Breakdown of هفته قبل در مدرسه بودم.
در
door
بودنbudan
to be
مدرسهmadrese
school
هفتهhafte
week
قبلghabl
ago, earlier
Questions & Answers about هفته قبل در مدرسه بودم.
The current lesson is about قبل از (ghabl az) meaning "before". Why is there no از (az) here?
When قبل (ghabl) comes after a time word like week or month, it acts as an adjective meaning "previous" or "last". So, هفته قبل (hafte-ye ghabl) means "last week". If you used قبل از (ghabl az), it would mean "before", and it would go in front of the noun, like قبل از مدرسه (ghabl az madreseh - before school).
I don't see a connecting letter between هفته and قبل. Do I just say "hafteh ghabl"?
In spoken Farsi, you must connect them with a "ye" sound: hafte-ye ghabl. Because هفته (hafteh) ends in a silent "h", the invisible connector (called the ezafe) is pronounced "-ye". It links the noun (week) to its adjective (previous/last).
The translation says "at school", but doesn't در (dar) mean "in"?
It means both! Farsi doesn't make a strict distinction between being "in" a location (inside the building) and being "at" a location. You can safely use در (dar) for both.
Does the time phrase هفته قبل (last week) always go at the beginning of the sentence?
Usually, yes! In Farsi, time expressions normally go at or near the very beginning of the sentence to set the stage, followed by the location (در مدرسه), and finally the verb (بودم) at the very end.
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