Breakdown of دانشمندان از این استخوانها فهمیدهاند که حیوان فقط گیاه خورده است.
این
this
ازaz
from
خوردنkhordan
to eat / to drink
حیوانheyvân
animal
فهمیدنfahmidan
to understand
کهke
that (conjunction)
فقطfaqat
only, just
دانشمندdâneshmand
scientist
گیاهgiyâh
plant
استخوانostokhân
bone
Questions & Answers about دانشمندان از این استخوانها فهمیدهاند که حیوان فقط گیاه خورده است.
Why is خورده است used here instead of the simple past خورد to say the animal ate plants?
This is the inferential use of the Present Perfect tense! Because the scientists didn't actually see the animal eating plants, but figured it out from evidence (the bones), Farsi uses the Present Perfect (خورده است) rather than the simple past to report this discovered fact.
How do we form the two Present Perfect verbs in this sentence, فهمیدهاند and خورده است?
You take the past stem of the verb, add ه to make a past participle, and attach the present tense endings of the verb 'to be'. So, فهمید (understood) becomes فهمیده + اند (they are) = فهمیدهاند (they have understood). Similarly, خورد (ate) becomes خورده + است (it is) = خورده است (it has eaten).
Why is the word این singular when translating to 'these bones'?
In Farsi, demonstrative words like این (this/these) and آن (that/those) never take a plural suffix when they are placed right before a noun. The plural is only marked on the noun itself, which is why we say این استخوانها and not اینها استخوانها.
Why is گیاه (plant) in the singular form when the English translation says 'plants'?
When talking about a general category or a type of food, Farsi usually keeps the noun singular. Saying گیاه خورده است focuses on the concept of 'plant' as the animal's diet, similar to how we say an animal 'eats grass' in English.
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