Breakdown of اینجا توقف کردن ممنوع است، پس کجا میتوان توقف کرد؟
است
is
اینجاinjâ
here
کجاkojâ
where
توانستنtavânestan
to be able to
Questions & Answers about اینجا توقف کردن ممنوع است، پس کجا میتوان توقف کرد؟
Why does the sentence use the full infinitive توقف کردن at the beginning, but توقف کرد at the end?
At the beginning, توقف کردن acts as a verbal noun meaning stopping. At the end, it follows the impersonal modal میتوان (one can). In Farsi, impersonal modals must be followed by a short infinitive, which is formed by dropping the final -an from the full infinitive. That is why توقف کردن becomes توقف کرد.
Does میتوان change depending on who is stopping?
No, میتوان is completely impersonal and never changes form. It translates to one can or it is possible. If you wanted to ask where a specific person can stop, you would use the personal conjugated forms of the verb توانستن along with the present subjunctive, rather than this fixed impersonal structure.
Wait, doesn't توقف کرد also mean he or she stopped in the past tense?
Yes, it looks exactly the same! The short infinitive in Farsi is identical to the third-person singular past tense. You can tell it is acting as the short infinitive here because it directly follows the impersonal modal verb میتوان.
Is ممنوع a common word to see on signs like this?