Learn Farsi: طراح داشت چهره‌ی او را می‌کشید؛ پیشانی‌اش مانند یک دیوار بود. - The sketch artist was drawing his face; his forehead was like a wall.

طراح داشت چهره‌ی او را می‌کشید؛ پیشانی‌اش مانند یک دیوار بود.tarrâh dâsht chehre-ye u râ mikeshid; pishâni-ash mânand-e yek divâr bud.

The sketch artist was drawing his face; his forehead was like a wall.

Breakdown of طراح داشت چهره‌ی او را می‌کشید؛ پیشانی‌اش مانند یک دیوار بود.

Questions & Answers about طراح داشت چهره‌ی او را می‌کشید؛ پیشانی‌اش مانند یک دیوار بود.

How does the simile mânand-e yek divâr work in this sentence?

In Farsi, words for 'like' or 'similar to' such as mânand, mesl, and shabih act as prepositions and must be linked to the following noun or pronoun with an ezafe (the short 'e' sound). Here, mânand-e connects directly to yek divâr (a wall) to create the simile 'like a wall'.

Could I replace mânand-e with mesl-e or shabih-e here?

Yes, absolutely! mesl-e yek divâr or shabih-e yek divâr would mean the exact same thing. mânand-e is just slightly more literary or formal than the everyday mesl-e, making it a great fit for describing a painting or drawing.

Why are there two verbs, dâsht and mi-kashid, for 'was drawing'?

This is the Farsi past continuous tense. It's formed by using the past tense of dâshtan (to have) as an auxiliary verb, followed by the imperfect past tense of the main verb. dâsht (he/she had) + mi-kashid (was drawing) combines to mean 'was in the middle of drawing'.

I thought kashidan meant 'to pull' or 'to smoke'. How does it mean 'drawing' here?

kashidan is a very versatile verb in Farsi! While it often means 'to pull' (like opening a drawer) or 'to smoke' (like a cigarette), it is also the standard verb for drawing or sketching a picture, as seen here with (was drawing a face).