Breakdown of کاش اونها خوب رفتار میکردن، ولی دعوا میکنن.
آنها
they
دعوا کردنda'vâ kardan
to fight
خوبkhub
well / good
ولیvali
but
کاشkâsh
I wish
رفتار کردنraftâr kardan
to behave
Questions & Answers about کاش اونها خوب رفتار میکردن، ولی دعوا میکنن.
Why is رفتار میکردن (were behaving) in the past continuous tense if the sentence is about a wish right now?
After کاش (I wish), Farsi uses the past continuous tense to express a wish about the present that isn't actually happening. Even though we are talking about their behavior right now, the grammar requires the past continuous form رفتار میکردن to show this is an unreal or imagined situation.
Why does the tense switch to present (دعوا میکنن) in the second half of the sentence?
The first half is a wish, so it uses the past continuous to show it is not real. The second half, starting with ولی (but), describes what they are actually doing in reality right now. Because they really are fighting, we switch back to the normal present tense دعوا میکنن.
The word خوب means "good". Why is it translated as "well" here?
In Farsi, you do not need a special ending like "-ly" in English to turn an adjective into an adverb. The adjective خوب (good) simply acts as an adverb here because it is describing the verb رفتار میکردن, so it translates naturally as "behaved well".
Why do both verbs end in ـن (-n) instead of ـند (-nd)?
This sentence is written in a conversational, spoken style. In formal written Farsi, the "they" ending is ـند (-nd), making the verbs رفتار میکردند and دعوا میکنند. In everyday speech, the final "d" sound is almost always dropped.
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