Breakdown of شما به قاضی دروغ نمیگفتید.
شما
you (plural)
بهbe
to
گفتنgoftan
to say / to tell
دروغdorugh
lie
Questions & Answers about شما به قاضی دروغ نمیگفتید.
How do we form the negative past continuous verb نمیگفتید in this sentence?
It follows the pattern for this lesson: the negative prefix نـ (ne-) + the continuous prefix میـ (mi-) + past stem + personal ending. Here, we use the past stem گفت (goft) from the verb گفتن (to say) and add the ending ـید (-id) for شما (you plural/formal).
I see دروغ means "lie", but why is the verb نمیگفتید based on "saying"?
In Farsi, "to lie" is a compound verb made of two words: دروغ گفتن (literally "to say a lie"). When you conjugate it, only the verb part (گفتن) changes, while دروغ stays exactly the same.
Why does به قاضی (to the judge) come before دروغ?
Because دروغ گفتن is a compound verb, the noun part (دروغ) likes to stay glued to the verb part (نمیگفتید) at the very end of the sentence. Therefore, other information like the indirect object به قاضی is placed earlier in the sentence.
Does the negative prefix نـ (ne-) change how the word is stressed when speaking?
Yes! When you make a verb negative in Farsi, the spoken stress always shifts to the negative prefix. So in نمیگفتید, your voice should place the strongest emphasis on the very first syllable (نـ).