Breakdown of وقتی عطر مردانه را خریدم، پدر من از آن خوشش آمد.
من
I
آن
that
پدرpedar
father
ازaz
from
خریدنkharidan
to buy
راrâ
definite direct object marker
وقتیvaqti
when
عطرetr
perfume / fragrance
خوش آمدنkhosh âmadan
to like / to be pleasing (used with 'az' and pronominal enclitics)
مردانهmardâne
masculine / men's
Questions & Answers about وقتی عطر مردانه را خریدم، پدر من از آن خوشش آمد.
How does خوشش آمد mean 'liked' in this sentence?
This is the past tense of the impersonal verb structure you are currently learning. Instead of saying 'he liked' directly, Farsi builds the phrase 'goodness came to him'. The ending ش (-ash) is a pronoun meaning 'to him' (referring to the father), and آمد (âmad) is the 3rd-person singular simple past tense of 'to come'.
What is the purpose of از آن right before the verb?
In the خوش آمدن (to like) structure, the thing that is liked is always introduced by the preposition از (from). Here, آن (that/it) refers back to the masculine perfume. So از آن خوشش آمد literally translates to 'from it, goodness came to him' (he liked it).
Why do we state پدر من (my father) if the verb already has the 'he' ending (ش) attached to it?
پدر من acts as the topic of the sentence to clarify exactly who is experiencing the feeling. Even though the verb has the pronoun ش (-ash) built into it, stating the noun first is the standard way to clarify who 'he' is. You can think of the sentence literally as: 'My father, from it, goodness came to him.'
Why is را used after عطر مردانه?
را (râ) is the specific direct object marker. Because the speaker bought a specific, known item—'the masculine perfume' rather than just 'some masculine perfume'—you must use را right after the noun phrase before the verb خریدم (I bought).
Could I use کی for 'when' in this sentence instead of وقتی?
No, you must use وقتی (vaqti). کی (key) is a question word used only for asking 'when?' (like 'When did you buy it?'). وقتی is a conjunction used to link clauses together to mean 'at the time that', which is exactly what is happening in this sentence.
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