Breakdown of او پرچم را به سوی من تکان داد، ولی من آن را ندیدم.
من
I
او
he/she
آن
that
دیدنdidan
to see / to watch
راrâ
definite direct object marker
ولیvali
but
به سویbe suye
towards
پرچمparcham
flag
تکان دادنtekân dâdan
to wave
Questions & Answers about او پرچم را به سوی من تکان داد، ولی من آن را ندیدم.
Why is there a -ye at the end of su in be su-ye man?
be su-ye is a compound preposition meaning "towards" (literally "to the direction of"). The -ye is the ezafe connector linking the preposition to the pronoun man (me). Because su ends in a vowel, the ezafe becomes -ye instead of just -e.
How does the verb tekān dād mean "waved"?
tekān dād is a compound verb made of tekān (a shake or movement) and dād (the past tense of dādan, meaning "to give"). Farsi creates many actions by pairing a noun with a helper verb. Literally, he "gave a shake" to the flag, which translates naturally to English as "waved".
Why does the word rā appear twice in this sentence?
The word rā marks a specific direct object—the thing receiving the action of the verb. In the first half, the specific thing being waved is the flag, so we say parcham rā. In the second half, the specific thing you didn't see is "it", so we say ān rā.
In the second half, could I just say vali man nadidam and drop ān rā?
Yes, Farsi speakers often drop pronouns like "it" when the context is perfectly clear. However, including ān rā (it) emphasizes the contrast: he did a big action with the flag, but I didn't see it. Keeping it here makes the sentence flow very naturally.
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