Persian verbs (Persian: فعل‌های فارسی, romanized: Fe’lhā-ye fārsi, pronounced [feʔlˈhɒːje fɒːɾˈsiː]) are very regular compared with those of most European languages. From the two stems given in dictionaries (e.g. gir, gereft 'take, took', nevis, nevešt 'write, wrote', deh, dād 'give, gave' etc.) it is possible to derive all the other forms of almost any verb. The main irregularity is that given one stem it is not usually possible to predict the other. Another irregularity is that the verb 'to be' has no stem in the present tense.
Persian verbs are inflected for three singular and three plural persons. The 2nd and 3rd person plural are often used when referring to singular persons for politeness.
There are fewer tenses in Persian than in English. There are about ten tenses in all. The greatest variety is shown in tenses referring to past events. A series of past tenses (past simple, imperfect, and pluperfect) is matched by a corresponding series of perfect tenses (perfect simple, perfect continuous, and perfect pluperfect — the last of these made by adding a perfect ending to the pluperfect tense). These perfect tenses are used sometimes much as the English perfect tense (e.g. 'I have done' etc.), but often in an inferential or reportative sense ('apparently I had done' etc.), similar to the perfect tense in Turkish.[1]
The present tense has a range of meanings (habitual, progressive, punctual, historic). In colloquial Persian this tense is also used with future meaning, although there also exists a separate future tense used in formal styles. In colloquial Persian there are also three progressive tenses (present, past, and perfect).
There are two subjunctive mood forms, present and perfect. Subjunctive verbs are often used where English uses an infinitive, e.g. 'I want to go' is expressed in Persian as 'I want I may go'.
A perfect participle is made by adding -e to the second stem. This participle is active in intransitive verbs, e.g. rafte 'gone', but passive in transitive verbs, e.g. nevešte 'written (by someone)'. As well as being used to make the perfect tenses, this perfect participle can be used to make the passive of transitive verbs, by adding different parts of the verb šodan 'to become'.
Compound verbs, such as bāz kardan 'to open' (lit. 'to make open') and yād gereftan 'to learn', are very frequently used in modern Persian.
In colloquial Persian, commonly used verbs tend to be pronounced in an abbreviated form, for example ast 'he is' is pronounced e, miravad 'he goes' is pronounced mire, and miguyam 'I say' is pronounced migam. (Compare, eg, "gotcha" in English which is an abbreviated form of "have you got your...")
In Persian the verb usually comes at the end of the clause, although there are sometimes exceptions (for example in colloquial Persian it is common to hear phrases such as raftam Tehrān 'I went to Tehran' where the destination follows the verb).[2]
Infinitives end in تن (-tan) or دن (-dan). The principal parts of a verb are the infinitive stem and present stem. The infinitive stem (often called the past stem)[3] is made simply by removing the ن (-an) from the infinitive:
The present stem tends to vary more, and in many common verbs bears little resemblance to the infinitive stem:
The present indicative, present subjunctive, and present participle are made from the present stem, other tenses from the infinitive stem. Both stems can be used to make verbal nouns such as گفتگو goftogu (or goftegu) 'dialogue', رفت وآمد raft o āmad 'going and coming', خوشنویس xošnevis 'calligrapher'.
The infinitive itself differs in usage from the English infinitive; for example, the subjunctive not the infinitive is used in sentences such as 'I want to go' or 'I am able to go'. The Persian infinitive is more like a verbal noun or gerund,[4] used in phrases such as نوشتن اين کتاب neveštan-e in ketāb 'the writing of this book' or اختراع نوشتن exterā'-e neveštan 'the invention of writing'.
Note that in the transliteration used in this article, the letter 'x' represents a velar fricative sound, similar to the Peninsular Spanish 'j' as in 'jota', and 'š' and 'č' represent the sounds of English 'sh' and 'ch'.[5]
Persian verbs have two participles - perfect and present.
The perfect participle is formed by adding ه -e to the infinitive stem. It is passive in transitive verbs but active in intransitive verbs (e.g. rafte 'gone').
As well as being used to make the perfect tenses, the perfect participle can be used as an adjective or noun:[6]
The present participle, which is less common, is formed by adding نده -ande to the present stem. Usually this is used as an agent noun (e.g. نويسنده nevisande 'writer'), though sometimes it is a verbal adjective (e.g. سال آينده sāl-e āyande 'the coming year', i.e. 'next year').[7] A true participle ending in -ān (e.g. خندان xandān 'smiling') also exists for some verbs.[8]
Personal forms of verbs are formed mostly with simple suffixes. The personal suffixes for the present and future tense and the two subjunctive tenses are:
The 2nd and 3rd persons plural may refer to singular persons for added respect. One major exception is God, for whom plural forms are never used.
The past, imperfect, and pluperfect tenses have very similar endings, except that there is no ending in the 3rd person singular:
These same endings are used for the verbs هست hast 'he is' and نيست nist 'he isn't', despite their being present tenses.
There is no ending in the 3rd person singular, but often in informal speech, the suffix -eš (lit. 'his/her') is added to supply the gap, e.g. goft-eš 'he said'.[9]
The perfect tenses have the following personal endings:
Examples of various tenses are given below using the verb کردن kardan 'to do'. Note that personal pronouns are frequently dropped and are provided here for clarity.
The present tense is formed by prefixing می mi- to the present stem with personal endings (for stems ending with vowels, a y- is added before the personal ending):
The negative is made with the prefix نه ne-, which is stressed: من نمی‌کنم man nemikonam 'I don't do'.
In classical Persian the present tense is often found without the prefix mi-, but in modern Persian mi- is always added except in the verb dāštan 'to have', where it is usually omitted.[10]
The present tense has various present meanings (general, habitual, progressive, performative); it can also have a future meaning (see below). Colloquially the present tense can also be used as a historical present when narrating events of the past, especially when relating events which occurred suddenly or unexpectedly.[11]
Another meaning is the equivalent of an English perfect continuous in sentences such as:
The present tense of the verb بودن budan 'to be' is irregular in that it has no present stem. Instead it consists of enclitic words which cannot be used without a preceding noun or adjective. They are as follows:
An example of the use of these is as follows:
There is also a second form of the present tense of 'to be' used to add emphasis, express existence and to avoid vowel combinations such as i-i, which despite being a present tense, has the endings of a past tense as follows:[13]
Yet another, but less commonly used, form of the verb 'to be' is mibāšam 'I am', etc., which has the normal present tense endings.[14]
The negative of the verb 'to be' in modern Persian is nistam 'I am not', which has the same endings as hastam.[15]
The present tense can be reinforced in its progressive meaning by adding the present tense of داشتن dāštan 'to have' before the main verb. It is used in colloquial Persian only:
The two halves of the verb are usually separated by other words, e.g. u dārad qazā mixorad 'he is eating at the moment'.[16] There is no negative.[17]
The past simple is formed with the infinitive stem and personal endings. There is no ending in the 3rd person singular:
The stress in this tense goes on the syllable before the ending, e.g. kárdam, geréftam 'I took'.[18] But in a compound verb, the stress goes on the word before the verb, e.g. on kār in kār kardam 'I worked'.[19]
The negative is made with na- (stressed): man nákardam 'I didn't do (it)'.
In addition to its normal meaning of the simple past (e.g. 'he went'), the past simple also has some idiomatic uses in Persian. For example, colloquially it can be used in 'if' and 'when' clauses referring to future time:[20]
Another idiom is āmadam! 'I'm coming (at once!)'[21]
The past simple tense in Persian is also often used where English might use the perfect to refer to events which have just occurred:
The imperfect is formed by prefixing می mi- to the simple past:[23]
The negative has ne-: man nemikardam 'I was not doing'.
The imperfect of بودن budan 'to be' and داشتن dāštan 'to have' do not use the prefix می mi-,[23] except sometimes when the meaning is 'would be' or 'would have':
The negative of these is made with na-: nabudam 'I was not'.
As well as its main past habitual or past progressive meaning ('I used to go', 'I was going'), the imperfect in Persian is also used in a conditional meaning ('I would go', 'I would have gone'), for example:
It can also be used in sentences expressing unfulfilled wishes concerning the present or the past:[25]
In colloquial Persian the progressive aspect of the imperfect tense can be reinforced in its progressive meaning by adding the past tense of داشتن dāštan before it:[26]
When used in a sentence, the two parts of the verb are usually separated by other words, e.g.
There is no negative.
The pluperfect is a compound tense formed from the perfect participle and the simple past of the verb بودن (to be). As well as its ordinary use as a pluperfect, like the imperfect it can also be used in a conditional sense:
The negative is formed with na-: man nakarde budam 'I hadn't done'.
The verb budan 'to be' is not used in the pluperfect tense, the simple past being used instead.[27]
Sometimes a continuous version of the pluperfect is found (man mikarde budam) but this is rare and not generally used; some Persian grammarians consider it ungrammatical.[28]
As well as its ordinary pluperfect meaning ('he had gone'), the pluperfect can also be used instead of the imperfect in the sense 'would have gone' or 'if (only) he had gone':[25]
Corresponding to each of the past tenses, Persian has a set of perfect tenses. These tenses are not only used in the ordinary perfect sense ('he has done X', 'he has sometimes done X') but also in colloquial Persian in an inferential or reported sense ('it appears that he did X'),[30] Most other Iranian dialects of the region have a similar use of the perfect tense and it is likely that this is due to areal contact with Turkish, which is also spoken in Iran.
The perfect simple is formed by adding the present-tense suffixes of the verb بودن budan ('to be') to the perfect participle:
The negative is made with na- (stressed): man nakarde am 'I have not done'.
The perfect tense is used in situations similar to those described for the perfect in English.[31] One situation is the perfect of result:
Another is the experiential perfect, to describe an event that has happened before (and may happen again):
Another use of the perfect is to describe a situation that has lasted a long time up to now:[35]
Unlike the English perfect, the Persian perfect is compatible with a past-time adverbial.[38][39] It is often used in sentences such as:
Another use which differs from English is in sentences of the type 'it is a long time since X happened':
With verbs meaning 'stand', 'sit', 'lie' the perfect can represent a present state:
The perfect continuous is made by adding the prefix mi- to the perfect:
The negative (which is rare) is made with ne-: nemikarde am 'I have not been doing'.
This tense is not used in the same way in Persian as the English perfect continuous. As noted above, the present, not the perfect is used in sentences of the kind 'I have been waiting for an hour' (lit. 'it is an hour that I am waiting for you').
However, it can be used in sentences such as the following referring to events which have been happening repeatedly or continuously for a long time:[41]
Another common use which differs from English is to express a situation that no longer exists, that is, it is the equivalent of 'I used to do':
It can also be used in an inferential sense,[45] as in:
A progressive version of the perfect continuous is also found in colloquial Persian, but it seems only in the 3rd person:[48]
It is typically used in an inferential sense (that is, with the idea 'it would seem that...'), for example, in sentences in which the speaker is reporting something he has been told, but did not personally witness, such as the following:
A perfect version of the pluperfect (also known as the 'double perfect')[50] can be made by changing budam in the pluperfect to bude am. This is occasionally used in a non-inferential sense, but much more frequently it is inferential:
A typical example of its use is the following:
The future tense is formed by adding a shortened version of the infinitive, identical with the infinitive stem, to the present tense form of the verb خواستن xāstan 'I want', but without the prefix mi-. It is rarely used in colloquial Persian, since the present tense is usually used with a future meaning instead (especially with verbs of motion):[52]
The positive verb is stressed on the personal ending: xāhám kard.[53] The negative is naxāham kard 'I will not do', with stress on ná-.
There is no distinction between simple and continuous in the future.[54] There is also no future perfect. To represent the future perfect (e.g. 'I will have finished') Persian uses either the future simple or colloquially the perfect simple:[55]
Another way of expressing future in colloquial Persian is to use a form meaning literally 'he wants to do it' in the sense 'he is about to do it', for example:
There are also other expressions used for referring to the future, such as qarār ast 'it is arranged' or tasmim dāram 'I'm intending to', followed by the subjunctive:[57]
The present tense is also frequently used with future reference, but especially of verbs of motion or arriving. A time adverbial is also required to avoid ambiguity:[58]
The present subjunctive is formed by prefixing بـ be- to the present stem with personal endings, e.g. benevisam 'I may write'. When the verb has the vowel o this changes to bo-:[59]
When used as part of a compound verb, the prefix be- is sometimes omitted, e.g. چکار کنم če kār konam? 'what am I to do?'
The negative also lacks the prefix be-: nakonam 'that I not do'.
The present subjunctive of the verb بودن 'to be' is باشم bāšam, with the same endings as above. The present subjunctive of the verb داشتن 'to have' is usually replaced by the perfect subjunctive داشته باشم dāšte bāšam.[59]
The present subjunctive is very common in Persian. It is used whenever it is uncertain whether an event will take place, or whether a situation is true, e.g.[60]
It is used for indefinite relative clauses such as the following:[61]
The subjunctive is also used after phrases such as qabl az inke 'before...' (of future or past time), tā 'until...' (of future time only), tā 'so that':[62]
It is also used instead of an infinitive after verbs such as 'I want', 'I can', 'I must', 'it is possible that', and in indirect commands:[63]
The perfect subjunctive is formed by adding bāšam to the perfect participle. One of the main uses is in sentences referring to an event or state in the past about which there is an element of doubt:[64]
It is also used for wishes:[66]
The negative is made with na-: nakarde bāšam 'that I have not done'.
The imperative (command) is similar to the subjunctive, except that the 2nd person singular has no ending:
The negative lacks the prefix be-: nanevis! 'do not write!'.
If the present stem ends in -av, as in rav 'go', this changes in the imperative singular to -o:
The imperative of the verb بودن 'to be' does not use the 'be-' prefix:
The imperative of the verb dāštan 'to have' generally uses the perfect subjunctive form:
Although it mostly appears in classical Persian literature, the optative mood is sometimes used in common Persian. It is formed by adding -ād to the present stem:
Although in general, this inflection has been abandoned, yet remnants of its usage can be observed in colloquial expressions such as harče bādā bād (هرچه بادا باد) 'come what may' and dast marizād (دست مريزاد) lit. 'may that hand not spill [what it is holding]', meaning 'well done'.
Transitive verbs in Persian can be made passive by adding different tenses of the verb šodan 'to become' to the perfect participle, e.g.[67] nāme nevešte (na)šode ast 'the letter has (not) been written' nāme nevešte xāhad šod 'the letter will be written'
In the subjunctive, the prefix be- is usually omitted:[67] nāme bāyad nevešte šavad 'the letter must be written'
In compound verbs, the light verb kardan is simply replaced with šodan. For example, from čāp kardan 'to print' is made: āgahi diruz čāp šod 'the letter was printed yesterday'[67]
Like English verbs, Persian verbs are either transitive (requiring an object) or intransitive. In Persian an accusative marker (enclitic), را rā, comes after any definite direct object:
An intransitive verb can be turned into a transitive one by making it into a causative verb. This is done by adding -ān- (in the past tense -ānd-) to the present stem of the verb. For example:
There are also cases where a causative verb is formed from a transitive verb:
Causative verbs are not comprehensively productive, but are applied to certain verbs only.
In colloquial Persian, many of the most commonly used verbs are pronounced in an abbreviated form; and ān and ām may become un and um. Here are some examples:[68]
Many verbs nowadays are compound verbs and many old simple verbs have been replaced by a compound.[69] One of the most frequent verbs (known as light verbs) used to form compound verbs is کَردَن kardan 'to do, to make'. For example, the word صُحبَت sohbat (originally from Arabic) means 'conversation', while صُحبَت کَردَن sohbat kardan means 'to speak'. Only the light verb (e.g. کَردَن kardan) is conjugated; the word preceding it is not affected. For example:
Some other light verbs used to form compound verbs are:
Some other examples of compound verbs with کَردَن kardan are:
Equivalents for فِکر کَردَن fekr kardan and گِریه کَردَن gerye kardan are پنداشتن pendāštan and گریستن geristan, which are normally used in a literary context rather than in daily conversation.
The following auxiliary verbs are used in Persian:
In indirect sentences introduced by a past-tense verb (e.g. 'he said that...', 'he asked whether...', 'it was obvious that...'), if the second verb refers to a situation simultaneous with, or an event shortly to follow, the main verb, the present tense is used in Persian. It does not change to a past tense as in English:[70]
If the second verb refers to a time earlier than the first verb, it is common to use one of the perfect tenses for the second verb:
However the pluperfect can be used if the fact is certain:
If the second verb merely represents an idea rather than a statement of fact, or a wish or a possibility, the subjunctive is used:[72]