Learn Farsi: وقتی که ما داشتیم می‌رسیدیم، پل تخریب شده بود. - When we were arriving, the bridge had been destroyed.

وقتی که ما داشتیم می‌رسیدیم، پل تخریب شده بود.vaghti ke mâ dâshtim miresidim, pol takhrib shode bud.

When we were arriving, the bridge had been destroyed.

Breakdown of وقتی که ما داشتیم می‌رسیدیم، پل تخریب شده بود.

Questions & Answers about وقتی که ما داشتیم می‌رسیدیم، پل تخریب شده بود.

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

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'.

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

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'.

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

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.

Is که necessary after وقتی in this sentence?

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