Breakdown of او یک قصر خریده بود. اگر میلیونر بودی، آن را میخریدی؟
او
he/she
آن
that
بودنbudan
to be
یکyek
one / a, an
Questions & Answers about او یک قصر خریده بود. اگر میلیونر بودی، آن را میخریدی؟
Why does Farsi use the past continuous (میخریدی) to say 'would you buy'?
In Farsi, the second conditional (talking about unreal or imaginary situations in the present) uses the past continuous tense for the result clause. While میخریدی typically means 'you were buying', in this 'if' scenario it translates to the hypothetical 'you would buy'.
Why is the condition 'if you were' written in the simple past (بودی) instead of a present tense?
Just like in English ('if you were'), Farsi uses the simple past tense right after اگر (if) to show that the situation is hypothetical or contrary to reality right now. You aren't a millionaire, so we use the past tense بودی to imagine it.
The first sentence uses خریده بود (he had bought). How is this different from the verbs in the second sentence?
خریده بود is the past perfect tense. It states a real, completed fact that happened before another time in the past. The second sentence shifts to an imaginary scenario, which is why it switches to the conditional structure (simple past + past continuous) rather than stating a fact.
Why do we need را after آن?
را is the specific direct object marker. Because the sentence asks if you would buy a very specific thing—آن (it/that palace)—Farsi requires را to show that 'it' is the direct target of the verb میخریدی.