Breakdown of به آن آینهی ترکخورده نگاه نکن!
آن
that
بهbe
to
نگاه کردنnegâh kardan
to look, to watch
آینهâyene
mirror
Questions & Answers about به آن آینهی ترکخورده نگاه نکن!
How is the compound adjective ترکخورده formed?
This relates to your current lesson! It combines the noun ترک (crack) with خورده, the bare past participle of خوردن. While خوردن usually means 'to eat', it is also used idiomatically to mean 'to suffer' or 'to get hit with' something. So ترکخورده literally means 'crack-suffered', describing the resulting state of being cracked.
Why is there an extra letter at the end of آینهی?
That is the ezafe linking the noun آینه (mirror) to its adjective ترکخورده. Because آینه ends in a silent heh (ه), the ezafe is pronounced as '-ye'. In modern writing, this is usually shown by adding a standalone ی (as seen here) to smoothly connect the words.
Why does the sentence begin with the preposition به?
In Farsi, the compound verb نگاه کردن (to look) always takes the preposition به (to/at) to introduce the object you are looking at. Because the entire object phrase here is آن آینهی ترکخورده (that cracked mirror), the به has to go at the very beginning of that noun phrase.
Why is the verb نکن (don't do) used instead of a specific single word for 'look'?