Breakdown of برای تغییر دادنش، ما تقویت مثبت را به تنبیه کردن ترجیح میدهیم.
او
he/she
ما
we
بهbe
to
برایbarâye
for
Questions & Answers about برای تغییر دادنش، ما تقویت مثبت را به تنبیه کردن ترجیح میدهیم.
How does the ending on تغییر دادنش work to mean changing him?
تغییر دادن is the long infinitive meaning to change or changing. By attaching the third-person singular possessive enclitic ـَـش to it, we express the logical direct object of that action. Instead of using a separate pronoun like تغییر دادن او, we compactly say تغییر دادنش (literally his changing, meaning changing him).
Could تغییر دادنش refer to changing an it instead of a him?
Yes! The enclitic ـَـش does not specify gender or animacy. Depending on the broader context, تغییر دادنش could mean changing him, changing her, or changing it (such as a bad habit, an object, or a system).
What is the grammatical structure for preferring A to B in this sentence?
In Farsi, to prefer A to B is expressed as A را به B ترجیح دادن. Notice that the preferred thing (تقویت مثبت, positive reinforcement) takes the direct object marker را, while the less preferred thing (تنبیه کردن, punishing) is introduced by the preposition به.
Why is the infinitive تنبیه کردن used here instead of just the noun تنبیه (punishment)?
تنبیه کردن is the long infinitive acting as a verbal noun (punishing). While you could use just the noun تنبیه, using the full infinitive emphasizes the active process of punishing. This also structurally balances with the other active process mentioned earlier in the sentence, (changing).