Questions & Answers about در گذشته، هر قالی با روش دستی بافته میشد.
How is the passive voice formed in the phrase bāfteh mi-shod?
This sentence uses the Past Continuous Passive. It is formed by taking the past participle of the main verb (bāfteh, from bāftan, meaning "to weave") and adding the past continuous of the auxiliary verb shodan (to become). Because the subject qāli (carpet) is third-person singular, we use mi-shod.
Why are the noun qāli and the verb mi-shod singular when the English translation says "every carpet"?
In Farsi, the word har (every or each) must always be followed by a singular noun. Consequently, the verb matching that subject must also be singular. Even though the sentence describes multiple carpets in general, grammatically the subject acts as a singular unit.
How exactly does bā ravesh-e dasti translate to "manually"?
Literally, it means "with a manual method". The word bā means "with" or "by", ravesh means "method" or "way", and dasti means "manual" or "handmade" (derived from dast, meaning "hand"). The invisible ezafe suffix links the noun ravesh to its describing adjective dasti.
Does bāfteh mi-shod mean "used to be woven" or "was being woven"?
It can actually mean both! The Farsi past continuous covers ongoing actions in the past ("was being woven") as well as habitual past actions ("used to be woven"). In this sentence, the phrase dar gozashteh (in the past) combined with "every carpet" strongly points to a habitual past action.