Learn the Persian simple past tense with past stems, personal endings, negatives and travel examples, plus a short practice quiz.
The Persian simple past tense
Study notes for this lesson. When you tell someone about a trip, almost every verb is in the simple past: "we went", "we saw", "we came back". The Persian simple past is regular and easy to form. You need the past stem of the verb and a set of personal endings that you already know from the present tense, with one important difference.
How to form it
The past stem is the infinitive without its final ـن (-an): رفتن (raftan) gives رفت (raft); دیدن (didan) gives دید (did). Add the endings below. The difference from the present tense is that "he" or "she" has no ending at all: رفت (raft) means "he went" or "she went". There is no می in the simple past.
Full example: رفتن (raftan), to go
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| من رفتم | /man raftam/ | I went |
| تو رفتی | /to rafti/ | you went |
| او رفت | /u raft/ | he / she went |
| ما رفتیم | /mâ raftim/ | we went |
| شما رفتید | /shomâ raftid (spoken: raftin)/ | you went (plural or polite) |
| آن‌ها رفتند | /ânhâ raftand (spoken: raftan)/ | they went |
Past stems of common travel verbs
| Infinitive and past stem | Pronunciation | Meaning and “I” form |
|---|---|---|
| آمدن ← آمد | /âmadan → âmad (spoken: umad)/ | to come → âmadam, I came |
| دیدن ← دید | /didan → did/ | to see → didam, I saw |
| خریدن ← خرید | /kharidan → kharid/ | to buy → kharidam, I bought |
| رسیدن ← رسید | /residan → resid/ | to arrive → residam, I arrived |
| گرفتن ← گرفت | /gereftan → gereft/ | to take → gereftam, I took |
| برگشتن ← برگشت | /bargashtan → bargasht/ | to return → bargashtam, I returned |
| ماندن ← ماند | /mândan → mând (spoken: mund)/ | to stay → mândam, I stayed |
| بودن ← بود | /budan → bud/ | to be → budam, I was |
| سفر کردن ← سفر کرد | /safar kardan → safar kard/ | to travel → safar kardam, I traveled |
Negative
Put نـ (na-) before the past stem: نرفتم (naraftam), "I didn't go"; ندیدیم (nadidim), "we didn't see". With a compound verb, the نـ goes on the verb part: سفر نکردم (safar nakardam), "I didn't travel". Before a stem that starts with آ, a ی is added: نیامد (nayâmad), "he didn't come".
Examples
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| هفته‌ی پیش به اصفهان سفر کردیم. | /hafte-ye pish be esfahân safar kardim./ | Last week we traveled to Isfahan. |
| ندا با قطار رفت. | /nedâ bâ ghatâr raft./ | Neda went by train. |
| قطار ظهر رسید. | /ghatâr zohr resid./ | The train arrived at noon. |
| ما میدان نقش جهان را دیدیم. | /mâ meydân-e naghsh-e jahân râ didim./ | We saw Naqsh-e Jahan Square. |
| سه روز در اصفهان ماندند. | /se ruz dar esfahân mândand./ | They stayed in Isfahan for three days. |
| کاوه امسال هیچ جا نرفت. | /kâve emsâl hich jâ naraft./ | Kaveh didn't go anywhere this year. |
| سفر خیلی خوب بود. | /safar kheyli khub bud./ | The trip was very good. |
| کی برگشتی؟ | /key bargashti?/ | When did you get back? |
Common mistakes
- Adding an ending for "he" or "she": "she went" is رفت (raft), not رفتد.
- Adding می: می‌رفتم (miraftam) is a different tense, meaning "I was going" or "I used to go". "I went" is just رفتم.
- Using the present stem: "I saw" is دیدم (didam), from دیدن, not بینم.
- Putting نـ on the noun of a compound verb: say سفر نکردم, not نسفر کردم.
Other parts of Lesson 11
Practice
-
What is the past stem of kharidan (to buy)? خریدن
Show answer
kharid خرید
-
Say "we arrived" in Persian.
Show answer
residim رسیدیم
-
Make negative: u âmad. او آمد.
Show answer
u nayâmad. او نیامد.
-
Correct the mistake: nedâ raftad. ندا رفتد.
Show answer
nedâ raft. The he/she form has no ending. ندا رفت.
-
Translate: "I didn't travel last year."
Show answer
pârsâl safar nakardam. پارسال سفر نکردم.
Previous lesson: Lesson 10: Reading. Next lesson: Lesson 12: New Words.
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