sound) to connect it to the noun that follows. So, you must say bedun-e chador. Many prepositions in Farsi link to their objects this way.
I thought chador meant the traditional garment worn by some women. Why is it used here?
You are right! However, the literal and original meaning of chador is simply 'tent'. When talking about camping or being in a forest, it means a tent.
Why does the verb for sleep, bekhabim, start with be- instead of mi-?
Because of the first verb, nemi-tavanim (we cannot). When you use a verb like 'can' or 'want', the second verb in the sentence must be in the subjunctive form. The subjunctive usually takes the be- prefix instead of mi-.
If the English translation is 'We cannot sleep', why are both Farsi verbs conjugated for 'we'?
In English, the second verb stays in its base form (sleep). In Farsi, both verbs must match the subject. So, nemi-tavanim (we cannot) is followed by bekhabim (that we sleep).
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