Negative Present Subjunctive in Persian: Lesson 23

How to make the Persian present subjunctive negative with na-, spoken forms, uses with bâyad, behtar ast and tâ, examples and a quiz.

The negative present subjunctive

Study notes for this lesson. The Lesson 23 video teaches the negative of the present subjunctive, which you learned in Lesson 22. You use it to say things like "you'd better not go," "I hope it doesn't rain" and "speak quietly so she doesn't wake up." The examples use the twin sisters Mina and Mona from this lesson.

How to form it

Replace ب (be-) with ن (na-). Everything else stays the same: the present stem and the personal endings.

More verbs

With compound verbs, na- goes on the verb part (دعوا نکنیم). With prefixed verbs like برگشتن, it goes after the prefix (برنگردم).

When to use it

• After بهتر است, "it's better, you'd better": بهتر است دیر نخوابی (behtar ast dir nakhâbi), "you'd better not go to bed late."
• After تا or که, "so that … not": آرام صحبت کن تا بیدار نشود, "speak quietly so that she doesn't wake up."
• After امیدوارم, "I hope": امیدوارم باران نیاید (omidvâram bârân nayâyad), "I hope it doesn't rain."
• After ممکن است, "it's possible": ممکن است نیاید, "he might not come."
• After خواستن, when you want something not to happen: مادر می‌خواهد آن‌ها دعوا نکنند, "Mother wants them not to fight."

Which verb gets the negative?

Moving the negative changes the meaning. نمی‌خواهم بروم (nemikhâham beravam) means "I don't want to go"; می‌خواهم نروم (mikhâham naravam) means "I want not to go," a stronger decision. With "must," the usual way to forbid something is نباید with a positive subjunctive: نباید بروی (nabâyad beravi), "you must not go." باید نروی also exists and means "you have to not go," stressing that staying is required.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Keeping be- with na-: نبروم is wrong; say نروم (naravam).
• Putting na- on the first part of a compound verb: say دعوا نکنیم, not "nada'vâ konim."
• Negating both verbs: نمی‌خواهم نروم means "I don't want not to go," which is rarely what you mean.
• Forgetting the y in verbs with â: the negative of بیایم is نیایم (nayâyam), not "naâyam."

• Lesson 23: New Words
• Lesson 23: Speaking
• Lesson 23: Reading

Practice

1. Make negative: {{بروی}} (beravi)

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   naravi نروی

2. Make negative: {{خرید کنم}} (kharid konam)

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   kharid nakonam خرید نکنم

3. Translate: "You'd better not come late."

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   behtar ast dir nayâyi. بهتر است دیر نیایی.

4. What is the difference between {{نمی‌خواهم بروم}} and {{می‌خواهم نروم}}?

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   The first is "I don't want to go"; the second is "I want not to go," a decision to stay.

5. Correct the mistake: {{نبیایم}}

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   nayâyam نیایم

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