Breakdown of او داشت روی پلهها میدوید که ناگهان لیز خورد.
او
he/she
رویruye
on
داشتنdâshtan
to have
دویدنdavidan
to run
کهke
that (conjunction)
ناگهانnâgahân
suddenly
پلهpelle
stair
لیز خوردنliz khordan
to slip
Questions & Answers about او داشت روی پلهها میدوید که ناگهان لیز خورد.
Why do we need both داشت and میدوید to mean "was running"?
This is the Past Progressive tense, which is the main focus of this lesson! To emphasize that an action was ongoing in the past, Farsi uses the past tense of داشتن (to have) as a helper verb, followed by the main verb in the Past Continuous. So داشت (he/she had) plus میدوید (he/she was running) combines to mean "he/she was right in the middle of running."
I learned that که means "that." Why is it translated as "when" here?
You are right that که usually means "that." However, it is also used as a conjunction to connect two events, often meaning "when" or "and then." Here, it connects the background action (داشت میدوید, was running) with the sudden interrupting event (لیز خورد, slipped).
How does لیز خورد translate to "slipped"?
This is a compound verb. لیز means "slippery" or "slip" and خورد is the past tense of خوردن (to eat/to strike). In Farsi, "to slip" is expressed as لیز خوردن, which literally feels like "to strike a slip." Here it is conjugated in the simple past for "he slipped."
Is there an ezâfe connecting روی and پلهها?
Yes! Prepositions of place like رو (on) take an ezâfe when they are followed by a noun. Because رو ends in a vowel, the ezâfe takes the form of a "ye" sound, making it روی پلهها (ru-ye pelle-hâ).
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