Lesson 9: “To Be” and “To Have”
Pronouns
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| من | man | I |
| تو | to | you (informal) |
| او / اون | u / un (spoken) | he, she |
| ما | mâ | we |
| شما | shomâ | you (polite or plural) |
| آنها / اونا | ânhâ / unâ (spoken) | they |
Because the verb ending shows who is doing something, pronouns are often dropped: khastam means “I’m tired” on its own.
To be
The full form is هستم hastam (I am), but in speech it shrinks to an ending attached to the word before it.
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| من هستم / ـم | man hastam / -am | I am: khastam (I’m tired) |
| تو هستی / ـی | to hasti / -i | you are: khubi? (are you well?) |
| او است / ـه | u ast / -e | he/she is: khube (it’s good) |
| ما هستیم / ـیم | mâ hastim / -im | we are |
| شما هستید / ـید | shomâ hastid / -id | you are (polite) |
| آنها هستند / ـن | ânhâ hastand / -an | they are |
The negative is نیست nist, with the same endings: nistam (I am not), nist (he/she/it is not). Moshkel nist means “no problem”.
To have
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| دارم | dâram | I have |
| داری | dâri | you have (informal) |
| داره | dâre | he/she has (spoken) |
| داریم | dârim | we have |
| دارید | dârid | you have (polite) |
| دارن | dâran | they have (spoken) |
| ندارم | nadâram | I don’t have |
| Persian | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| آب دارید؟ | âb dârid? | do you have water? |
| وقت ندارم | vaght nadâram | I don’t have time |
| بچه دارید؟ | bache dârid? | do you have children? |
Practise
- Say “I’m tired” and “I’m not tired”.
- Ask a shopkeeper whether they have bread.
← Lesson 8: Bigger Numbers, Prices and Money | All lessons | Lesson 10: Asking Questions →