Word
سنگتراش به سنگ شکل داد.
Meaning
The sculptor gave shape to the stone.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of سنگتراش به سنگ شکل داد.
بهbe
to
سنگsang
stone
شکل دادنshekl dâdan
to shape
سنگتراشsang-tarâsh
sculptor
Questions & Answers about سنگتراش به سنگ شکل داد.
How is the noun سنگتراش constructed?
It is a compound of سنگ (stone) and تراش, which is the present stem of تراشیدن (to carve or shave). Combining a noun with a verb's present stem is a very common Farsi pattern for creating job titles or agent nouns.
Why does this sentence use به سنگ instead of the direct object marker را?
The compound verb شکل دادن literally means "to give shape." Because you give shape to something, it takes an indirect object with the preposition به. If the sentence used a simple transitive verb like تراشیدن (to carve), you would use را instead: سنگ را تراشید (he carved the stone).
Does repeating سنگ in both the subject and the indirect object sound clunky in Farsi?
Not at all. While "the stone-carver shaped the stone" might sound slightly repetitive in English, compound nouns like سنگتراش are processed as a single unified vocabulary item in Farsi. Repeating the root noun later in the sentence is completely natural.
How would we apply this lesson's grammar to say "The sculptor gave shape to the best of the stones"?
You would use the superlative partitive construction by adding the Ezafe to the superlative adjective, followed by the plural noun: سنگتراش به بهترینِ سنگها شکل داد (behtarin-e sang-ha).