Question 1

Why is لو برود in the present subjunctive when the English translation is in the past tense ("almost got exposed")?

Accepted Answer

This is the standard structure for "almost" doing something in the past. The phrase نزدیک بود که (literally "it was close that") already establishes the past timeframe. The action that almost happened is treated as an impending possibility or intended outcome, so it takes the present subjunctive (لو برود).

Question 2

Why does راز (secret) have an ی attached to it (رازی) if the English translation says "the" secret? Isn't ی usually for "a" secret?

Accepted Answer

Here, the ی is not the indefinite article meaning "a". It is the restrictive ی used right before a که clause. It signals that you are about to define exactly which secret you mean. Whenever you have a structure like "The [noun] that...", Farsi uses [noun] + ی که, making it رازی که.

Question 3

Why is آن (it) included in درباره‌ی آن? The English translation doesn't say "The secret that we talked about it".

Accepted Answer

In Farsi relative clauses, if the noun being described is the object of a preposition, you must leave a "resumptive pronoun" in the clause to point back to it. English drops it, but Farsi requires you to say literally "The secret that we talked about it" (درباره‌ی آن).

Question 4

How exactly does the verb لو رفتن (which becomes لو برود here) translate to "got exposed"?

Accepted Answer

لو رفتن is a very common compound verb meaning to be leaked, given away, or exposed. It is widely used for secrets or spoilers. If you want to say that someone actively gave the secret away, you would use the transitive version: لو دادن.

رازی که درباره‌ی آن صحبت کردیم، نزدیک بود که لو برود.

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