Breakdown of دیشب خیلی گرمم بود و سرفهام گرفت.
و
and
خیلی
very / many (of)
بودنbudan
to be
گرمgarm
warm, hot
گرفتنgereftan
to take / to get
دیشبdishab
last night
سرفهsorfe
cough
Questions & Answers about دیشب خیلی گرمم بود و سرفهام گرفت.
Why is it garm-am bud instead of using the normal verb for I was?
In Farsi, temporary physical states like feeling hot or cold are expressed impersonally. Instead of saying "I was warm," you essentially say "it was warm to me." You take the adjective garm (warm), attach the pronoun enclitic -am (to me / my), and use the third-person singular verb bud (was).
Why are the verbs bud and gereft in the third-person singular "it" form if the sentence is about me?
Because these are impersonal constructions! The grammatical subject isn't you (man). In garm-am bud, the subject is the feeling of warmth, and in sorfe-am gereft, the subject is the cough. Since a feeling or a cough is an "it", the verbs must take the third-person singular forms bud (it was) and gereft (it caught).
How does sorfe-am gereft translate to "I started coughing"?
The verb gereftan literally means "to catch" or "to take". In Farsi, sudden physical urges or conditions (like coughing, crying, or sneezing) are described as "catching" you. So sorfe-am gereft literally translates to "my cough caught (me)" or "the urge to cough took me".
Could I just say garm budam instead of garm-am bud?
No, for feeling physically warm or cold, you must use the impersonal structure with the enclitic. Saying garm budam using the regular first-person verb form would mean you naturally have a "warm" (affectionate or passionate) personality, not that you were physically feeling hot last night!
Learn دیشب خیلی گرمم بود و سرفهام گرفت 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