Breakdown of حدود بیست نفر مبادرت به قاچاق دارو کردند.
بهbe
to
بیستbist
twenty
کردنkardan
to do / to make
نفرnafar
person
داروdâru
medicine
حدودhodud
about / approximately (numbers, amounts)
مبادرتmobâderat
engaging in / undertaking
قاچاقghâchâgh
smuggling
Questions & Answers about حدود بیست نفر مبادرت به قاچاق دارو کردند.
How exactly is the mobâderat be construction working in this sentence?
The compound verb mobâderat kardan means to engage in or to undertake. It pairs with the preposition be, followed immediately by the action being undertaken—in this case, the noun phrase qâchâq-e dâru (smuggling of medicine). This structure is very common in news and legal contexts to add a formal tone and emphasize the act of committing a specific action.
The lesson says mobâderat be can take a noun or a long infinitive. Which one is used here?
This sentence uses a noun phrase: qâchâq-e dâru. The word qâchâq (smuggling) acts as a verbal noun. If we tried to use a long infinitive (the full dictionary form of a verb) here, it would be be qâchâq kardan-e dâru. However, because the main verb is already kardand, using the simple noun form avoids repeating the verb kardan twice in the same sentence and sounds much more elegant.
Why is the verb kardand at the very end, completely separated from mobâderat?
Because mobâderat kardan is a compound verb. In standard and formal Farsi, when a compound verb requires a prepositional phrase to complete its meaning, that phrase (be qâchâq-e dâru) is usually sandwiched right between the non-verbal part (mobâderat) and the light verb (kardand). Keeping kardand at the absolute end preserves standard Farsi word order.
As a quick refresher, why do we use nafar here instead of a plural word for "people"?
In Farsi, any noun or classifier that directly follows a number must always remain in its singular form. nafar is the standard classifier (counting word) used for human beings, so "twenty people" is translated literally as "twenty person" (bist nafar).
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