Breakdown of اگر پذیرش را فرستاده بودند، یک ماه طول نمیکشید تا ویزا بگیرند.
یکyek
one / a, an
گرفتنgereftan
to take / to get
راrâ
definite direct object marker
فرستادنferestâdan
to send
تاtâ
so that
طول کشیدنtul keshidan
to take (time) / to last
ماهmâh
month
ویزاviza
visa
اگرagar
if
پذیرشpaziresh
admission / acceptance
طولtul
length; duration (dar tul-e = during)
Questions & Answers about اگر پذیرش را فرستاده بودند، یک ماه طول نمیکشید تا ویزا بگیرند.
Why do we use the present subjunctive begirand here, even though the sentence is about a past hypothetical situation?
In Farsi, the construction for "taking time to do something" almost always uses tâ + the present subjunctive, regardless of the tense of the main verb. Even though the main verb tul nemi-kashid is in the past, the action of getting the visa still strictly requires the present subjunctive.
Why is tul nemi-kashid in the third-person singular? Shouldn't it match the "they" who are getting the visa?
tul kashidan (to take time) acts as an impersonal verb here. Its subject is actually the time phrase itself (yek mâh, a month). Think of it literally as "A month would not have drawn out." The people doing the action only become the subject in the second part of the sentence: tâ vizâ begirand (until they get a visa).
Why does the sentence use the past continuous (tul nemi-kashid) to mean "it would not have taken"?
In Farsi conditional sentences, the past continuous (the mi- or nemi- prefix added to the simple past stem) is frequently used in the result clause to express "would do" or "would have done". Therefore, tul nemi-kashid translates smoothly to "it would not have taken" in this hypothetical sentence.
What tense is ferestâdeh budand, and why is it used here?
It is the past perfect tense (past participle ferestâdeh + past tense of to be budand), meaning "had sent". Just like in English, Farsi uses the past perfect in the "if" clause (agar) to talk about an unreal or hypothetical situation that didn't actually happen in the past.
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