Breakdown of او نه سراب را میبیند نه باد را میشنود.
او
he/she
دیدنdidan
to see / to watch
شنیدنshenidan
to hear
راrâ
definite direct object marker
بادbâd
wind
نهna
nor
سرابsarâb
mirage
Questions & Answers about او نه سراب را میبیند نه باد را میشنود.
Why are the verbs میبیند and میشنود in the positive form if the overall sentence is negative?
In standard written Farsi, when using the correlative conjunction نه ... نه ... (neither ... nor ...), the verbs are usually kept in the affirmative form. The negative meaning is fully carried by the نه words themselves. Note that in casual spoken Farsi, people sometimes make the verbs negative anyway, but affirmative is the correct grammatical rule for writing.
How do we know where to place the نه words in this sentence?
You place نه directly before the parallel items you are contrasting. In this sentence, it frames two complete verb phrases: neither the mirage (and seeing it) nor the wind (and hearing it).
Why is the direct object marker را used twice here?
Both سراب (mirage) and باد (wind) are specific, definite objects of their respective verbs. Because the نه ... نه ... structure coordinates them as two distinct, parallel actions, each definite direct object still needs its own را.
What is the infinitive and stem for the verb میشنود?
The infinitive is شنیدن (to hear). Its present stem is شنو, which gives us the present tense form میشنود when we add the continuous می prefix and the د ending for he/she. It is a good stem to memorize because it does not look exactly like the infinitive.
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