Learn Farsi: پنج دقیقه طول می‌کشد تا خود متصدی ایستگاه گیت را باز کند. - It takes five minutes for the station operator himself to open the gate.

Here, khod acts as an emphatic modifier meaning "himself" or "the very". By adding the Ezafe connector (khod-e), it emphasizes the noun that follows it. So, khod-e motasaddi means "the operator himself," stressing that it is the operator and not a passenger doing the action. This is a step up from its basic reflexive use (like doing something "to oneself"), which usually takes personal suffixes like -am, -at, or -ash.

Why is ta used here to mean "for someone to do something"?

In English, we say "It takes five minutes for the operator to open...". In Farsi, you bridge the expression of time (tul mikeshad) to the action using ta (until / so that). It translates literally as "It takes five minutes until the operator opens...".

Why is the verb baz konad (open) in the subjunctive form?

The word ta in this context triggers the subjunctive mood because it introduces a pending, expected outcome. Since opening the gate hasn't actually happened yet and is the result of waiting those five minutes, the verb baz kardan (to open) must take the subjunctive form baz konad.

What is the literal translation of tul mikeshad?

The infinitive tul keshidan literally translates to "to pull length" (tul = length, = to pull or draw). It is the standard Farsi idiom for saying an action or event "takes time" or "lasts".