Word
اگر علفهای هرز از بین رفته بودند، باغ آفت نگرفته بود.
Meaning
If the weeds had been destroyed, the orchard would not have caught pests.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of اگر علفهای هرز از بین رفته بودند، باغ آفت نگرفته بود.
بودنbudan
to be
گرفتنgereftan
to take / to get
اگرagar
if
باغbâgh
garden / orchard
Questions & Answers about اگر علفهای هرز از بین رفته بودند، باغ آفت نگرفته بود.
Why does the second part of the sentence use the past perfect (نگرفته بود) instead of a conditional tense like 'would have'?
In Farsi, the third conditional (talking about unreal situations in the past) uses the past perfect tense in both the 'if' clause and the result clause. So, while English says 'would not have caught', Farsi literally says 'had not caught' (نگرفته بود).
What is the literal meaning of از بین رفته بودند?
It comes from the compound verb از بین رفتن (to be destroyed, to perish, or to die). Literally, it translates to 'to go from between'. Because it is an intransitive verb, it naturally gives the passive meaning of 'had been destroyed' without needing any extra passive grammar rules.
How do the words in علفهای هرز translate to 'weeds'?
علف means 'grass' or 'herb', and the suffix ـهای makes it plural. The word هرز means 'vain', 'useless', or 'waste'. So, علفهای هرز literally means 'useless grasses', which is the standard Farsi term for weeds.
علفهای هرز (weeds) are non-human. Why does the verb رفته بودند use the plural ending (ـند) instead of the singular?
While it is a common rule you learned earlier to use singular verbs for non-human plurals, modern Farsi often uses plural verbs for inanimate objects as well. Using the plural here is very natural, though the singular رفته بود would also be grammatically correct.