Persian to Greek: distinguishing the purpose of a visit from its timing
Persian tā can connect events in different ways
Persian تا, tā, does not identify one fixed relationship between two clauses. It can indicate a deadline, the endpoint of waiting or the purpose of an action. Greek needs the relationship expressed by the complete source construction. Translating every tā as until could turn a reason for visiting into a statement about how long the visit lasts.
Persian Online contrasts tā zohr bargard, return by noon, with an account of remaining somewhere until another person returned. The first sets a latest return time; the second gives the event that ends the waiting. A Greek travel message must retain that difference rather than merge both into a vague reference to noon or a later return.
Coming to see somebody states a purpose
The Persian subjunctive lesson gives āmadam tā šomā rā bebinam for I came to see you. It also shows a version using ke and one without either connecting word. In the illustrated constructions, the intended visit can be expressed without an overt tā. The absence of that word therefore does not prove that the second action is an unrelated event.
The lesson retains the purpose-clause subjunctive while changing the main event from a past arrival to perfect or earlier-past forms. A present-looking subordinate form should not make the Greek version report a present arrival. Identify when the coming occurred separately from the fact that seeing the other person was its purpose. These are two parts of the message, not competing tense labels.
Greek goal clauses use a complete construction
The Greek Universal Dependencies overview describes να or για να introducing goal-denoting clauses. It also lists να in other subordinate constructions, including expressions corresponding to before and until. Consequently, να alone does not tell a translator that every clause states a purpose. Its surrounding words and its relationship to the main predicate matter.
For this Persian-to-Greek contrast, choose the construction for the intended connection: a visit made in order to see somebody, waiting that ends when somebody returns, or an action required before a time limit. The same Greek particle can appear in more than one larger structure, just as the same Persian connector can have more than one function. Neither short marker is a universal one-word equivalent of the other.
Do not report the intended meeting as an accomplished fact
Coming with the purpose of seeing someone does not establish that the meeting succeeded. The Persian lesson’s arrival-and-purpose examples state why the person came, while the following conversation may explain that the other person was absent. A Greek translation should not collapse those two predicates into a completed meeting.
The preposition lesson also illustrates tā in purpose expressions and in a before-it-is-too-late construction. These are further reasons to read the verb and the context instead of translating the connector in isolation. A warning to return before it becomes late is not an instruction to remain away until lateness occurs. Reversing that boundary would reverse the practical advice.
When sharing this kind of translation, preserve the clause that establishes the purpose or endpoint. A short fragment about coming, seeing or returning can otherwise lose the relationship that tells the recipient whether the message explains an intention, reports a duration or gives a deadline.
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