Question 1

Why is "playing" translated as a full clause with ke dâsht ... mi-zad instead of a participle like in English?

Accepted Answer

Verbs of perception like didan (to see) use a pseudo-relative clause to express an ongoing action. Instead of saying "I saw him playing," Farsi literally says "I saw him that he was playing." This requires the complementizer ke followed by the past continuous tense dâsht ... mi-zad to match the past tense of didam.

Question 2

Why does the object marker râ come before ke, rather than after the whole "playing the setar" clause?

Accepted Answer

The word râ marks the specific person being seen: mard-e javân-e por-shur (the passionate young man). The clause starting with ke acts as a description of what he was doing at that exact moment. Because Farsi frames this as "I saw the man [râ] that was playing," the râ attaches directly to the man, not the action.

Question 3

Could I put the main verb didam right after râ instead of at the very end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can. While this sentence puts the main verb didam at the very end following strict Subject-Object-Verb order, it is actually very common in conversational Farsi to pull the main verb forward: mard-e javân-e por-shur râ didam ke dâsht setâr mi-zad. This prevents the main verb from being delayed too long by the descriptive clause.

Question 4

Why is the verb zadan (to hit) used for playing the setar?

Accepted Answer

In Farsi, zadan is the standard verb for playing most musical instruments, especially string and percussion instruments. When you play the setar, piano, or guitar, you use zadan because you are literally striking or hitting the strings or keys.

مرد جوان پرشور را که داشت سه‌تار می‌زد دیدم.

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