Study notes for Lesson 14: the simple past of dâshtan (to have) in Persian, with conjugation, negatives, examples, food sentences and common mistakes.
The simple past of "to have": dâshtan
The Lesson 14 grammar video teaches the simple past of داشتن (dâshtan), "to have". You already know the simple past from Lesson 12, and داشتن follows the same rule: past stem plus personal endings. It is worth learning on its own because it is one of the most frequent verbs in Persian and has a few special uses.
Present and past side by side
The present stem is دار (dâr) and the past stem is داشت (dâsht). Note that the present of داشتن has no می prefix: "I have" is دارم, not می‌دارم.
| Present → past | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| دارم ← داشتم | /dâram → dâshtam/ | I have → I had |
| داری ← داشتی | /dâri → dâshti/ | you have → you had |
| دارد ← داشت | /dârad → dâsht/ | he / she has → had |
| داریم ← داشتیم | /dârim → dâshtim/ | we have → we had |
| دارید ← داشتید | /dârid → dâshtid/ | you (pl./polite) have → had |
| دارند ← داشتند | /dârand → dâshtand/ | they have → they had |
In speech, the plural forms often sound like داشتین (dâshtin) and داشتن (dâshtan).
The negative
Add ن (na-): نداشتم (nadâshtam), "I didn't have"; نداشتیم (nadâshtim), "we didn't have". The present negative works the same way: ندارم (nadâram), "I don't have".
How dâshtan is used
- Owning or having something: پارسال یک ماشین داشتم (pârsâl yek mâshin dâshtam), "last year I had a car".
- What a place offered: رستوران ماهی داشت (resturân mâhi dâsht), "the restaurant had fish".
- Guests, plans and things to do: مهمان داشتیم (mehmân dâshtim), "we had guests"; کار داشتم (kâr dâshtam), "I had things to do".
- Illness and feelings: تب داشتم (tab dâshtam), "I had a fever"; دوست داشتم (dust dâshtam), "I liked".
- As a helper for the past progressive, mainly in speech: داشتم غذا می‌خوردم (dâshtam ghazâ mikhordam), "I was eating". You will meet this again in later lessons.
Examples
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| دیشب مهمان داشتیم. | /dishab mehmân dâshtim./ | We had guests last night. |
| برای شام برنج و مرغ داشتیم. | /barâye shâm berenj-o morgh dâshtim./ | We had rice and chicken for dinner. |
| مغازه نان تازه نداشت. | /maghâze nân-e tâze nadâsht./ | The shop didn't have fresh bread. |
| دیروز وقت داشتی؟ | /diruz vaght dâshti?/ | Did you have time yesterday? |
| بچه که بودم، یک گربه داشتم. | /bachche ke budam, yek gorbe dâshtam./ | When I was a child, I had a cat. |
| آن‌ها پول نداشتند. | /ânhâ pul nadâshtand./ | They didn't have money. |
| سارا دیروز سرماخوردگی داشت. | /sârâ diruz sarmâkhordegi dâsht./ | Sara had a cold yesterday. |
| غذا را خیلی دوست داشتیم. | /ghazâ râ kheyli dust dâshtim./ | We really liked the food. |
Common mistakes
- Using داشتن for eating. "I had lunch" in the sense of eating is ناهار خوردم (nâhâr khordam). ناهار داشتیم means there was lunch, or what was on the menu.
- Adding می to the present: say دارم, not می‌دارم.
- Forgetting that he or she has no ending: او داشت (u dâsht), not او داشتد.
- Negating the progressive helper. "I wasn't eating" is غذا نمی‌خوردم (ghazâ nemikhordam); the helper داشتم is simply dropped, never made negative.
More from Lesson 14
- Lesson 14: New Words (foods)
- Lesson 14: Speaking (talking about food)
- Lesson 14: Reading (dinner with guests)
Practice
-
Conjugate: "we had".
Show answer
dâshtim داشتیم
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Make this negative: داشت
Show answer
nadâsht, "he / she didn't have" نداشت
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Translate: دیشب مهمان داشتیم.
Show answer
We had guests last night.
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How do you say "I had lunch" (I ate lunch)?
Show answer
nâhâr khordam ناهار خوردم
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What does this sentence mean? داشتم غذا می‌خوردم.
Show answer
I was eating (food).
This page is part of the free course Learn to Speak Persian Fast. Next: Lesson 14: Speaking.
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