Breakdown of استخوانهای این شکارچی خیلی عظیم و سنگین بودهاند.
و
and
خیلی
very / many (of)
این
this
بودنbudan
to be
Questions & Answers about استخوانهای این شکارچی خیلی عظیم و سنگین بودهاند.
Why does the sentence use the Present Perfect بودهاند instead of the simple past بودند for 'were'?
This highlights the inferential use of the Present Perfect! Because the speaker is talking about the bones of an ancient hunter (like an archaeological discovery), they didn't personally see the hunter alive or directly witness how heavy the bones were back then. They are making a deduction or reporting a fact they learned after the fact, so Farsi uses بودهاند instead of the direct simple past بودند.
I thought inanimate objects like استخوانها (bones) usually take a singular verb. Why is the verb plural here?
You are right that non-living plural subjects usually take singular verbs in everyday, conversational Farsi. However, using a plural verb like بودهاند is also perfectly correct and is frequently used in formal writing, historical descriptions, or documentaries. It can also emphasize the individual pieces (the many distinct bones) rather than treating them as a single pile.
Why is there a ی added to the end of استخوانها?
That is the ezāfe linking the noun 'bones' to its possessor, 'this hunter'. Because the plural suffix ها ends in a long 'a' vowel, Farsi inserts the consonant ی (pronounced '-ye') to smoothly bridge the gap to the next word. It creates the phrase 'the bones of this hunter'.
Where is the word for 'very' in the English translation, since the Farsi sentence includes خیلی?
The word خیلی literally means 'very', so a strict translation would be 'were very huge and heavy'. English often drops 'very' before strong adjectives like 'huge' for better flow, which is why it is missing in the translation. In Farsi, however, using before a strong adjective like (huge) is completely natural and adds extra emphasis.