Questions & Answers about اگر او چاق نبود، تند میدوید.
Why is nabud (was not) used here when the sentence means 'were not' right now?
In Farsi, the second conditional (unreal present) uses the Simple Past tense in the 'if' part of the sentence. Even though we are talking about a present situation, we use the past tense nabud to show it is a hypothetical or unreal situation, just like saying 'If he were not' in English.
Why does the main verb mi-david have the mi- prefix if it means 'would run'?
In an unreal present conditional sentence, the result part (the main clause) requires the Past Continuous tense. Adding the prefix mi- to the simple past david (he ran) makes it mi-david. In this conditional context, it translates to the English 'would run'.
I remember learning that tond means 'spicy'. Can it also mean 'fast'?
Yes, tond is a versatile word. When talking about food, it means 'spicy'. When talking about movement or speed, it means 'fast' or 'quick'. Since it is describing the verb davidan (to run) here, it clearly means 'fast'.
Do we have to use the pronoun u (he) in the 'if' clause?
No, Farsi verbs already show who is doing the action, so you can safely drop u and just say agar čâq nabud.... In the past tense, the third-person singular (he/she/it) has no visible suffix, so the bare forms nabud and mi-david automatically point to 'he' or 'she'.