Intermediate course · Intermediate lesson 6
Lesson 16 gave you the simple past: raftam, “I went”. This lesson adds three more past forms: the Persian present perfect (“I have gone”), the past progressive (“I was going”) and the past perfect (“I had gone”). With them you can talk about your experiences, explain why you were late and tell a story in the right order.
The good news is that all three are built from pieces you already know: the past stem, the short endings of “to be”, and the verb dâshtan.
The past participle
Add -e to the past stem and you have the past participle: raft → رفته rafte (gone), did → دیده dide (seen), khord → خورده khorde (eaten). It is the building block for the present perfect and the past perfect.
The present perfect: I have gone
In writing, the present perfect is the participle plus the short forms of “to be”: رفته‌ام rafte-am. In everyday Tehrani speech rafte-am is usually said raftam (sometimes rafteam), which sounds much like the simple past raftam (I went). The main audible difference is stress: the simple past is stressed on the stem (RAFtam, I went), while the present perfect keeps its stress at the end (rafTAM, I’ve been). It is a small difference, and in the negative both are stressed on na-, so context and words such as tâ hâlâ (ever) and hanuz (yet) usually do the work. The third person singular keeps a clear -e.
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| رفته‌ام | raftam (written: rafte-am) | I have gone, been |
| رفته‌ای | rafti (written: rafte-i) | you have gone (informal) |
| رفته است | rafte (written: rafte ast) | he/she has gone |
| رفته‌ایم | raftim (written: rafte-im) | we have gone |
| رفته‌اید | raftid (written: rafte-id) | you have gone (polite) |
| رفته‌اند | raftan (written: rafte-and) | they have gone |
The third person is where the difference is easiest to hear: علی رفت Ali raft means “Ali left” (at a particular moment), while علی رفته Ali rafte means “Ali has gone”, he is not here now. The negative adds na-: narafte-am, spoken naraftam.
Use the present perfect for experiences, for things that have or haven’t happened yet, and for results you can see now:
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| تا حالا اصفهان رفتی؟ | Tâ hâlâ Esfahân rafti? | Have you ever been to Isfahan? |
| آره، دو بار رفتم. | Âre, do bâr raftam. | Yes, I’ve been twice. |
| تا حالا فسنجون نخوردم. | Tâ hâlâ fesenjun nakhordam. | I’ve never had fesenjan. |
| هنوز ناهار نخوردم. | Hanuz nâhâr nakhordam. | I haven’t had lunch yet. |
| کیفم گم شده. | Kifam gom shode. | My bag has gone missing. |
| نون تموم شده. | Nun tamum shode. | The bread has run out. |
The past progressive: I was going
Lesson 16 showed that mi- plus the past (miraftam) describes something ongoing or habitual. To make it clearly “in progress”, Tehranis put the past of dâshtan in front. Both verbs take the personal ending.
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| داشتم می‌رفتم | dâshtam miraftam | I was going |
| داشتی می‌رفتی | dâshti mirafti | you were going (informal) |
| داشت می‌رفت | dâsht miraft | he/she was going |
| داشتیم می‌رفتیم | dâshtim miraftim | we were going |
| داشتید می‌رفتید | dâshtid miraftid | you were going (polite) |
| داشتن می‌رفتن | dâshtan miraftan | they were going (written: dâshtand miraftand) |
It is often followed by که ke (when) and an interruption: داشتم شام می‌خوردم که زنگ زد. Dâshtam shâm mikhordam ke zang zad. (I was having dinner when he rang.)
Grammar note: This form has no negative. To say “I wasn’t going”, use the plain mi- past: نمی‌رفتم nemiraftam. The same pattern with the present of dâshtan gives the present progressive, which you will hear constantly: دارم میام! dâram miyâm! (I’m on my way!).
The past perfect: I had gone
Put the participle before the simple past of budan (to be). It describes something that had already happened before another past event.
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| رفته بودم | rafte budam | I had gone |
| رفته بودی | rafte budi | you had gone (informal) |
| رفته بود | rafte bud | he/she had gone |
| رفته بودیم | rafte budim | we had gone |
| رفته بودید | rafte budid | you had gone (polite) |
| رفته بودن | rafte budan | they had gone (written: rafte budand) |
| وقتی رسیدم، فیلم شروع شده بود. | Vaghti rasidam, film shoru’ shode bud. | When I arrived, the film had started. |
Dialogue: late for coffee
Sam arrives at a café in north Tehran where his friend Parisa has been waiting.
Sam: سلام! ببخشید دیر کردم.
Salâm! Bebakhshid dir kardam.
Hi! Sorry I’m late.
Parisâ: اشکال نداره. چی شد؟
Eshkâl nadâre. Chi shod?
Never mind. What happened?
Sam: داشتم از خونه می‌اومدم که بارون گرفت.
Dâshtam az khune miyumadam ke bârun gereft.
I was coming from home when it started to rain.
Sam: وقتی به ایستگاه رسیدم، قطار رفته بود.
Vaghti be istgâh rasidam, ghatâr rafte bud.
When I got to the station, the train had gone.
Parisâ: آخی! من یه قهوه سفارش دادم. تو چی می‌خوری؟
Âkhey! Man ye ghahve sefâresh dâdam. To chi mikhori?
Oh dear! I’ve ordered a coffee. What will you have?
Sam: یه چای. تا حالا اینجا اومدی؟
Ye châi. Tâ hâlâ injâ umadi?
A tea. Have you been here before?
Parisâ: آره، چند بار اومدم. کیک‌هاشون عالیه.
Âre, chand bâr umadam. Keykâshun âliye.
Yes, I’ve been a few times. Their cakes are great.
Sam: من هنوز ناهار نخوردم. یه کیک هم می‌خورم.
Man hanuz nâhâr nakhordam. Ye keyk ham mikhoram.
I haven’t had lunch yet. I’ll have a cake as well.
New words: دیر کردن dir kardan (to be late), چی شد؟ chi shod? (what happened?), بارون گرفت bârun gereft (it started raining), قطار ghatâr (train), آخی âkhey (oh dear, aw), سفارش دادن sefâresh dâdan (to order) and چند بار chand bâr (a few times). Keykâshun combines the plural -â from Intermediate Lesson 1 with -eshun (their) from Lesson 11.
Tehran tip: Many of Tehran’s best-known cafés are in the north of the city, and cafés are where many young Tehranis meet friends. Our guide to cafés in north Tehran has plenty of places to practise ordering, and to ask the person at the next table tâ hâlâ injâ umadi?
Practise
- Make the past participle of kharidan, didan and goftan.
- Ask a friend whether they have ever been to Shiraz (Shirâz).
- Say “I haven’t seen the Milad Tower yet” (borj-e Milâd).
- What is the difference between Sârâ raft and Sârâ rafte?
- Say “I was eating when you rang” (to a friend: zang zadi).
- Say “When we arrived, the shop had closed” (baste shode bud).
- A friend rings to ask where you are. Tell them you’re on your way.
Show answers
- خریده kharide, دیده dide, گفته gofte.
- تا حالا شیراز رفتی؟ Tâ hâlâ Shirâz rafti?
- هنوز برج میلاد رو ندیدم Hanuz borj-e Milâd ro nadidam.
- Sârâ raft: Sara left (at a moment in the past). Sârâ rafte: Sara has gone (she isn’t here now).
- داشتم غذا می‌خوردم که زنگ زدی Dâshtam ghazâ mikhordam ke zang zadi.
- وقتی رسیدیم، مغازه بسته شده بود Vaghti rasidim, maghâze baste shode bud.
- دارم میام! Dâram miyâm!
Flashcards
Test yourself
Summary
- The past participle is the past stem plus -e: rafte, dide, khorde.
- The present perfect is written rafte-am and usually spoken raftam, stressed at the end; the third person rafte is easy to spot.
- Use it for experiences and “yet”: tâ hâlâ … rafti?, hanuz … nakhordam.
- The past progressive is dâshtam + mi- past: dâshtam miraftam, often followed by ke.
- The past perfect is participle + budam: rafte budam, I had gone.