Breakdown of مادر با خواهرم به مغازه رفت تا خرید کند.
مادرmâdar
mother
خواهرkhâhar
sister
مغازهmaghâze
shop
بهbe
to
Questions & Answers about مادر با خواهرم به مغازه رفت تا خرید کند.
Why does the sentence use تا here? Doesn't it usually mean "until"?
While تا often means "until", in this sentence it means "so that" or "in order to". It connects the main action (going to the shop) with the purpose of that action (doing the shopping).
Why is the second verb کند instead of a past tense verb, since she went to the shop in the past?
In Farsi, when you express a purpose or intention using تا (in order to), the verb that follows must be in the present subjunctive form. Even though the main action happened in the past (رفت), the purpose clause uses the subjunctive کند (from the infinitive کردن).
I thought Farsi verbs always go at the very end. Why is رفت in the middle of the sentence?
Farsi verbs do go at the end, but they go at the end of their specific clause (a part of a sentence with its own verb). This sentence has two clauses. رفت is at the end of the first clause (Mother went to the shop with my sister). The word تا starts a second clause, which ends with its own verb, کند.
How is "my sister" expressed in the single word خواهرم?
In Farsi, possession is most commonly shown by attaching a short ending (a suffix) directly to the noun. The ـَم (-am) attached to the end of خواهر (sister) is the possessive suffix for "my".