Breakdown of مرد ناشناس از حصار بالا میرفت که من او را دیدم.
من
I
او
he/she
مردmard
man
ازaz
from
دیدنdidan
to see / to watch
رفتنraftan
to go
راrâ
definite direct object marker
کهke
that (conjunction)
بالاbâlâ
up, above / high
ناشناسnâshenâs
unknown (person, anonymous)
حصارhesâr
fence
Questions & Answers about مرد ناشناس از حصار بالا میرفت که من او را دیدم.
Why does ke mean "when" here instead of its usual meaning "that"?
This is a special structure for telling stories. When you have a background action in the Past Continuous (bâlâ mi-raft - was climbing) followed by ke, it acts as an interruption meaning "when suddenly". The interrupting action is then in the Simple Past (didam - saw).
Could I use vaghti (ke) instead of just ke in the middle of this sentence?
You could, but just using ke is much more natural for this specific "sudden interruption" feeling. If you use vaghti ke, Farsi speakers usually put it at the very beginning of the sentence instead to set the scene: vaghti ke man u râ didam, mard az hesâr bâlâ mi-raft (When I saw him, the man was climbing the fence).
Why is the preposition az (from) used for "climbing the fence"?
The compound verb for "to climb" is bâlâ raftan (literally "to go up"). In Farsi, you don't climb a direct object; instead, you go up from it. Therefore, "climbing the fence" translates to going up from the fence: az hesâr bâlâ mi-raft.
How does nâ-shenâs translate to "unknown"?
It is built from the negative prefix nâ- (meaning un- or non-) attached to shenâs, which is the present stem of the verb shenâkhtan (to know or recognize). Together, it literally means "un-recognized".
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