Learn Farsi: آنها می‌دانستند که گندم با کالسکه حمل می‌شد. - They knew that wheat used to be transported by carriage.

آنها می‌دانستند که گندم با کالسکه حمل می‌شد.ânhâ midânestand ke gandom bâ kâleske haml mishod.

They knew that wheat used to be transported by carriage.

Breakdown of آنها می‌دانستند که گندم با کالسکه حمل می‌شد.

Questions & Answers about آنها می‌دانستند که گندم با کالسکه حمل می‌شد.

How do we form the past continuous passive in حمل می‌شد?

This is the core of the past continuous passive. First, we take the active compound verb حمل کردن (to transport) and change it to its passive form by swapping کردن with شدن (to become/be). Then, we conjugate شدن in the past continuous tense for the subject, which is گندم (wheat - third-person singular). That gives us می‌شد. Together, حمل می‌شد translates to 'used to be transported' or 'was being transported'.

Why is می‌دانستند (they knew) in the continuous form with the می prefix?

In Farsi, past-tense verbs describing ongoing mental states or conditions—like knowing (دانستن), having (داشتن), or wanting (خواستن)—often take the continuous می prefix. It shows that 'knowing' was an ongoing state in the past rather than a single, sudden completed event.

Why does the sentence use با (with) instead of a direct translation for 'by' carriage?

While English uses 'by' for modes of transportation (by car, by train, by carriage), Farsi uses با (with) to express the instrument, tool, or vehicle by which an action is done. You use با whether an action is done 'with a pen' or 'by carriage' (با کالسکه).

If I wanted to say the wheat was transported 'by the farmers', how would I add that to the passive clause?

You generally wouldn't! In Farsi, the passive voice is heavily restricted to situations where the doer of the action is unknown or completely irrelevant. If you need to mention who did the action, it is much more natural to flip the sentence back to the active voice instead of trying to add a 'by...' phrase into a passive structure.