Persian verbs (, ) or () are very regular compared with those of most European languages. From the two stems given in dictionaries (e.g. , 'take, took', , 'write, wrote', , '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.
Verbs can be conjugated for three persons, with each distinguishing between singular and plural. There are also nonfinite forms, such as the perfect participle, which has an active meaning for intransitive verbs, e.g. 'gone', but a passive meaning for transitive verbs, e.g. 'written (by someone)'. This participle is also used to make the passive voice of transitive verbs when used with forms of the verb 'to become'.
There are a variety of verb forms used to refer to past events. A series of past constructions (past simple, imperfect, and pluperfect) is matched by a corresponding series of perfect constructions (perfect simple, perfect continuous, and perfect pluperfect — the last of these made by adding a perfect ending to the pluperfect construction). These perfect constructions are used sometimes much as the English perfect construction (e.g. 'I have done' etc.), but often in an inferential or reportative sense ('apparently I had done' etc.), similar to the perfect construction in Turkish.Lazard (1985); cf. Johanson & Utas (2000), p. 218; Simeonova & Zareikar (2015).
The simple present has a range of meanings (habitual, progressive, punctual, historic). In colloquial Persian this construction is also used with future meaning, although there also exists a separate future construction used in formal styles. In colloquial Persian there are also three progressive constructions (present, past, and perfect).
In colloquial Persian, commonly used verbs tend to be pronounced in an abbreviated form, for example 'he is' is pronounced e, 'he goes' is pronounced mire, and 'I say' is pronounced migam (compare to e.g. "gonna" in English, which is an abbreviated form of "going to"). Also, compound verbs, such as 'to open' (lit. 'to make open'; 'make' is acting as a light verb) and 'to learn', are very frequent in modern Persian.
Persian verbs usually come at the ends of clauses, although there are sometimes exceptions. For example, in colloquial Persian, it is common to hear phrases such as 'I went to Tehran' where the destination follows the verb.Mace (2003), p.78, 137.
Infinitives and stems Infinitives end in (-tan) or (-dan). The principal parts of a verb are the infinitive stem and present stem. The infinitive stem (often called the past stem)Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.20. is made simply by removing the ن (-an) from the infinitive:
(, 'to make/to do') - () (, 'to have') - () (, 'to take') - () (, 'to see') - () ( 'to write') - () ( 'to go') - () ( 'to become') - ()
The present stem tends to vary more, and in many common verbs bears little resemblance to the infinitive stem:
() - () () - () () - () () - () () - () () - ( or ) () - ( or )
The present indicative, present subjunctive, and present participle are made from the present stem, while the other verb forms are made from the infinitive stem. Both stems can be used to make verbal nouns such as (or ) 'dialogue', 'going and coming', '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,Mace (2003), p.77. used in phrases such as 'the writing of this book' or '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'.The transliteration is that of Windfuhr (1979) and Mace (2003).
Participles 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'). () - () 'done' or 'made' () - () 'taken' (, to see) - () 'seen' ( 'to write') - () 'written'
As well as being used to make the perfect constructions, the perfect participle can be used as an adjective or noun:Mace (2003), p.117. 'the past month', i.e. 'last month' 'his writings'
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. 'writer'), though sometimes it is a verbal adjective (e.g. 'the coming year', i.e. 'next year').Mace (2003), p.116. A true participle ending in -ān (e.g. 'smiling') also exists for some verbs.Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.123.
Personal endings Personal forms of verbs are formed mostly with simple suffixes. The personal suffixes for the present and future constructions and the two subjunctive constructions are: ـم (-am): first person singular ("I") ( hastam) ـی (-i): second person singular ("you sg." (informal)) ـد (-ad): third person singular; colloquially pronounced -e ("he, she, it") ـیم (-im): first person plural ("we") ـید (-id): second person plural; colloquially pronounced -in ("you" (plural or respectful)) ـند (-and): third person plural; colloquially pronounced -an ("they"; "he/she" (respectful))
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 constructions have very similar endings, except that there is no ending in the 3rd person singular: ـم (-am): first person singular ـی (-i): second person singular - ( - ): third person singular ـیم (-im): first person plural ـید (-id): second person plural), colloquially pronounced -in ـند (-and): third person plural, colloquially pronounced -an
These same endings are used for the verbs 'he is' and 'he isn't', despite them being present constructions.
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. 'he said'.Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.28.
The perfect forms have the following personal endings: ـهام (-e am): first person singular ـهای (-e i): second person singular informal ـه (-e): third person singular ـهايم (-e im): first person plural ـهايد (-e id): second person plural ـهاند (-e and): third person plural
Examples of various constructions are given below using the verb 'to do'. Note that personal pronouns are frequently dropped and are provided here for clarity.
Present constructions Simple present The simple present 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)(kardan, ‘to make/do’; present stem - kon):
'I do' 'you do' - singular 'he/she/it does' 'we do' 'you do' - plural or formal 'they do'
The negative is made with the prefix ne-, which is stressed: 'I don't do'.
In classical Persian the simple present is often found without the prefix mi-, but in modern Persian mi- is always added except in the verb 'to have', where it is usually omitted.Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.31.
The simple present has various present meanings (general, habitual, progressive, performative); it can also have a future meaning (see below). Colloquially the simple present can also be used as a historical present when narrating events of the past, especially when relating events which occurred suddenly or unexpectedly.Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.103.
Another meaning is the equivalent of an English perfect continuous in sentences such as: 'I have been waiting for you for an hour' (lit. 'it is one hour that I am expecting you')Fallahi (1992), p.753; Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.147.
Simple present of 'to be'
The simple present of the verb '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:
'I am' 'you are' 'he, she, it is' (colloquially pronounced e) 'we are' 'you are' (plural or formal) 'they are' (or 'he/she is' - formal)
An example of the use of these is as follows:
'I am your daughter; this is my brother; you (sg.) are my father.'
There is also a second form of the simple present of 'to be' used to add emphasis, express existence and to avoid vowel combinations such as i-i, which despite being a present construction, has the endings of a past construction as follows:Mace (2003), p.97. 'I am' 'you are' 'he/she/it is' 'we are' 'you are' (plural or formal) 'they are' (or 'he/she is' - formal)
Yet another, but less commonly used, form of the verb 'to be' is 'I am', etc., which has the normal present endings.Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.31; Mace (2003), p.98.
The negative of the verb 'to be' in modern Persian is 'I am not', which has the same endings as .Mace (2003), p.99.
Present progressive The imperfective aspect of the simple present can be further specified with progressive aspect by adding the simple present of 'to have' before the main verb. It is used in colloquial Persian only:
'I am doing (at this moment)'
The two halves of the verb are usually separated by other words, e.g. 'he is eating at the moment'.Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p. 35. There is no negative.Windfuhr (1979), p. 102.
Past constructions
Past simple The past simple is formed with the infinitive stem and personal endings. There is no ending in the 3rd person singular: 'I did'
The stress in this form goes on the syllable before the ending, e.g. , 'I took'.Mace (2003), p.83. But in a compound verb, the stress goes on the word before the verb, e.g. on in 'I worked'.Mace (2003), p.32.
The negative is made with na- (stressed): '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:Khomeijani Farahani (1990), p.108, 5, 152. وقتی رسیدید لندن، فوراً به ما تلفن کنید. 'when you reach London, phone us at once' تا تو برگردی، من نامه را نوشته ام 'by the time you come back I will have written the letter'
Another idiom is 'I'm coming (at once!)'Khomeinaji Farahani (1990), p.108, 112.
The past simple construction in Persian is also often used where English might use the perfect to refer to events which have just occurred: 'the plane has just this moment landed'Dehqani-e Tafti, H. Yāddāšthāye Safar-e Farang. 'talk of the devil! he's just come in the door!'
Imperfect The imperfect is formed by prefixing می mi- to the simple past:Mace (2003), p.101.
'I was doing, used to do, would do, would have done'
The negative has ne-: 'I was not doing'.
The imperfect of 'to be' and 'to have' do not use the prefix می mi-, except sometimes when the meaning is 'would be' or 'would have': 'I was' 'I had'
The negative of these is made with na-: '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: 'if I knew that, I would tell you' / 'if I had known that, I would have told you'Mace (2003), p.162.
It can also be used in sentences expressing unfulfilled wishes concerning the present or the past:Mace (2003), p.167-8. 'I would love to have gone' / 'I would have loved to go' / 'I would love to be going' 'I wish he were alive' 'I would love to have been in his place'
Past progressive In colloquial Persian the progressive aspect of the imperfect can be reinforced in its progressive meaning by adding the simple past of before it:Mace (2003), p.103.
'I was doing (at that moment)'