Breakdown of نه ردپاها و نه جسدها پنهان شده بودند.
و
and
نهna
no
پنهان کردنpenhân kardan
to hide
جسدjasad
corpse
Questions & Answers about نه ردپاها و نه جسدها پنهان شده بودند.
How is the past perfect passive 'had been hidden' formed in this sentence?
It uses the adjective penhān (hidden) with the past perfect tense of shodan (to become/to be). The past perfect of shodan is formed with its past participle (shode) plus the simple past of budan (to be). Since the subject is 'they', we use budand. Put it all together, and penhān shode budand means 'they had been hidden.'
Why is the verb shode budand positive when the sentence means they hadn't been hidden?
The structure na ... va na ... (neither ... nor ...) already negates the sentence. In Persian, when you use na ... va na ..., the main verb is usually kept in its affirmative form because the na (no/not) provides all the negation you need.
Both radpāhā (footprints) and jasadhā (corpses) are inanimate objects. Why does the verb use the plural ending -and?
Normally, plural inanimate subjects take a singular verb in Persian. However, jasad-hā refers to human bodies, which often triggers a plural verb. Furthermore, when there is a compound subject (two or more things linked together), it is very common for the verb to become plural anyway.
What are the root words that make up radpāhā?
It is a compound noun made of rad (trace or track) and pā (foot), followed by the standard plural suffix -hā. So it literally translates to 'foot-traces.'