Breakdown of ما روی شن نه مار پیدا کردیم نه عقرب.
ما
we
رویruye
on
پیدا کردنpeydâ kardan
to find / to get / to develop (a condition)
نهna
nor
مارmâr
snake
عقربaghrab
scorpion
شنshan
sand (coarse)
Questions & Answers about ما روی شن نه مار پیدا کردیم نه عقرب.
Why is the verb پیدا کردیم affirmative when the sentence means we did NOT find something?
Because of the نه ... نه ... (neither ... nor ...) structure. In standard Farsi, when you use this to join two nouns, the verb must be affirmative. This is a special exception, as Farsi usually requires double negatives with other negative words like هیچ (nothing/none).
Why is the scorpion (عقرب) placed after the verb instead of keeping both animals together?
While you could group them before the verb (نه مار و نه عقرب پیدا کردیم), Farsi speakers often split them by putting the second noun after the verb. This breaks up a long string of objects and makes the sentence sound more natural, almost like an afterthought: 'We found no snake... nor a scorpion.'
Is there a hidden sound between روی (on) and شن (sand)?
Yes, you need to pronounce it as ru-ye shen. The preposition روی (on top of) requires an ezafe (the 'ye' sound here) to connect it to the noun it describes, even though it isn't written out as a separate letter.
Do we need to use a plural suffix for the nouns مار (snake) and عقرب (scorpion) since we are talking about finding snakes in general?
No, in Farsi, a singular noun without any articles can be used to refer to a general category or species. Saying مار here perfectly translates to 'any snake' or 'snakes in general' in this context.
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