Breakdown of من داشتم کتاب میخواندم که ناگهان برق قطع شد.
من
I
کتابketâb
book
داشتنdâshtan
to have
خواندنkhândan
to read / to study (a subject)
کهke
that (conjunction)
برقbarq
electricity
ناگهانnâgahân
suddenly
قطع شدنghat' shodan
to be disconnected / to be cut
Questions & Answers about من داشتم کتاب میخواندم که ناگهان برق قطع شد.
Why are there two verbs, dâshtam and mikhândam, to mean "I was reading"?
This is how Farsi forms the Past Progressive tense, which describes an action that was ongoing in the past. You use the past tense of dâshtan (to have) as a helper verb, and the main verb in the Past Continuous form (with the mi- prefix). Both verbs must match the subject, which is why both end in -am for "I".
Why is ketâb (book) placed between the two verbs dâshtam and mikhândam?
In the Past Progressive tense, the helper verb (dâshtam) usually starts the verb phrase, while the main verb (mikhândam) stays at the very end of the clause. The object of the action, like ketâb, gets sandwiched right between them.
Doesn't ke usually mean "that"? Why is it translated as "when" in this sentence?
You are right that ke is most commonly used to mean "that" to connect sentences. However, when you are talking about a continuous background action that gets interrupted by a new event, Farsi uses ke exactly how English uses "when" (as in "I was doing this, when suddenly that happened").
How does qat' shod translate to "the power went out"?
Qat' shodan is a compound verb that literally means "to become cut" or "to be disconnected". When used with barq (which means electricity or lightning), it is the standard way to say the power went out or was cut off.
Learn من داشتم کتاب میخواندم که ناگهان برق قطع شد and more in Farsi
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free