Breakdown of در حالی که او در اردو بود، شروع کرد به وزنه زدن.
او
he/she
بودنbudan
to be
درdar
in
بهbe
to
شروع کردنshoru' kardan
to start
زدنzadan
to hit / to play (an instrument) / to apply (a coating) / to put on (a tie/accessory)
در حالی کهdar hâli ke
while / whereas
اردوordu
camp
وزنهvazne
weight (physical object)
Questions & Answers about در حالی که او در اردو بود، شروع کرد به وزنه زدن.
Why do we use the full infinitive zadan instead of the subjunctive bezanad after shoru' kard?
This is the core of this lesson's structure: shoru' kardan (to start) + be (to) + Infinitive. Because of the preposition be, the following verb acts like a noun (a gerund), so we use the infinitive zadan (lifting) instead of the conjugated subjunctive form you usually see after verbs of wanting or needing.
Could I put the prepositional phrase inside the compound verb, like shoru' be vazne zadan kard?
Yes, that is grammatically correct. However, moving the be + infinitive phrase after the conjugated verb (shoru' kard be vazne zadan) is very common and natural, especially in spoken Farsi, because it prevents the two parts of the compound verb from being pushed too far apart.
Why is the verb zadan (to hit) used for lifting weights?
Farsi uses the light verb zadan in many compound verbs where English uses a completely different action. The standard phrase for "to lift weights" is vazne zadan (literally "to hit weights").
What is the exact difference between dar hāli ke and vaghti ke?
vaghti ke simply means "when". dar hāli ke translates more closely to "while" or "in the state that". It specifically emphasizes that two things are happening at the same time, making it the perfect choice for setting up a background situation like "while he was in the camp".
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