Breakdown of من پیشپرداخت را پس نگرفتهام.
من
I
راrâ
definite direct object marker
پیشپرداختpish-pardâkht
deposit (advance payment)
پس گرفتنpas gereftan
to get a refund / to take back
Questions & Answers about من پیشپرداخت را پس نگرفتهام.
What is the literal meaning of پیشپرداخت?
It is a combination of پیش (before/pre-) and پرداخت (payment). It literally translates to "pre-payment", which is the Farsi term for a deposit or down payment.
Why is the negative prefix attached to the middle of پس نگرفتهام?
The infinitive here is the compound verb پس گرفتن (to get back / take back). In Farsi compound verbs, prefixes like the negative نـ (na-) only attach to the verbal part (گرفتن), leaving the non-verbal part (پس) completely separate.
Why does the verb end in ـهام (-e-am)?
This ending marks the Present Perfect tense (translated here as "have not gotten"). You form it by taking the past participle, which ends in ه (-e), and adding the present perfect personal endings. Here, the negative past participle نگرفته (nagerefte) combines with ام (am) to mean "I have not taken".
How would I apply this lesson's grammar to say "I should not have gotten the deposit back"?
To express this past obligation, you use the invariant نباید (should not) plus the Past Continuous tense of our verb. The sentence becomes: من نباید پیشپرداخت را پس میگرفتم (man nabâyad pish-pardâkht râ pas migereftam).