Breakdown of چقدر طول میکشد تا یک طرح برای خالکوبی انتخاب کنی؟
یکyek
one / a, an
برایbarâye
for
تاtâ
so that
طول کشیدنtul keshidan
to take (time) / to last
انتخاب کردنentekhâb kardan
to choose
چقدرcheqadr
how much
خالکوبیkhâlkubi
tattoo
طرحtarh
design
انتخابentekhâb
choice
Questions & Answers about چقدر طول میکشد تا یک طرح برای خالکوبی انتخاب کنی؟
Why do we use طول میکشد (tul mikeshad) and انتخاب کنی (entekhâb koni) in two different person forms?
طول میکشد is fixed in the "it" form (third-person singular) because it means "it takes [time]". The second verb tells us who is actually doing the action, which is why انتخاب کنی is in the "you" form (second-person singular). In Farsi, you literally say "How long does it take until you choose."
I thought تا (tâ) meant "until". Why is it translated as "to" here?
You are right that تا means "until". When paired with verbs of duration like طول کشیدن (to take time), it acts as a bridge to the subjunctive verb. Literally, the sentence asks "How long does it take until you choose a design?" In natural English, this translates to "How long does it take to choose a design?"
Since تا (tâ) requires the subjunctive, shouldn't the second verb have a بـ (be-) prefix like انتخاب بکنی (entekhâb bekoni)?
Great catch! With compound verbs formed with کردن (kardan) like انتخاب کردن (to choose), the بـ (be-) prefix on the subjunctive form is optional. Native speakers very frequently drop it because it sounds smoother. So, انتخاب کنی is much more common than انتخاب بکنی, though both are correct.
Can I use چقدر (cheghadr) to ask about time? I thought it meant "how much".
Yes! While چقدر literally means "how much," it is the most common way to ask "how long" when talking about the duration of an action in everyday Farsi. You might also hear چه مدت (che moddat), which strictly means "how long" or "what duration," but چقدر is perfectly natural here.
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