Persian Past Tense: How to Form Every Past Tense (with Tables and Practice)

To form the Persian past tense, take the past stem of a verb (the infinitive minus -an) and add a personal ending: رفتن (raftan, to go) gives رفت (raft), so رفتم (raftam) means “I went.” The endings are -am, -i, nothing, -im, -id, -and. Put ن (na-) in front for the negative: نرفتم (naraftam), “I didn’t go.”

That one rule covers the simple past. Persian builds every other past tense from the same stem, so once you can find it, the rest is a handful of add-ons. Below you will find how to get the past stem from any infinitive, the full simple past with formal and spoken endings, a table of common verbs whose present stem is irregular, the negative, the past continuous (I was going, I used to go), the spoken progressive with داشتم (dâshtam), the present perfect, the past perfect, and a guide to choosing between them. Each section has examples and practice.

Persian past tenses at a glance

Persian has five past forms that you will hear every day, plus a sixth (the past subjunctive) that you will meet once you get to “if” and “maybe” sentences. All of them use the past stem. Here they are with رفتن (raftan, to go):

The past participle in this table is simply the past stem plus -e, written ه: رفته (rafte, gone), خورده (khorde, eaten), دیده (dide, seen).

Step 1: find the past stem

Every Persian infinitive ends in -an (ن), and the letter just before it is always د (d) or ت (t). Remove ن and what is left is the past stem. There are no exceptions, which is why Persian learners often say the past tense is the easy tense. You can read a fuller walkthrough in the lesson on the Persian past stem.

Infinitives fall into four spelling patterns:

Most verbs in -idan are fully regular: the present stem is the past stem without -id (خرید kharid → خر khar, فهمید fahmid → فهم fahm). A few common ones break the pattern, such as دیدن (didan), whose present stem is بین (bin).

Why “irregular verbs” are only a problem in the present

The past stem never surprises you. The present stem does: رفتن (raftan) has the present stem رو (rav), and دیدن (didan) has بین (bin). For the past tenses on this page you only need the past stem, but you will need both stems to speak, so it pays to learn them in pairs. Here are the verbs you will use most:

For a longer list with both stems, see the 200 most common Persian verbs, or type any infinitive into the Persian verb conjugator to see all its forms.

Step 2: the simple past (past stem + ending)

Add these endings to the past stem. They are the same endings as in the present tense, with one difference: the third person singular (he, she, it) has no ending at all. The bare stem رفت (raft) already means “he went” or “she went.” The lesson on past tense endings drills each one.

رفتم Listen رفتیم Listen رفتند Listen

Two things to notice. First, the pronoun is usually dropped, because the ending already tells you who did it: رفتم alone is a full sentence. Second, in everyday speech the endings -id and -and become -in and -an. You will read رفتید and رفتند, but you will hear “raftin” and “raftan.”

Simple past examples

• دیروز به بازار رفتم. (Diruz be bâzâr raftam.) Yesterday I went to the bazaar. Listen
• او نامه را نوشت. (U nâme râ nevesht.) She wrote the letter.
• ما آن فیلم را دیدیم. (Mâ ân film râ didim.) We saw that movie.
• آنها دیر آمدند. (Ânhâ dir âmadand.) They came late. Listen
• دو سال پیش فارسی یاد گرفتم. (Do sâl pish fârsi yâd gereftam.) I learned Persian two years ago.

The verb goes at the end of the sentence, as in all Persian tenses. A definite object takes را (râ), which in speech shrinks to -o or -ro: written کتاب را خواندم (ketâb râ khândam), spoken کتابو خوندم (ketâbo khundam), “I read the book.” Word order is covered in more depth in the guide to Persian sentence structure.

Compound verbs in the past

Most Persian verbs are compound: a noun or adjective plus a light verb such as کردن (kardan) or شدن (shodan). Only the verb part changes; the first word stays as it is. So کار کردن (kâr kardan, to work) becomes کار کردم (kâr kardam), “I worked,” and تمام شدن (tamâm shodan, to end) becomes تمام شد (tamâm shod), “it ended.” See simple and compound infinitives for more.

Spoken forms of common past verbs

A few verbs sound different in conversation, and you will see these spellings in texts and on social media:

اومدم Listen

The pattern is the same one you hear in خوش اومدی (khosh umadi, welcome): written â before n or m often sounds like u in Tehran speech.

The negative past: add na-

Put ن (na-) directly on the front of the verb, written as one word. In speech the stress falls on na-.

• نرفتم (naraftam) I didn’t go Listen
• قهوه نخوردم. (Ghahve nakhordam.) I didn’t drink coffee.
• چیزی ندیدیم. (Chizi nadidim.) We didn’t see anything.
• کار نکرد. (Kâr nakard.) He didn’t work. / It didn’t work.

When the verb starts with آ (â), a y slides in and the آ becomes ا: آمد (âmad) → نیامد (nayâmad), “he didn’t come.” The same happens with verbs starting with ا: افتاد (oftâd, it fell) → نیفتاد (nayoftâd, it didn’t fall). In compound verbs, na- goes on the verb part only: کار نکردم (kâr nakardam), not before the noun.

To ask a question, keep the same words and raise your voice at the end, or start with آیا (âyâ) in formal writing: شام خوردی؟ (Shâm khordi?) Did you have dinner?

Past continuous: mi- + simple past

Put می‌ (mi-) in front of any simple past form and you get the past continuous, which Persian uses for three jobs that English splits between different forms:

1. Background actions (“was doing”): باران می‌آمد. (Bârân miâmad.) It was raining.
2. Habits in the past (“used to,” “would”): بچه که بودم، هر تابستان به شمال می‌رفتیم. (Bachche ke budam, har tâbestân be shomâl miraftim.) When I was a kid, we used to go up north every summer. Listen
3. Unreal “if” sentences: اگر می‌دانستم، می‌گفتم. (Agar midânestam, migoftam.) If I had known, I would have said so. (The same sentence can also mean “If I knew, I would say.”)

می‌رفتم Listen نمی‌رفتم Listen

The negative is ne- + mi-: نمی‌رفتم (nemiraftam). Write می‌ with a zero-width non-joiner so it stays visually separate but does not float away as its own word. In compound verbs, mi- goes on the verb part: کار می‌کردم (kâr mikardam), “I was working” or “I used to work.”

Two verbs normally skip mi-: بودن (budan, to be) and داشتن (dâshtan, to have). بودم (budam) already covers “I was,” and داشتم (dâshtam) covers “I had” and “I used to have.” The lessons on the past tense of to be and the past tense of dâshtan show the full forms.

Past progressive with dâshtam (spoken)

When you want to stress that something was happening right at that moment, especially when something else interrupted it, put the simple past of داشتن in front of the past continuous. Both verbs take the same person ending.

• داشتم غذا می‌پختم که تلفن زنگ زد. (Dâshtam ghazâ mipokhtam ke telefon zang zad.) I was cooking when the phone rang. Listen
• داشتیم می‌رفتیم بیرون. (Dâshtim miraftim birun.) We were just heading out.
• داشت چی می‌گفت؟ (Dâsht chi migoft?) What was he saying?

Full pattern: داشتم می‌رفتم (dâshtam miraftam), داشتی می‌رفتی (dâshti mirafti), داشت می‌رفت (dâsht miraft), داشتیم می‌رفتیم (dâshtim miraftim), داشتید می‌رفتید (dâshtid miraftid), داشتند می‌رفتند (dâshtand miraftand).

Three rules keep you out of trouble. This form is typical of speech and informal writing; formal texts usually use the plain past continuous. It has no negative: to say “I wasn’t going,” use نمی‌رفتم (nemiraftam). And it is not used for habits: “I used to go” is only می‌رفتم.

Present perfect: rafte-am (I have gone)

Take the past participle (past stem + -e) and add the short forms of “to be.” In writing, the endings are joined with a zero-width non-joiner, and the third person uses است (ast).

رفته‌ام Listen

Use it much as you would in English, for experiences and for past actions whose result still matters now:

• تا حالا به ایران رفته‌ای؟ (Tâ hâlâ be irân rafte-i?) Have you ever been to Iran?
• هنوز ناهار نخورده‌ام. (Hanuz nâhâr nakhorde-am.) I haven’t had lunch yet. Listen
• این کتاب را خوانده‌اید؟ (In ketâb râ khânde-id?) Have you read this book?

The negative puts na- on the participle: نرفته‌ام (narafte-am), “I haven’t gone.” In news and written reports, the present perfect is also used for events the writer is passing on rather than describing first-hand, so you will often see it where English uses the simple past.

In speech, the present perfect is shortened until it looks just like the simple past, except in the third person: تا حالا ایران رفتی؟ (Tâ hâlâ irân rafti?) Have you ever been to Iran? and رفته (rafte), “he has gone” or “he’s left.” Listen for the stress: in the simple past it falls on the stem (RAF-tam), while in the spoken perfect it moves to the ending (raf-TAM). Context and time words like تا حالا (tâ hâlâ, ever) and هنوز (hanuz, yet) do most of the work.

Past perfect: rafte budam (I had gone)

Take the same participle and add the simple past of بودن. Use it for an action that was already finished before another past moment.

• وقتی رسیدم، فیلم شروع شده بود. (Vaghti residam, film shoru’ shode bud.) When I arrived, the movie had started. Listen
• قبلاً او را ندیده بودم. (Ghablan u râ nadide budam.) I had never seen him before.

The negative goes on the participle: نرفته بودم (narafte budam), “I hadn’t gone.”

Which past tense do I need?

English speakers mostly mix up the simple past and the past continuous. The lesson on present continuous vs simple past has more contrasts. Pick what you want to say:

Time words that go with the past

For a wider view of how all these forms fit with the present and future, read how to conjugate Persian verbs.

Common mistakes with the Persian past tense

• Adding an ending to he/she. “He went” is رفت (raft), not “raftad.” The -ad ending belongs to the present: می‌رود (miravad).
• Using the present stem. “I saw” is دیدم (didam), from the past stem دید, never “binam.” Remember: past tenses, past stem.
• Forgetting mi- for habits. هر روز رفتم sounds wrong to Iranians; “I went every day” as a habit is هر روز می‌رفتم (har ruz miraftam).
• Making dâshtam negative. There is no “nadâshtam miraftam” for “I wasn’t going.” Use نمی‌رفتم (nemiraftam).
• Putting na- on the wrong word in compound verbs. “I didn’t work” is کار نکردم (kâr nakardam).
• Writing می as a separate word or joining it fully. The standard spelling uses a zero-width non-joiner: می‌رفتم.

When you are ready to test yourself on more verbs, try the Persian verbs quiz. If you like having every form of the most useful verbs in one place, the book 200 Absolutely Essential Persian Verbs lists them with both stems and full conjugations.

Common questions

How do you form the past tense in Persian?

Take the infinitive, remove the final -an to get the past stem, and add -am, -i, (nothing), -im, -id or -and. خوردن (khordan, to eat) → خورد → خوردم (khordam), “I ate.” The same stem is used for every other past tense.

Are there irregular verbs in the Persian past tense?

Not really. The past stem always comes straight from the infinitive. What is irregular is the present stem (دیدن → present بین), so learn each verb with both stems.

How many past tenses does Persian have?

For everyday use, five: simple past (رفتم), past continuous (می‌رفتم), spoken past progressive (داشتم می‌رفتم), present perfect (رفته‌ام) and past perfect (رفته بودم). Grammars also list the past subjunctive (رفته باشم) and a few rarer literary forms.

How do you make the past tense negative in Farsi?

Add ن (na-) to the front of the verb: رفتم → نرفتم. With mi- it becomes نمی‌ (nemi-), and before آ it becomes نیـ (naya-): نیامدم.

What is the difference between raftam and rafte-am?

رفتم (raftam) is the simple past, “I went,” for a finished event. رفته‌ام (rafte-am) is the present perfect, “I have gone,” for experiences or results that matter now. In casual speech the perfect is often shortened to sound like “raftam” with the stress on the ending.

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