Breakdown of ما قبل از اینکه آنها شام بخورند، کیک را میبریم.
ما
we
آنها
they
خوردنkhordan
to eat / to drink
راrâ
definite direct object marker
شامshâm
dinner
قبل ازqabl az
before
اینکهin-ke
that (conjunction)
کیکkeik
cake
بریدنboridan
to cut
Questions & Answers about ما قبل از اینکه آنها شام بخورند، کیک را میبریم.
Why does the verb بخورند start with بـ instead of میـ?
Because it is in the present subjunctive form. The phrase قبل از اینکه (before) requires the verb that follows it to be in the subjunctive. This is because the action of eating dinner hasn't happened yet at the time the cake is cut.
If the second verb is subjunctive, why is the main verb میبریم in the normal present tense?
میبریم (we cut) is the main action of the sentence, so it stays in the present indicative tense. Only the dependent action that comes directly after قبل از اینکه needs to change to the subjunctive.
Doesn't میبریم mean "we take"? How do we know it means "we cut" here?
In written Farsi, میبُریم (we cut, from the verb بریدن) and میبَریم (we take, from the verb بردن) look exactly the same because short vowels aren't written. You have to rely on context! Since they are dealing with a cake, "we cut" is the only one that makes sense.
Why do we need the word را after کیک?
The word را is the definite object marker. It shows that we are cutting a specific cake ("the cake"). If we were talking about cutting a cake in general, we would leave out را and just say یک کیک میبریم.
Learn ما قبل از اینکه آنها شام بخورند، کیک را میبریم and more in Farsi
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free