Breakdown of داشتم روی پلهها میدویدم چون تلفن آشپزخانه داشت زنگ میزد.
رویruye
on
داشتنdâshtan
to have
دویدنdavidan
to run
تلفنtelefon
telephone
چونchon
because
زنگ زدنzang zadan
to ring / to call
آشپزخانهâshpazkhâne
kitchen
پلهpelle
stair
Questions & Answers about داشتم روی پلهها میدویدم چون تلفن آشپزخانه داشت زنگ میزد.
How is the Past Progressive tense formed for "was running" and "was ringing" here?
This sentence uses the helper verb dâshtan (to have) in the past tense, combined with the past continuous of the main verb. For "I was running", it uses dâshtam (I had) + mi-davidam (I was running). For the phone, it uses dâsht (it had) + zang mi-zad (it was ringing).
Why are dâshtam and mi-davidam separated by other words?
In the Past Progressive, the helper verb (dâshtam) usually sits at the beginning of the clause or right after the subject, while the main verb (mi-davidam) stays at the very end. Everything else, like ru-ye pelle-hâ (on the stairs), gets sandwiched in between them.
How is the helper verb placed with the compound verb zang zadan (to ring)?
For compound verbs, the helper verb goes right before the entire compound block. It doesn't split the noun and the verb apart. That's why we see dâsht zang mi-zad, keeping zang and mi-zad together at the end of the sentence.
How do we link telefon (phone) and âshpazkhâne (kitchen)?
We use the linking sound called the ezâfe. To say "kitchen phone" (literally: phone of the kitchen), you add an "e" sound to the end of the first word, pronouncing it telefon-e âshpazkhâne.
Why does ru (on) become ru-ye before pelle-hâ (stairs)?
Prepositions like ru also use the ezâfe to connect to the next noun. Because ru ends in a vowel, the connecting sound becomes a "ye" to make it flow smoothly, creating ru-ye pelle-hâ.
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