Breakdown of ما نمیتوانیم بدون کبریت آتش درست کنیم.
ما
we
آتشâtash
fire
توانستنtavânestan
to be able to
درست کردنdorost kardan
to make / to prepare (e.g., food)
بدونbedun-e
without
کبریتkebrit
match (for fire)
Questions & Answers about ما نمیتوانیم بدون کبریت آتش درست کنیم.
How does the word for 'without' work in this sentence?
The word for 'without' is بدون (bedun). Just like many other prepositions in Farsi, it requires the connecting vowel ezafe (pronounced '-e') to link it to the noun that follows. That is why it is pronounced bedun-e kebrit.
Why do we use درست کنیم (dorost konim) instead of درست میکنیم (dorost mikonim) here?
Because it follows the verb 'can' (نمیتوانیم - nemitavanim). In Farsi, when you use a modal verb like 'can' or 'want', the second verb in the sentence must be in the subjunctive form. For the compound verb درست کردن (to make), this means dropping the continuous می (mi-) prefix, leaving us with درست کنیم.
Why are the two verbs separated from each other?
Farsi usually places the main verb at the very end of the sentence. Here, the main action is 'making' (درست کنیم), so it goes last. The modal verb 'we cannot' (نمیتوانیم) comes right after the subject 'we' (ما), framing the rest of the sentence.
The English translation says 'matches' (plural), but is کبریت (kebrit) singular in Farsi?
Yes, کبریت is singular here. In Farsi, when you are talking about a general category or concept rather than specific countable items, you usually leave the noun in its singular form. You do not need to add the plural marker ها (-ha).
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