Question 1

Why does the first sentence use the past tense کار می‌کرد when translating to "I wish he were working" right now?

Accepted Answer

To express a wish about a present situation that isn't true (present unreality), Farsi uses کاش followed by the past continuous tense. Even though the wish is about right now, using the past continuous کار می‌کرد shows that it is a hypothetical scenario, much like saying "I wish he were working" in English.

Question 2

Why is the second verb میره in the present tense, while the first one is in the past?

Accepted Answer

The first action (working) is a hypothetical wish, so it requires the past continuous tense after کاش. The second action (going home) is a factual event happening right now, so it uses the standard present tense میره.

Question 3

I learned the formal present tense for "he goes" is می‌رود. How did it become میره here?

Accepted Answer

This sentence is written in a conversational, everyday style. In spoken Farsi, the formal third-person singular ending ـود often drops the letters و and د, blending into a short "e" sound. This gives us میره. You can also see this spoken style in خونه instead of the formal خانه, and اون instead of آن.

Question 4

Could we drop the second اون in the second sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you could easily drop the second اون and just say الان میره خونه. Farsi is a pro-drop language, meaning the verb ending already tells us the subject is "he" or "she". Repeating اون here just adds a slight emphasis or contrast.

کاش اون کار می‌کرد. اون الان میره خونه.

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