| Grammar Notes: Let's break down the Persian sentence جنگ یا صلح؟ این به ما بستگی دارد که چه چیزی در کتاب های تاریخ نوشته شود into its components and explain each part: 1. جنگ یا صلح؟ (jang yā solḥ?) - "War or peace?" - جنگ (jang) - "war" - یا (yā) - "or" - صلح (solḥ) - "peace" 2. این به ما بستگی دارد (in be mā bastegi dārad) - "This depends on us" - این (in) - "this" - به (be) - "on" (preposition) - ما (mā) - "us" - بستگی دارد (bastegi dārad) - "depends", literally "has dependence". "بستگی" (bastegi) comes from the verb بستن (bastan) meaning "to tie" or "to bind", showing a state of dependency; دارد (dārad) is the 3rd person singular present form of داشتن (dāshtan), meaning "to have". 3. که چه چیزی در کتاب های تاریخ نوشته شود (ke che chizi dar ketāb hā-ye tārikh neveshte shavad) - "that what is written in the history books" - که (ke) - "that" - چه چیزی (che chizi) - "what thing", "what" - در (dar) - "in" - کتاب های تاریخ (ketāb hā-ye tārikh) - "history books" - کتاب (ketāb) - "book" - های (hā-ye) - pluralizing suffix, equivalent to "s" in English, attached with a hyphen to show possession or relation - تاریخ (tārikh) - "history" - نوشته شود (neveshte shavad) - "is written", passive voice. This comes from نوشتن (neveshtan) - "to write". The form شود (shavad) is the subjunctive form of شدن (shodan), "to become", used here to form a passive voice in subjunctive mood, indicating a wish or possibility. ### Grammar Tip: Persian often uses the subjunctive mood (e.g., شود in نوشته شود) to express wishes, possibilities, or hypothetical situations. The subjunctive is formed with the past stem of the verb plus endings that vary depending on the person and number, and it's frequently introduced by که (ke), meaning "that". In sentences expressing a condition or dependency (like "depends on us"), Persian uses this mood to highlight the conditionality of the action. |
