Breakdown of ما بعد از مدرسه با اسباببازیها بازی میکردیم.
ما
we
مدرسهmadrese
school
باbâ
with
بازی کردنbâzi kardan
to play
Questions & Answers about ما بعد از مدرسه با اسباببازیها بازی میکردیم.
How do you form the past continuous tense in بازی میکردیم?
The verb بازی کردن (to play) is a compound verb. To make it past continuous, we leave بازی alone and change the "to do" part (کردن). We add the continuous prefix می (mi) to the past stem کرد (kard), and then add the "we" ending یم (im).
Why does بازی میکردیم translate to "used to play" instead of "were playing"?
The Past Continuous tense in Farsi handles both ongoing actions in the past ("were playing") and past habits ("used to play"). Because this sentence talks about a routine happening بعد از مدرسه (after school), the habitual translation "used to play" makes the most sense here.
How is the word اسباببازیها (toys) formed?
It is a compound noun made of اسباب (asbâb, meaning "tools" or "belongings") and بازی (bâzi, meaning "play"). Finally, the standard plural suffix ها (hâ) is added to the end. Literally, it means "play-tools"!
Why do we use the preposition با (bâ) here?
In Farsi, the verb بازی کردن (bâzi kardan) typically requires the preposition با (bâ, with) to introduce the object or person you are playing with. You always "play with" toys in Farsi, even in contexts where English might drop the preposition.