Breakdown of پنجاه ثانیه طول میکشد تا این چای دم بکشد.
این
this
چایchâi
tea
پنجاهpanjâh
fifty
تاtâ
so that
طول کشیدنtul keshidan
to take (time) / to last
ثانیهsânie
second (time)
دم کشیدنdam kashidan
to brew / to steep
طولtul
length; duration (dar tul-e = during)
Questions & Answers about پنجاه ثانیه طول میکشد تا این چای دم بکشد.
Why do we use تا instead of a word for 'for' or 'to'?
In Farsi expressions of time, we connect the duration to the action using تا (which usually means 'until'). You can think of this structure as literally saying 'It takes fifty seconds UNTIL this tea brews.'
Why is the verb دم بکشد in the subjunctive form here?
The conjunction تا sets up an expected but not-yet-realized result. In Farsi, this requires the following verb to be in the present subjunctive, which we can spot here by the بـ prefix added to the present stem of کشیدن.
The sentence translates to 'It takes...' but what does طول میکشد literally mean?
طول means 'length' and کشیدن means 'to pull' or 'to draw'. The compound verb طول کشیدن literally translates as 'to pull length', which is the standard Farsi idiom for an action taking a certain amount of time.
Both verbs in this sentence use a form of کشیدن. Is that a grammar rule?
No, it is just a fun coincidence of compound verbs! While طول کشیدن means 'to take time', the second verb دم کشیدن is a completely separate compound verb. دم means 'steam' or 'breath', and دم کشیدن is the specific phrase used for tea steeping or rice cooking.
Since fifty is a plural amount, shouldn't ثانیه (seconds) be pluralized?
A great rule to remember from earlier levels is that in Farsi, nouns following numbers are always strictly singular. So we say پنجاه ثانیه (fifty second), never using a plural suffix.
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