Breakdown of بادکنک زرد به سمت درخت رفت.
درختderakht
tree
رفتنraftan
to go
زردzard
yellow
به سمتbe samt-e
towards
Questions & Answers about بادکنک زرد به سمت درخت رفت.
How does the compound preposition be samt-e translate literally?
The phrase be samt-e means "towards", but it is made up of three parts: be (to), samt (side or direction), and the hidden ezāfe -e (of). So, be samt-e derakht literally translates to "to the direction of the tree."
Can I swap be samt-e with the other prepositions of direction we just learned?
Yes! You could say be su-ye derakht or be taraf-e derakht. All three translate to "towards the tree" and are completely interchangeable in this sentence.
Where is the word for "the" in bādkonak-e zard (the yellow balloon)?
Farsi does not have a specific word for "the". A noun is often understood as definite ("the balloon") just from the context alone. Also, remember that a hidden ezāfe -e is what links the noun bādkonak to its adjective zard.
Is raft the only word we need for "went"?
Yes, raft is the simple past tense of the verb raftan (to go). Because Farsi verbs build the subject into their ending, the "it" ending for the third-person singular is invisible, leaving just the past stem raft placed at the very end of the sentence.