Learn Farsi: چهره‌ی او خندان بود، اما اشک می‌ریخت. - Her face was smiling, but she was shedding tears.

It is formed by taking the present stem of the verb خندیدن (to laugh or smile), which is خند, and adding the suffix ان. This creates a present participle of state, meaning it describes an ongoing condition. In this sentence, it acts as an adjective describing her face as smiling or cheerful.

I learned that خندیدن means to laugh. Why does چهره‌ی او خندان بود translate to her face was smiling?

While خندیدن does mean to laugh, its participle خندان often describes a bright, cheerful, or smiling appearance when applied to a face (چهره). For the specific physical act of smiling without making a sound, Farsi uses لبخند زدن, but خندان is the natural choice for describing a generally happy facial expression.

Why does the second half of the sentence use می‌ریخت instead of the simple past ریخت?

می‌ریخت is the past continuous tense of the verb ریختن (to pour or shed), formed with the prefix می and the past stem ریخت. Using the continuous tense shows that shedding tears was an ongoing action in the past (she was shedding tears), which creates a vivid contrast with her ongoing state of smiling.

Is اشک ریختن the normal way to say crying in Farsi?

The most common everyday verb for crying is گریه کردن. However, اشک ریختن literally means shedding tears (from meaning tear and meaning to pour). It is a very common and slightly more descriptive expression that fits perfectly with the emotional tone of this sentence.