Breakdown of آن موقع در مدرسه بودم.
آن
that
بودنbudan
to be
مدرسهmadrese
school
درdar
in
موقعmowqe'
time, moment (mowqe'-e = at the time of)
Questions & Answers about آن موقع در مدرسه بودم.
In English we say "at that time". Why is there no word for "at" before آن موقع?
In Farsi, time phrases often don't need a preposition like "at", "in", or "on". Just as you would say دیروز (yesterday) without a preposition, you can simply say آن موقع to mean "at that time". Adding در (in/at) before it is grammatically fine but usually dropped in everyday Farsi.
How does آن موقع relate to the conjunctions وقتی (when) or زمانی که (when) from this lesson?
While وقتی که joins two actions together (like "When you called, I was at school"), آن موقع acts as a standalone time marker pointing to a specific moment already mentioned ("At that time, I was at school"). You will often hear them used together as a pair in storytelling, similar to saying "When X happened... at that time I...".
Can I use زمان (time) instead of موقع here?
Yes! You can absolutely say آن زمان (at that time) instead of آن موقع. They mean the exact same thing, though موقع is slightly more common in everyday spoken Farsi when talking about a specific moment, while زمان can feel a tiny bit more formal or refer to a broader era.
In spoken Farsi, is it common to drop the preposition در (in/at) before مدرسه?
Very common! In everyday speech, the preposition در is often dropped before locations. It is perfectly natural and even more conversational to say آن موقع مدرسه بودم.
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