Breakdown of اگر آنها صلح را دوست داشتند، دعوا نمیکردند.
آنها
they
دوست داشتنdust dâshtan
to like / to love
راrâ
definite direct object marker
دعوا کردنda'vâ kardan
to fight
اگرagar
if
صلحsolh
peace (absence of war)
Questions & Answers about اگر آنها صلح را دوست داشتند، دعوا نمیکردند.
Why are both verbs in the past tense if the sentence means 'If they liked peace (now), they would not fight'?
This is the standard way to make the second conditional (unreal present) in Farsi. To talk about a hypothetical situation right now, you use agar (if) plus the Simple Past in the condition clause (dust dâshtand), and the Past Continuous in the result clause (ne-mi-kardand). English does something very similar by using the past tense 'liked' for a present meaning!
The result clause uses the Past Continuous (ne-mi-kardand). Does this mean 'they were not fighting' or 'they would not fight'?
In this conditional structure, it means 'they would not fight'. While the Past Continuous normally translates to 'they were doing' in a regular sentence, when it is the result of an agar (if) clause, it translates to 'would do' in English to show the hypothetical result.
Why is the direct object marker râ used after solh (peace)? Isn't peace just a general idea?
In Farsi, broad, abstract concepts like 'peace', 'love', or 'life' are often treated as specific, definite nouns when they are the direct object of a verb like dust dâshtan (to like). Because the sentence refers to the entirety of that specific concept, it takes râ.
Why is the negative prefix ne- attached to mi- instead of the main verb in ne-mi-kardand?
When making a Past Continuous verb negative, the negative prefix always goes at the very beginning of the verb, right before mi-. The prefix is usually na-, but it changes to ne- for easier pronunciation when it attaches directly to mi-.
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