Breakdown of بینی متهم مثل یک ورزشکار پهن بود.
بودنbudan
to be
یکyek
one / a, an
مثلmesl
like, such as
متهمmottaham
accused
ورزشکارvarzeshkâr
athlete
بینیbini
nose
پهنpahn
wide / broad (physically)
Questions & Answers about بینی متهم مثل یک ورزشکار پهن بود.
How does the word mesl connect to the rest of the phrase to mean 'like'?
The word مثل (mesl) takes the connecting vowel -e (the ezâfe) to link it to the noun it is comparing something to. So مثل یک ورزشکار (mesl-e yek varzeshkâr) translates to 'like an athlete'.
Doesn't the sentence literally say the nose is wide 'like an athlete', rather than 'like an athlete's nose'?
Exactly. In Farsi, it is very common to drop the repeated noun in a comparison if the context is obvious, just as people sometimes do in casual English. You could say مثل بینی یک ورزشکار (mesl-e bini-ye yek varzeshkâr) to be perfectly precise, but leaving out the second 'nose' sounds more natural here.
Why is the ezâfe placed on بینی (bini) but not on متهم (mottaham)?
The phrase 'the suspect's nose' is بینی متهم (bini-ye mottaham). The ezâfe connects 'nose' to 'suspect'. Since متهم is the end of that specific possessive chain, it doesn't take an ezâfe. The next word, مثل (mesl), starts a brand new phrase.
I know varzesh means sports. How does the suffix -kâr change its meaning in varzeshkâr?
The suffix -کار (-kâr) is added to nouns to describe a person whose profession or regular activity involves that thing. By adding it to ورزش (varzesh, meaning sports or exercise), you get ورزشکار (varzeshkâr), meaning an athlete.
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