Question 1

How do you form the past perfect passive in تخریب شده بود?

Accepted Answer

To form the past perfect passive, you take the non-verb part of the compound verb—here, تخریب (destruction)—and add the past perfect form of the passive helper verb شدن (to become). The past perfect of شدن for a third-person singular subject (the bridge) is شده بود. Put together, تخریب شده بود translates to 'had been destroyed'.

Question 2

Why do we use two verbs, داشتیم and می‌رسیدیم, to say 'we were arriving'?

Accepted Answer

This is a great refresher for the past continuous tense, which describes actions that were ongoing in the past. You take the past tense of the helper verb داشتن (to have) conjugated for the subject (داشتیم for 'we') and pair it with the continuous form of the main verb رسیدن (to arrive), which is می‌رسیدیم. Together, they mean 'we were arriving'.

Question 3

If تخریب شده بود is the passive form, how would I say 'had destroyed' in the active voice?

Accepted Answer

You would change the passive helper verb شدن (to become) to the active helper verb کردن (to do). The past perfect active form would be تخریب کرده بود (had destroyed). You would use this active form if you were mentioning exactly who or what did the destroying, such as a storm or an army, rather than focusing on the bridge itself.

Question 4

Is که necessary after وقتی in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

No, it is optional. وقتی alone means 'when'. Adding که (that) simply acts as a linking word to introduce the clause smoothly. You will often hear native speakers say وقتی که or just وقتی interchangeably, and both are perfectly correct.

وقتی که ما داشتیم می‌رسیدیم، پل تخریب شده بود.

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