Breakdown of آیا اگر او زمان را متوقف میکرد، به همهی انسانها کمک میکرد؟
او
he/she
آیاâyâ
whether (question particle)
بهbe
to
کمک کردنkomak kardan
to help
راrâ
definite direct object marker
همهhame
all, everyone
انسانensân
human
اگرagar
if
زمانzamân
time (concept, duration, era)
متوقف کردنmotevaqqef kardan
to stop (transitive)
Questions & Answers about آیا اگر او زمان را متوقف میکرد، به همهی انسانها کمک میکرد؟
Why are both verbs in this sentence in the past continuous tense (میکرد) when the English translation says 'stopped' and 'would help'?
This is how Farsi forms the second conditional for imaginary present situations. Both the 'if' clause and the result clause use the past continuous tense. So here, متوقف میکرد means 'stopped' (if he stopped) and کمک میکرد means 'would help'.
Why is there a به (to) before همهی انسانها (all humans)?
In Farsi, the compound verb for 'to help' is کمک کردن (komak kardan). This verb requires the preposition به for the person receiving the help. Literally, the sentence asks 'would he give help to all humans?'.
Why does زمان (time) have the object marker را after it?
Even though 'time' is an abstract concept, in this specific imaginary scenario it is acting as the specific, defined thing that he is stopping. Whenever a direct object is specific in Farsi, it requires the marker را.
How do we connect همه (all) to انسانها (humans)?
They are connected using the ezâfe. Because همه (hame) ends in a vowel sound (a silent 'h' sounding like 'e'), you add a 'y' sound between the words, writing it as همهی (hame-ye), which translates to 'all of'.
Is آیا at the beginning strictly necessary to make this a question?
No, you can drop آیا (âya) and just rely on a rising tone of voice at the end of the sentence to show it is a question. However, using it makes it formally and clearly a yes/no question right from the very first word.
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