Breakdown of بعضی از دانشجوها به ویرانههای آن تمدن رفته بودند.
آن
that
دانشجوdâneshju
university student
بهbe
to
ازaz
from
Questions & Answers about بعضی از دانشجوها به ویرانههای آن تمدن رفته بودند.
How is the past perfect tense "had gone" formed in رفته بودند?
The past perfect is used to talk about an action completed further back in the past. It is formed using the past participle of the main verb plus the simple past of بودن (budan, to be). Here, we take رفته (rafte), the past participle of رفتن (raftan, to go), and add بودند (budand, they were) to match the plural subject, the students.
Why is there an extra ی attached to ویرانههای (ruins)?
This is the Ezafe connector linking "ruins" to "that civilization" (ruins of that civilization). Because the plural suffix ها (-hâ) in ویرانهها ends in a vowel sound, we must add a ی (pronounced "-ye") to smoothly connect it to the next word, آن (ân).
How exactly does the phrase بعضی از work here?
بعضی از (ba'zi az) directly translates to "some of." Just like in English, it is followed by a specific plural noun. That is why دانشجو (dâneshju, university student) takes the plural suffix ها (-hâ) to become دانشجوها (dâneshju-hâ).
Does the word آن (that) need an Ezafe to connect it to تمدن (civilization)?
No. Demonstrative adjectives like آن (ân, that) and این (in, this) always come right before the noun they describe without needing an . The in this phrase comes to link the ruins to the whole concept of "that civilization."