Persian verbs

The infinitive form of the verb is constructed by adding the suffix æn to the past root of the verb. Ex: Khærid+æn= to buy

Normal Persian verbs can be formed using the following morpheme pattern:

( NEG - DUR or SUBJ/IMPER ) - root - PAST - PERSON - ACC-ENCLITIC

• Negative prefix: نَه/næ - changes to نِه/ne before the Durative prefix, نَه/næ itself is used for negative imperative by adding it to the present root of the verb, ex: Næ+Gu= Nægu= Do not say
• Durative prefix: می/mi
• Subjunctive/Imperative prefix: بِه/be as in بِرود=Berævæd= That he go & بِرو=Bero(Boro)= Go!, both Ro or Rav being the present root of the infinitive Ræftan
• Past suffix: د/d - changes to ت/t after unvoiced consonants
• Optative identifier (archaic): an ا/ā is added before the last character of the present tense of singular third person. Although there are suggestions that this inflection has been abandoned, but significant remnants of its usage can still be observed in some contemporary Persian compositions and colloquial proverbs, as in hærče bādā bād (هرچه بادا باد) "come what may" and dæst mærizād (دست مريزاد) lit. "May that hand not spill [what it is holding]", meaning "well done".

Conjugations

Example verb conjugations for first-person singular form of خوُردَن/khordæn "to eat". It is important to know that the following(In both active and passive voices) are never used in modern Persian: Indicative: Imperfective perfect, Imperfective pluperfect; Subjunctive: Imperfective preterite, Imperfective pluperfect

Compound verbs

Light verbs such as کَردَن/kærdæn "to do, to make" are often used with nouns to form what is called a compound verb, light verb construction, or complex predicate. For example, the word "صُحبَت/sohbæt"(Originally from Arabic) means "conversation", while "صُحبَت کَردَن/sohbæt kærdæn" means "to speak". One may add a light verb after a noun, adjective, preposition, or prepositional phrase to form a compound verb. Only the light verb (e.g. کَردَن/kærdæn) is conjugated; the word preceding it is not affected. For example: صُحبَت می‌کُنَم/sohbæt mikonæm ("I speak" or very near future "I will speak"; صُحبَت می‌کُنَم/sohbæt mikonæm also translates as, "I do speak" - this especially relates to, "I do speak" - as in the ability to speak a language)

دارَم صُحبَت می‌کُنَم/dāræm sohbæt mikonæm ("I am speaking")

صُحبَت کَرده‌اَم/sohbæt kærde æm ("I have spoken")

صُحبَت خواهَم کَرد/sohbæt khāhæm kærd ("I will speak")

As can be seen from the examples, the head word (in this case, صُحبَت/sohbæt) remains unchanged throughout the conjugation, and only the light verb کَردَن/kærdæn is conjugated. They may be compared to English verb particle constructions, such as hand down (leave as an inheritance) and set up (arrange), or German compound verbs, such as radfahren (to ride by bicycle) and zurückgehen (to go back) or in Spanish Poner la mesa (to set the table) or Faire attention (to pay attention) in French . In present progressive tense, the verb داشتن is used which means "to have" (I have=دارم). In future tense, the verb خواستن is respectively used which means "to want", just the same as the English cognate Will (خواهم). Some other Light verbs are: Dādæn (to give) as in Rokh Dādæn= to happen, Gereftæn (to take) as in Pā Gereftæn= to start to grow , Zædæn (to hit) as in Hærf Zædæn= to talk, to speak , Khordæn (to eat) as in Sogænd Khordan= to take a vow, Shodan (to become) as in Arām Shodan= to calm down, Budæn (to be) as in Amāde Budæn= to be ready etc.

Some other examples of compound verbs with کَردَن/kærdæn are:

• فِکر کَردَن/fekr kærdæn, "to think"
• فَراموش کَردَن/færāmush kærdæn, "to forget"
• گَریه کَردَن/gærye kærdæn, "to cry"
• تِلِفُن کَردَن/telefon kærdæn, "to call, to telephone"
• تَعمیر کَردَن/tæmir kærdæn, "to fix"

Other equivalents for فِکر کَردَن/fekr kærdæn and گَریه کَردَن/gerye kærdæn are پنداشتن/Pendāshtæn and گریستن/Geristæn that are normally used in literary context rather than daily conversations.

Auxiliary Verbs

• بایَد/bāyæd - 'must': Not conjugated
• شایَد/shāyæd - 'might': Not conjugated
• تَوانِستَن/tævānestæn - 'can': Conjugated
• خواستَن/khāstæn - 'want': Conjugated. Subordinating clause is subjunctive
• خواهَد/khāhæd - 'will': Conjugated. Main verb is tenseless

Details

Infinitives and stems

Infinitives end in تن (-tan) or دن (-dan). The principle parts to remember are the past stem and present stem. The past stem is the easier to recognize, as it is determined simply by removing the ن (-an) from the infinitive.

• کردن (kardan, to make/to do) - کرد (kard)
• داشتن (dâštan, to have) - داشت (dâšt)
• گرفتن (gereftan, to take) - گرفت (gereft)
• دیدن (didan, to see) - دید (did)

The present stem tends to vary more, and in many common verbs bears little resemblance to the infinitive or past stem. In some verbs, the present stem is identical to the past stem, but for the -t/-d.

• کردن (kardan) - کن (kon)
• داشتن (dâštan) - دار (dâr)
• گرفتن (gereftan) - گیر (gir)
• دیدن (didan) - بین (bin)

Participles

Persian verbs have two participles - past and present.

The past participle is formed by adding ه (-e) to the past stem

• کردن (kardan) - کرده (karde)
• داشتن (dâštan) - داشته (dâšte)
• گرفتن (gereftan) - گرفته (gerefte)
• دیدن (didan, to see) - دیده (dide)

The present participle is formed by adding نده (-ande) to the present stem

• کردن (kardan) - کننده (konande)
• داشتن (dâštan) - دارنده (dârande)
• گرفتن (gereftan) - گیرنده (girande)
• دیدن (didan) - بیننده (binande)

Personal forms

Personal forms of verbs are formed mostly with simple prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes tend to be modal, while the suffixes are personal.

The personal suffixes are:

• ـم (-am) (first person singular)
• ـی (-i) (second person singular informal)
• ـد (-ad) (for non-past tenses), colloquially pronounced -e nul (for past tenses) (third person singular informal)
• ـیم (-im) (first person plural)
• ـید (-id) (second person plural), colloquially pronounced -in
• ـند (-and) (third person plural), colloquially pronounced -an

The most important and common prefixes are the progressive می (mi-) which forms imperfective tenses and بـ (be-) for subjunctives.

Instructions for forming various tenses will be given below with example conjugations of the verb کردن. An example translation will be given for the 1st person singular to give a basic idea of the tense's use. Note that personal pronouns are frequently dropped and are provided here for clarity.

Simple past

The simple past is formed with the past stem and personal endings.

• من کردم (man kardam) (I did)
• تو کردی (to kardi)(You did – familiar, singular)
• وی کرد (vay kard)
• ما کردیم (mâ kardim)
• شما کردید (šomâ kardid)(You did – formal, plural)
• آنها کردند (ânhâ kardand)

Present imperfect

The present imperfect is formed by prefixing می to the present stem with personal endings

• من می‌کنم (man mi-konam) (I do)
• تو می‌کنی (to mi-koni)
• وی می‌کند (vay mi-konad)
• ما می‌کنیم (mâ mi-konim)
• شما می‌کنید (šomâ mi-konid)
• آنها می‌کنند (ânhâ mi-konand)

Past imperfect

The past imperfect is formed by prefixing می to the simple past

• من می‌کردم (man mi-kardam) (I was doing)
• تو می‌کردی (to mi-kardi)
• وی می‌کرد (vay mi-kard)
• ما می‌کردیم (mâ mi-kardim)
• شما می‌کردید (šomâ mi-kardid)
• آنها می‌کردند (ânhâ mi-kardand)

Present perfect

The present perfect is formed by adding the present-tense suffixes of the verb بودن (to be) to the past participle.

• من کرده‌ام (man karde-am) (I have done)
• تو کرده‌ای (to karde-i)
• وی کرده است (vay karde ast)
• ما کرده‌ایم (mâ karde-im)
• شما کرده‌اید (šomâ karde-id)
• آنها کرده‌اند (ânhâ karde-and)

Pluperfect

The pluperfect is a compound tense formed from the past participle and the simple past of the verb بودن (to be)

• من کرده بودم (man karde budam) (I had done)
• تو کرده بودی (to karde budi)
• وی کرده بود (vay karde bud)
• ما کرده بودیم (mâ karde budim)
• شما کرده بودید (šomâ karde budid)
• آنها کرده بودند (ânhâ karde budand)

Present and past progressive

The progressives are compound tenses.

The present progressive is formed with the personal present tense of داشتن before the present imperfect.

• من دارم می‌کنم (man dâram mi-konam) (I am doing)
• تو داری می‌کنی (to dâri mi-koni)
• وی دارد می‌کند (vay dârad mi-konad)
• ما داریم می‌کنیم (mâ dârim mi-konim)
• شما دارید می‌کنید (šomâ dârid mi-konid)
• آنها دارند می‌کنند (ânhâ dârand mi-konand)

Similarly, the past progressive is formed with the past tense of داشتن preceding the past imperfect.

• من داشتم می‌کردم (man dâštam mi-kardam) (I was doing)
• تو داشتی می‌کردی (to dâšti mi-kardi)
• وی داشت می‌کرد (vay dâšt mi-kard)
• ما داشتیم می‌کردیم (mâ dâštim mi-kardim)
• شما داشتید می‌کردید (šomâ dâštid mi-kardid)
• آنها داشتند می‌کردند (ânhâ dâštand mi-kardand)

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is formed from by prefixing بـ (be-) to the present stem with personal endings.

• من بکنم (man bekonam) (that I do)
• تو بکنی (to bekoni)
• وی بکند (vay bekonad)
• ما بکنیم (mâ bekonim)
• شما بکنید (šomâ bekonid)
• آنها بکنند (ânhâ bekonand)