Persian verbs are built from two stems: the past stem, which is the infinitive minus ـن (رفتن → رفت), and a present stem you must learn (رو). These 25 questions test common verbs, both stems, the present, past and future tenses, negation, compound verbs and دارم + present for “I am doing”.
Every Persian verb has two stems. The past stem is the infinitive without its final ـن: رفتن (raftan, to go) → رفت (raft), خوردن (khordan, to eat) → خورد (khord). The present stem is often different and has to be memorized: رفتن → رو (rav), دیدن (didan, to see) → بین (bin), کردن (kardan, to do) → کن (kon). Tenses are made by adding the prefix می and personal endings to these stems. You can check any form with the verb conjugator.
The personal endings are ـم (-am, I), ـی (-i, you), ـد (-ad, he/she), ـیم (-im, we), ـید (-id, you plural or formal) and ـند (-and, they). So می‌روم (mi-ravam) is “I go”, رفتم (raftam) is “I went” and خواهم رفت (khâham raft) is “I will go”. In the simple past, “he/she” has no ending: رفت (raft, he/she went). To make a verb negative, add ن: نمی‌روم (nemi-ravam, I don’t go), نرفتم (naraftam, I didn’t go).
Learn every verb as three forms: infinitive, past stem and present stem, for example دیدن، دید، بین (didan, did, bin; to see).
Common verbs and their meanings
1. What does رفتن (raftan) mean?
2. Which infinitive means “to want”?
3. Which verb means “to write”?
4. Which statement about Persian infinitives is true?
Past and present stems
5. What is the past stem of خوردن (khordan, to eat)?
6. What is the past stem of دیدن (didan, to see)?
7. What is the present stem of رفتن (raftan, to go)?
8. What is the present stem of گفتن (goftan, to say)?
9. Which pair shows an infinitive with its correct present stem?
10. What is the present stem of نوشتن (neveshtan, to write)?
11. What is the present stem of کردن (kardan, to do/make)?
Present, past and future tenses
12. How do you say “I go” or “I am going” in Persian?
13. Fill in the blank: او هر روز نامه ____. (He/She writes a letter every day.)
14. Which is the standard written form of “I come”?
15. How do you say “I have” (as in “I have a book”)?
16. What is the Persian for “we saw”?
17. What does گفت (goft) mean on its own?
18. Which sentence means “I will go”?
Negation, compound verbs and “I am doing”
19. How do you say “I don’t go” (negative of می‌روم)?
20. What is the negative of آمدم (âmadam, I came)?
21. What does کمک کردن (komak kardan) mean?
22. Which sentence correctly says “The class ended”?
23. How do you say “I don’t work” with کار کردن (kâr kardan, to work)?
24. How do you say “I am eating” (right now)?
25. What is the negative of دارم می‌روم (dâram mi-ravam, I am going)?
Answer key with explanations
- A. to go: رفتن (raftan) means “to go”, as in به مدرسه رفتم (be madrese raftam, I went to school). “To come” is آمدن (âmadan), “to say” is گفتن (goftan) and “to see” is دیدن (didan).
- C. خواستن: خواستن (khâstan) means “to want”: می‌خواهم (mi-khâham, I want). Don’t confuse it with خواندن (khândan, to read or to sing), which looks similar, or خوردن (khordan, to eat).
- B. نوشتن: نوشتن (neveshtan) means “to write”, as in نامه نوشتم (nâme neveshtam, I wrote a letter). نوشیدن (nushidan) looks close but means “to drink”.
- B. They all end in ـتن or ـدن (-tan or -dan).: Every Persian infinitive ends in ـتن or ـدن: گفتن (goftan, to say), شدن (shodan, to become), دیدن (didan, to see). Remove the final ـن and you have the past stem. The infinitive itself never changes for person; می belongs to conjugated forms.
- C. خورد: The past stem is the infinitive minus ـن: خوردن → خورد (khord). On its own it also means “he/she ate”. خور (khor) is the present stem, as in می‌خورم (mi-khoram, I eat).
- D. دید: Drop the ـن: دیدن → دید (did), as in دیدم (didam, I saw). بین (bin) is the tempting distractor, but it is the present stem: می‌بینم (mi-binam, I see).
- A. رو: The present stem of رفتن is رو (rav): می‌روم (mi-ravam, I go), می‌رود (mi-ravad, he/she goes). رفت (raft) is the past stem. The verb conjugator shows both stems for any verb.
- A. گو: گفتن → گو (gu): می‌گویم (mi-guyam, I say); a ی is added between the stem’s vowel and the ending. گیر (gir) belongs to گرفتن (gereftan, to take) and گذار (gozâr) to گذاشتن (gozâshtan, to put).
- D. دادن → ده: دادن (dâdan, to give) has the present stem ده (deh): می‌دهم (mi-daham, I give). In the other pairs, دید، نوشت and خواست are past stems; the present stems are بین (bin), نویس (nevis) and خواه (khâh).
- A. نویس: نوشتن → نویس (nevis): می‌نویسم (mi-nevisam, I write). نوش (nush) is the present stem of نوشیدن (nushidan, to drink), and نوشت (nevesht) is the past stem.
- A. کن: کردن → کن (kon): می‌کنم (mi-konam, I do), as in خواهش می‌کنم (khâhesh mi-konam, you’re welcome). کرد (kard) is the past stem, and کار (kâr) is the noun “work”.
- A. می‌روم: Present tense = می + present stem + ending: می + رو + ـم = می‌روم (mi-ravam). رفتم (raftam) is “I went”, خواهم رفت (khâham raft) is “I will go” and می‌رفتم (mi-raftam) is “I used to go / I was going”. Try other persons in the verb conjugator.
- C. می‌نویسد: With او (u, he/she) the present ending is ـد: می‌نویسد (mi-nevisad). می‌نویسم is “I write”, می‌نویسند is “they write” and نوشتم (neveshtam) is “I wrote”.
- C. می‌آیم: آمدن (âmadan) has the present stem آ (â), and a ی is inserted before the ending: می‌آیم (mi-âyam, I come), می‌آید (mi-âyad, he/she comes). آمدم (âmadam) means “I came”.
- A. دارم: داشتن (dâshtan, to have) is an exception: in the present it takes no می, so “I have a book” is کتاب دارم (ketâb dâram). داشتم (dâshtam) means “I had”.
- A. دیدیم: Simple past = past stem + ending: دید + ـیم = دیدیم (didim, we saw). دیدند (didand) is “they saw”, دیدید (didid) is “you (plural) saw”, and می‌بینیم (mi-binim) is the present “we see”.
- A. he/she said: In the simple past, the third person singular has no ending, so the bare past stem گفت (goft) means “he/she said”. “I said” is گفتم (goftam) and “he/she will say” is خواهد گفت (khâhad goft).
- B. خواهم رفت: The future = خواه + personal ending + past stem, with no می: خواهم رفت (khâham raft). می‌خواهم بروم (mi-khâham beravam) means “I want to go”. The verb conjugator lists the future of every verb.
- B. نمی‌روم: The negative prefix ن goes before می and is pronounced ne- there: نمی‌روم (nemi-ravam). نروم (naravam) is a subjunctive form (“that I not go”), and نمی‌رفتم (nemi-raftam) means “I didn’t use to go / I wasn’t going”.
- B. نیامدم: Before آ, the negative prefix becomes نی and the آ turns into ا: نیامدم (nayâmadam, I didn’t come). نمی‌آمدم (nemi-âmadam) means “I wasn’t coming / I didn’t use to come”.
- A. to help: Compound verbs pair a noun or adjective with a light verb such as کردن: کمک (komak, help) + کردن = to help. “To work” is کار کردن (kâr kardan), “to speak” صحبت کردن (sohbat kardan) and “to live” زندگی کردن (zendegi kardan).
- B. کلاس تمام شد.: With شدن, a compound verb describes something that happens to the subject: تمام شدن (tamâm shodan, to end): کلاس تمام شد (kelâs tamâm shod). With کردن it means someone does it: کارم را تمام کردم (kâram râ tamâm kardam, I finished my work).
- D. کار نمی‌کنم: In a compound verb, the noun stays the same and only the verb part is conjugated and negated: کار نمی‌کنم (kâr nemi-konam). The same rule applies to compounds with دادن, such as گوش نمی‌دهم (gush nemi-daham, I don’t listen).
- B. دارم می‌خورم: For an action in progress, put the present of داشتن before the ordinary present tense, with both verbs in the same person: دارم می‌خورم (dâram mi-khoram, I am eating), داری می‌خوری (dâri mi-khori, you are eating).
- D. نمی‌روم: The دارم + present construction has no negative form. To say “I’m not going”, use the plain negative present: نمی‌روم (nemi-ravam). ندارم alone means “I don’t have”.
How to learn Persian verbs faster
Learn each new verb as a set of three: infinitive, past stem and present stem, for example خوردن، خورد، خور (khordan, khord, khor; to eat). Once you know the two stems, every tense follows the same pattern: می + present stem for the present, past stem + ending for the past, and خواه + ending + past stem for the future.
Then grow your vocabulary through compound verbs. A small set of light verbs, mainly کردن، شدن and دادن, combines with nouns you already know: کار کردن (to work), بیدار شدن (bidâr shodan, to wake up), گوش دادن (gush dâdan, to listen). Conjugate only the light verb and the whole compound follows.