Breakdown of ما به اینکه خویشاوند دوردست هستیم پی نبردیم.
ما
we
بودنbudan
to be
بهbe
to
اینکهin-ke
that (conjunction)
خویشاوندkhishâvand
relative (formal)
پی بردنpey bordan
to realize
دوردستdurdast
distant
Questions & Answers about ما به اینکه خویشاوند دوردست هستیم پی نبردیم.
Why is there a به before اینکه in this sentence?
The compound verb at the end of the sentence, پی بردن (to realize or discover), always requires the preposition به. When you want to connect this verb to a nominal clause to say you realized "that" something is true, the preposition must come first. It attaches to اینکه, creating به اینکه (literally "to this that").
How does the verb پی نبردیم work here?
It is the negative past tense of the compound verb پی بردن (to realize or find out). Because it is a compound verb, the negative prefix نـ attaches only to the verbal part, making نبردیم (we did not take). The non-verbal part پی (which literally means a track or trace) stays separate.
English uses the plural "relatives" here, but خویشاوند is singular. Why?
In Farsi, when a noun simply describes the subject (like "relatives" describing "we"), it doesn't always need a plural marker. The verb هستیم (we are) already makes it completely clear that the subject is plural, so خویشاوند naturally stays in its singular form.
Could I just use دور instead of دوردست for "distant"?
Yes, and in everyday conversation, it is actually much more common to say خویشاوند دور or فامیل دور. The word دوردست usually describes something geographically remote or far away, so using it for a relative makes this sentence sound a bit more formal or literary.
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