Learn Farsi: آمد و شد در این خیابان زیاد است. - There is a lot of coming and going on this street.

It is built by taking two bare past stems and joining them with o (and). âmad is the past stem of âmadan (to come), and shod is the past stem of shodan (to become/to go). Together, they form a single abstract noun that means "traffic" or "coming and going".

Wait, I learned that shodan means "to become." Why does it translate to "going" here?

You are completely right about modern Farsi. However, in classical Persian, shodan meant "to go." This older meaning is frozen in time inside a few compound words like âmad o shod. You will also frequently hear the alternative raft o âmad, which uses the modern verb for going (raftan).

Why do we use the preposition dar (in) when the translation says "on this street"?

Prepositions rarely translate one-to-one between languages. In Farsi, physical movement, traffic, or locations along a road are described as being "in" the street (dar xiâbân), whereas English speakers naturally say "on the street."

Is âmad o shod treated as a singular or plural subject?

It is treated as a singular subject, much like the word "traffic" in English. That is why the sentence ends with the singular verb ast (is) even though there is "a lot" (ziâd) of activity happening.