Learn Farsi: بادیگارد هیچ‌کس را جز مهمان‌ها راه نمی‌دهد. - The bodyguard lets nobody in except the guests.

In Farsi, expressing "only" is often done by pairing جز (joz) or به جز (be joz), meaning "except", with a negative verb. Here, هیچ‌کس را جز مهمان‌ها راه نمی‌دهد literally translates to "lets nobody in except the guests." This "nobody except..." structure is a very common way to say that the bodyguard only lets the guests in.

Why is the direct object marker را placed right after هیچ‌کس and not after مهمان‌ها?

The direct object marker را must immediately follow the specific noun it marks. Here, the core direct object receiving the action is هیچ‌کس (nobody). The phrase جز مهمان‌ها (except the guests) is an additional restriction acting like a parenthesis, not part of the core direct object itself. Therefore, را attaches directly to هیچ‌کس.

Why does this sentence use a double negative with هیچ‌کس and نمی‌دهد?

Unlike standard English, Farsi strictly requires a double negative when using words that start with هیچ (hiç). When you use هیچ‌کس (nobody / anybody) as the object of a sentence, the main verb must also be negative. So literally, the Farsi phrasing is "does not let nobody in."

How does راه نمی‌دهد translate to "doesn't let in"?