Question 1

How do we get the verb می‌پراند (makes jump) from the regular verb for 'to jump'?

Accepted Answer

The regular verb for 'to jump' or 'to fly' is پریدن (paridan), and its present stem is پر (par). To make it causative (making someone or something else jump), we take that present stem and add the suffix -ândan to get پراندن (parândan). Since the sentence is in the present tense, we conjugate it with the continuous prefix می‌ and the third-person singular ending ـد to get می‌پراند.

Question 2

Why does ببر (tiger) take the direct object marker را in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Normally, jumping is an intransitive action, meaning it doesn't take a direct object. But when we use the causative form پراندن, the action becomes transitive. The trainer is now doing the action to the tiger. Because the tiger is the specific receiver of this new action, it requires the definite direct object marker را.

Question 3

If the base verb پریدن also means 'to fly', could می‌پراند mean 'makes fly'?

Accepted Answer

Yes! پریدن can mean either 'to jump' or 'to fly' depending on the context. Therefore, the causative پراندن can mean 'to make jump' or 'to make fly' (like flying a kite or tossing a bird into the air). Here, common sense tells us a tiger is jumping out of a cage, not flying!

Question 4

The word for tiger is ببر. How do I pronounce it, and isn't that also a verb?

Accepted Answer

The noun 'tiger' is pronounced babr. In written Farsi, it is a homograph that looks exactly like the imperative command for 'take!' (bebar, from the verb bordan). As a B1 learner, you have to rely on the context of the sentence (like a trainer and a cage) to know which pronunciation and meaning apply.

مربی ببر را از قفس می‌پراند.

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