Breakdown of اگر او تنبل بود، به اینکه شما آنقدر درس میخوانید حسادت میکرد.
او
he/she
شما
you (plural)
بودنbudan
to be
بهbe
to
درس خواندنdars khândan
to study
تنبلtanbal
lazy
اینکهin-ke
that (conjunction)
اگرagar
if
آنقدرânghadr
so (much) / to such a degree
حسادت کردنhasâdat kardan
to be jealous
Questions & Answers about اگر او تنبل بود، به اینکه شما آنقدر درس میخوانید حسادت میکرد.
Why do we say be in ke (به اینکه) instead of just ke (که) for "that"?
The compound verb hesādat kardan (to be jealous) requires the preposition be (literally "jealous to"). In Farsi, you cannot attach a preposition directly to a clause starting with ke (that). To solve this, we use the pronoun in (this) as a bridge, creating be in ke (literally "to this, that...").
Why is درس میخوانید (dars mikhanid) in the normal indicative mood here, rather than the subjunctive?
Even though it comes after in ke, the action of you studying is treated as a real, established fact here (you really do study that much). When in ke introduces a definite reality rather than a desire, doubt, or necessity, the verb that follows stays in the indicative mood.
Why are the verbs bud (was) and hesādat mikard (was being jealous) in the past tense when the English translation is "If he were lazy, he would be jealous"?
This is a present hypothetical (or "unreal") conditional. To talk about an imaginary situation in the present (because he is not actually lazy right now), Farsi uses the simple past for the "if" clause (agar... bud) and the past continuous for the result clause (hesādat mikard).
What does آنقدر (ān-qadar) add to the sentence, and could I just use خیلی (kheyli)?
Ān-qadar literally means "that amount" or "that much," pointing out the specific, high degree to which you study. While you could grammatically use kheyli (a lot), ān-qadar is a better fit for capturing the nuance of being jealous that you study that much.
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