Word
او گفت که سیگنال را پیدا نمیکند مگر اینکه پارازیت قطع شود.
Meaning
He said that he would not find the signal unless the static stopped.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of او گفت که سیگنال را پیدا نمیکند مگر اینکه پارازیت قطع شود.
او
he/she
گفتنgoftan
to say / to tell
پیدا کردنpeydâ kardan
to find / to get / to develop (a condition)
راrâ
definite direct object marker
Questions & Answers about او گفت که سیگنال را پیدا نمیکند مگر اینکه پارازیت قطع شود.
Why does the Farsi sentence use پیدا نمیکند (he does not find) when the English translation says he 'would not find'?
This is the main difference between English and Farsi reported speech! In English, we shift tenses backward after a past tense verb like 'said' (will becomes would). In Farsi, you keep the exact tense the speaker originally used. The person originally said 'I will not find the signal' using the present tense for the near future. When reporting it, we just change the pronoun to 'he', but we keep that same present tense.
Why is قطع شود in the subjunctive form here?
It directly follows the phrase مگر اینکه (unless). In Farsi, conjunctions that introduce a condition or an uncertain outcome, like 'unless' or 'so that', require the verb in the following clause to be in the present subjunctive.
The English translation says 'unless the static stopped' (past tense), but قطع شود is present subjunctive. Why don't we use a past tense here?
This is another example of Farsi keeping the speaker's original tense. The original speaker said 'unless the static stops' which requires the present subjunctive. Therefore, the reported sentence retains that present subjunctive, even though English forces a shift to the past tense ('stopped') to match the beginning of the sentence.
The Farsi uses قطع شود for the static stopping. Doesn't that literally mean 'to be cut'?
Yes! The compound verb قطع شدن literally means 'to be cut' or 'to be disconnected'. In Farsi, things like signals, phone calls, static, noise, or power don't just 'stop' or 'go away' like they do in English; instead, they are 'cut'.