Question 1

Why does the sentence start with in (this) when the English translation says "It was..."?

Accepted Answer

In Farsi, cleft sentences (which are used to emphasize a specific part of a sentence, like "It was X that...") use in as a dummy subject. Even though we translate it smoothly as "It was the north that...", the Farsi literally says "This was the north that...".

Question 2

Could I use ast instead of bud in the first part?

Accepted Answer

Generally, the tense in the emphasizing part matches the main action. Since the north was destroyed in the past (viran shod), we use bud (was). Using ast would mean "It is the north that was destroyed," which is grammatically possible but less natural here.

Question 3

Why use shod (became) instead of another bud (was) for "was destroyed"?

Accepted Answer

viran shodan is a compound verb meaning "to get destroyed" or "to be ruined" (focusing on the event or change of state). If you used viran bud, it would describe a continuous state, meaning the north was already in a state of ruin before the east. Because we are talking about the actual event of destruction happening in a sequence, we use shod.

Question 4

Can I use qabl az instead of pish az for "before"?

Accepted Answer

Yes, qabl az and pish az are completely interchangeable in this context. pish az is of Persian origin and sometimes feels slightly more literary or formal, while qabl az is an Arabic loanword that is extremely common in everyday conversation.

این شمال بود که پیش از شرق ویران شد.

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