Word
من قطار را از دست نداده بودم.
Meaning
I had not missed the train.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of من قطار را از دست نداده بودم.
من
I
راrâ
definite direct object marker
قطارghatâr
train
از دست دادنaz dast dâdan
to miss / to lose
Questions & Answers about من قطار را از دست نداده بودم.
How do we form the negative past perfect for the compound verb az dast dādan in this sentence?
The verb for to miss or to lose is the compound verb az dast dādan. To make it negative past perfect, we keep the first part (az dast), add the negative prefix na- to the past participle of the main verb (nadādeh), and finish with the simple past of budan for the I form (budam). This gives us az dast nadādeh budam (I had not missed).
What does the phrase az dast dādan literally translate to?
It literally translates to to give from hand. Farsi uses this idiom as a compound verb to express losing an opportunity, losing something abstract, or missing transportation like a train, bus, or flight.
Why is the word rā placed right after qatār?
The word rā is a marker that points out a specific direct object. Since the sentence is about a specific train (the train rather than just a train), we put rā immediately after qatār to show it is the exact thing being talked about.
Could I drop the pronoun man (I) at the beginning of this sentence?
Yes, you can! The verb ending in budam already clearly tells us that the subject is I. Including man just adds a little extra emphasis to the sentence, but it is perfectly correct and very natural to leave it out.