Breakdown of ما برای دیدن یکی از مرتفعترین آبشارهای جهان رفتیم.
ما
we
ازaz
from
برایbarâye
for
دیدنdidan
to see / to watch
Questions & Answers about ما برای دیدن یکی از مرتفعترین آبشارهای جهان رفتیم.
How does the 'one of the...' superlative structure work in this exact sentence?
It uses یکی از (one of) followed by the superlative adjective مرتفعترین (highest) and then the plural noun آبشارهای (waterfalls). Notice that the superlative adjective comes right before the noun, which is different from regular Farsi adjectives that follow the noun!
Wait, don't numbers usually take singular nouns in Farsi? Why is waterfall pluralized as آبشارهای?
You are right that a number directly before a noun takes the singular form (like سه آبشار for 'three waterfalls'). However, the phrase یکی از means 'one out of a group'. Because it refers to a group of multiple things, the noun that follows the superlative must be plural, so we use the suffix ها.
Is there an Ezafe linking the superlative adjective to the noun?
No! Superlative adjectives ending in ترین sit directly in front of the noun they modify without any Ezafe. However, there is an Ezafe at the end of the noun آبشارهای to link it to the next word, جهان (world).
Why use برای دیدن (for seeing) instead of the subjunctive to say 'we went to see'?
Both are correct and natural! You can use the preposition برای (for) with the verbal noun or short infinitive دیدن (seeing/to see), which is what happens here. Alternatively, you could use a subjunctive clause like رفتیم تا ببینیم (we went so that we see) to express the exact same purpose.