Breakdown of بعد از اینکه آن انفجار اتفاق افتاد، ما هیچچیز نشنیدهایم.
ما
we
آن
that
شنیدنshenidan
to hear
هیچچیزhich chiz
nothing
اتفاق افتادنettefâq oftâdan
to happen
بعد ازba'd az
after (time)
اینکهin-ke
that (conjunction)
انفجارenfejâr
explosion
اتفاقettefâq
event, incident
Questions & Answers about بعد از اینکه آن انفجار اتفاق افتاد، ما هیچچیز نشنیدهایم.
Why does the English translation use 'Since' when ba'd az inke means 'After'?
بعد از اینکه (ba'd az inke) literally means 'after this that'. However, because the second half of the sentence uses the present perfect tense (نشنیدهایم - we have not heard), English naturally expresses this time relationship with 'Since'. In Farsi, 'after' works perfectly here to show that the explosion happened first.
Why is the verb افتاد (oftaad) in the simple past instead of the subjunctive? I thought conjunctions like inke needed the subjunctive.
You use the subjunctive after بعد از اینکه (ba'd az inke) only when talking about the future (an action that hasn't happened yet). Because the explosion already happened in the past, Farsi just uses a normal past tense (the simple past, افتاد) to state it as a completed fact.
How is the present perfect verb نشنیدهایم (nashnide'im) built?
It comes from the verb شنیدن (shenidan, to hear). To make the present perfect ('have heard'), you take the past participle شنیده (shenide) and add the personal ending for 'we', which is ایم- (-im). The نـ (na-) at the beginning makes it negative: 'we have not heard'.
The translation says 'anything', but doesn't هیچچیز (hich-chiz) mean 'nothing'?
Yes, it literally means 'nothing'. Unlike English, Farsi requires a double negative. When you use a negative word like هیچچیز (hich-chiz), the verb must also be negative (نشنیدهایم). In English, we translate this double negative smoothly as 'we haven't heard anything'.
What is the literal meaning of the verb اتفاق افتاد (ettefaagh oftaad)?
It is a compound verb meaning 'to happen'. اتفاق (ettefaagh) means 'event' or 'occurrence', and افتاد (oftaad) is the simple past of افتادن (oftaadan, to fall). So literally, it means 'an event fell'!
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