Breakdown of میخواستم بیایم، اما یک مشکل فوری داشتم و نمیخواستم مزاحم شوم.
و
and
اماammâ
but
یکyek
one / a, an
داشتنdâshtan
to have
Questions & Answers about میخواستم بیایم، اما یک مشکل فوری داشتم و نمیخواستم مزاحم شوم.
How does میخواستم بیایم translate to "I was going to come" instead of "I wanted to come"?
This is the "future in the past" structure you are currently learning. Using the past continuous of خواستن (khâstan, to want) — which is میخواستم — followed by a verb in the present subjunctive — بیایم — expresses an unfulfilled past intention. It perfectly translates to "I intended to come" or "I was going to come" (but ultimately didn't).
Why is the subjunctive form of "to come" written as بیایم (biâyam)?
The infinitive is آمدن (âmadan) and its present stem is آی (ây). When you add the subjunctive prefix بـ (be-), a "y" sound is naturally added to bridge the vowels smoothly. This turns بـ + آی into بیایـ (biây-). With the "I" ending (ـم), it becomes بیایم (biâyam).
We see نمیخواستم مزاحم شوم at the end. Is this also the "future in the past" meaning "I was not going to be a bother"?
It uses the exact same grammatical structure (past continuous of "to want" + subjunctive), but context shifts how we translate it. While the affirmative often means "was going to" (a plan), the negative نمیخواستم usually reverts to a more literal "I didn't want to". Here, the speaker is explaining their feeling or desire ("I didn't want to intrude"), rather than a canceled plan.
How does the phrase work to mean "be a bother"?