Breakdown of داشتم به مادرم زنگ میزدم ولی اینترنت ناگهان قطع شد.
مادرmâdar
mother
بهbe
to
داشتنdâshtan
to have
اینترنتinternet
internet
ولیvali
but
ناگهانnâgahân
suddenly
قطع شدنghat' shodan
to be disconnected / to be cut
زنگ زدنzang zadan
to ring / to call
Questions & Answers about داشتم به مادرم زنگ میزدم ولی اینترنت ناگهان قطع شد.
How exactly do we form the 'I was calling' part using dâshtam?
To say you were in the middle of doing something, Farsi uses the past tense of dâshtan (to have) as a helper verb, followed by the main verb in the past continuous. Here, dâshtam matches 'I', and the main verb zang mi-zadam (I was calling) also matches 'I'. Notice how the phrase be mâdaram (to my mother) gets sandwiched right between them!
Why is there a be before mâdaram if the English translation is just 'calling my mother'?
The Farsi verb for making a phone call is zang zadan, which literally translates to 'to strike a bell'. Because of this, you don't call someone directly; you strike a bell to them. Therefore, you must always use the preposition be (to) before the person you are calling.
Could the helper verb dâshtam and the main verb zang mi-zadam be placed right next to each other?
Yes, you could say dâshtam zang mi-zadam be mâdaram, but it is much more natural and common in Farsi to separate the helper verb and the main verb with the object of the sentence, exactly as it is done here.
Why does the sentence use shod (became) for the internet cutting out?
The phrase ghat shod is a compound verb meaning 'to cut out' or 'to be disconnected'. It combines ghat (cut or severed) with shod (the 'it' form of the past tense for shodan, to become). In Farsi, you describe this event by saying the internet 'became disconnected' rather than using an active verb.
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