Learn Farsi: اگر کشاورزان فرسایش را کنترل نکرده بودند، بازدهی تا چه اندازه کاهش می‌یافت؟ - If the farmers had not controlled the erosion, to what extent would the yield have decreased?

اگر کشاورزان فرسایش را کنترل نکرده بودند، بازدهی تا چه اندازه کاهش می‌یافت؟agar keshâvarzân farsâyesh râ kontrol nakarde budand, bâzdehi tâ che andâze kâhesh miyâft?

If the farmers had not controlled the erosion, to what extent would the yield have decreased?

Breakdown of اگر کشاورزان فرسایش را کنترل نکرده بودند، بازدهی تا چه اندازه کاهش می‌یافت؟

راrâ

definite direct object marker

کنترل کردنkontrol kardan

Questions & Answers about اگر کشاورزان فرسایش را کنترل نکرده بودند، بازدهی تا چه اندازه کاهش می‌یافت؟

How does تا چه اندازه (tâ che andâze) function here, and could I use تا چه حد (tâ che hadd) instead?

Yes, you can use them completely interchangeably to mean "to what extent" or "how much." Notice that تا چه اندازه is placed right before the verb کاهش می‌یافت, which is the standard placement for question phrases in Farsi.

Why is the result verb کاهش می‌یافت translated as "would have decreased" when its form is past continuous?

This is a Type 3 conditional, talking about an impossible past situation. In Farsi, while the "if" clause uses the past perfect (کنترل نکرده بودند - had not controlled), the result clause simply uses the past continuous/imperfect form. Farsi doesn't have a separate "would have" tense; it relies on this می + past stem structure for hypothetical past results.

In the first verb, why is the negative marker on نکرده rather than the auxiliary verb بودند?

When negating the past perfect tense of a compound verb like کنترل کردن (to control), the negative prefix نـ must attach to the main verb's past participle (نکرده), not the auxiliary verb (بودند).

Could I use a simpler verb like کم می‌شد instead of کاهش می‌یافت?