Breakdown of مردم به خاطر زلزلهی شدید میترسیدند.
ترسیدنtarsidan
to fear
مردمmardom
people
شدیدshadid
severe
به خاطرbe khâter-e
because of / for the sake of (often for a person's sake)
زلزلهzelzele
earthquake
Questions & Answers about مردم به خاطر زلزلهی شدید میترسیدند.
How does the phrase be khâter-e work in this sentence?
be khâter-e means 'because of' or 'for the sake of'. The -e at the end is an ezâfe, which acts like a bridge connecting the preposition to the noun phrase that follows it, which is zelzele-ye shadid (the severe earthquake).
Could I use be dalil-e instead of be khâter-e here?
Yes, you can! be dalil-e means 'due to' or 'for the reason of'. In this context, be dalil-e zelzele-ye shadid means exactly the same thing as be khâter-e zelzele-ye shadid and they are completely interchangeable.
Why is there a -ye attached to zelzele?
That is the ezâfe connecting the noun zelzele (earthquake) to its adjective shadid (severe). Because zelzele ends in a silent letter heh, the ezâfe becomes a -ye sound to make it flow smoothly into the next word.
The word mardom doesn't have a plural ending. Why is the verb mi-tarsidand plural?
Just like the English word 'people', mardom is a collective noun. Even though it doesn't have a plural marker like -hâ, it refers to a group of individuals and therefore takes the plural verb ending -nd (they).
Why is the verb mi-tarsidand used instead of the simple past tense tarsidand?
Adding the prefix mi- to the past tense creates the past continuous tense. While tarsidand means 'they got scared' (a single event), mi-tarsidand translates to 'they were afraid', describing an ongoing state in the past.
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