# Persian/Lesson 12

| | فارسی (‹fârsi›, “Persian”) Learn the Persian language Contents • Introduction Persian Alphabet lessons: 1 ( ۱ ) • 2 ( ۲ ) • 3 ( ۳ ) • 4 ( ۴ ) Elementary grammar: 5 ( ۵ ) • 6 ( ۶ ) • 7 ( ۷ ) • 8 ( ۸ ) • 9 ( ۹ ) 10 ( ۱۰ ) • 11 ( ۱۱ ) • 12 ( ۱۲ ) • 13 ( ۱۳ ) • 14 ( ۱۴ ) • 15 ( ۱۵ ) Intermediate: 16 ( ۱۶ ) • 17 ( ۱۷ ) • 18 ( ۱۸ ) • 19 ( ۱۹ ) • 20 ( ۲۰ ) 21 ( ۲۱ ) • 22 ( ۲۲ ) • 23 ( ۲۳ ) • 24 ( ۲۴ ) • 25 ( ۲۵ ) • 26 ( ۲۶ ) Advanced: Appendix: Alphabet • Glossary • Handwriting |
| To continue, your computer must display Persian. The box below should show these Persian letters on the far right: ا ب پ ت ث ج چ ح خ د ذ ر ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن و ه ی If they are different or in the wrong order, see Persian Computing. |||
خ
    ميخ – talk, speak1
    تخته – hout
    ميز – tafel
    كمد – kast
    خانه – house
    خريد – hij koopt
    خريدن – kopen,(werkwoord voor kopen)
    فروختن – verkopen, (werkwoord voor verkopen)
    ساختن – maken, (werkwoord voor maken)
    ساخت – hij maakt
    كمك – help
    كمك كردن - help, (werkwoord voor helpen)
    بازار – markt
    فعل) تخته خريدن) – hout kopen
    من تخته خريدم - ik koop hout
    تو تخته خريدي – jij koopt hout
    اوتخته خريد – hij koopt hout
    ما تخته خريديم – wij kopen hout
    شما تخته خريديد – jullie kopen hout
    ايشان تخته خريدند – zij kopen hout
    امين با پدرش از بازارآمد – Amin komt van de markt met zijn vader
    انها تخته و ميخ خريدند – Zij kopen hout en spijkers
    پدرش با تخته وميخ ميزساخت – Zijn vader maakt van hout en spijkers een tafel
    امين با پدرش در ساختن ميز كمك كرد – Amin helpt zijn vader met het maken van een tafel
    تكليف شب – jullie's homework
    فعل بسازيد – werkwoord vervoegen
    خريدن – buy
    فروختن – verkopen
    ساختن – do, make
    كمك كردن – help
    جمله بسازيد – zin maken
    پدر . تخته. ميز . بازار. ميخ
    جمله هاي زير را كامل كنيد- invullen
    خورشيد – zon
    خود – zelf
    نوك – bek
    آسمان – lucht, hemel. firmament
    خوردن – eat
    نوشتن – write
    رفتن go
    . خروس......... دارد
    خروس به زمين نوك مي زند ودانه ..........
    ............. را در آسمان مي بينيم
    امين به دوست ........... نامه مي نويسد.
    سارا.......... روز بيمار بود .

## Simple present tense

| | | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” | “I work everyday.” |
| | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. | هر روز کر می‌کنم. |
| | هر | روز | کار | می‌کنم | | | | | | |
| ← | ‹har› | ‹ruz› | ‹kar› | ‹mikonam› | | | | | | |
| ← | “every” | “day” | “work” | “I do” | | | | | | |
The simple present tense is used to describe an event or to comment about the state of something without regard to a particular time, as shown in the example on the right.
| گرفتن ‹gereftan› (“to get”) Simple present tense Present stem: گیر ‹gir› | Number | Number |
| گرفتن ‹gereftan› (“to get”) Simple present tense Present stem: گیر ‹gir› | Singular | Plural |
| First person | (من) می‌گیرم | (ما) می‌گیریم |
| First person | (‹man›) ‹migiram› | (‹mâ›) ‹migirim› |
| First person | “(I) get” | “(we) get” |
| Second person | (تو) می‌گیری | (شما) می‌گیرید |
| Second person | (‹to›) ‹migiri› | (‹šomâ›) ‹migirin› |
| Second person | “(you) get” | “(you) get” |
| Third person | (او) می‌گیرد | (آنها) می‌گیرند |
| Third person | (‹u›) ‹migirad› | (‹ânhâ›) ‹migiran› |
| Third person | “(he/she/it) gets” | “(they) get” |
The table on the right shows the simple present tense forms of گرفتن ‹gereftan› (“to get”), consisting of the present/imperfect prefix می ‹mi› , the present stem گیر ‹gir› and suffixes to indicate the person and number.
To make a simple present tense form of a Persian verb, begin with the prefix می ‹mi› . Then add the present tense stem (which can be looked up in most dictionaries), e.g. گیر ‹gir› . Finally, add the appropriate present tense personal suffix from the table below to make the simple present tense verb form:
| Simple present tense Present stem + personal suffix | Number | Number |
| Simple present tense Present stem + personal suffix | Singular | Plural |
| First person | ... + م | ... + یم |
| First person | present stem + ‹am› | present stem + ‹im› |
| First person | “I [do...]” | “we [do...]” |
| Second person | ... + ی | ... + ید |
| Second person | present stem + ‹i› | present stem + ‹in› |
| Second person | “you [do...]” | “you [do...]” |
| Third person | ... + د | ... + ند |
| Third person | present stem + ‹ad› | present stem + ‹an› |
| Third person | “he/she/it [does...]” | “they [do...]” |
As you can see, the present tense personal suffixes are the same as the past tense ones, except for the third person singular, which is د ‹ad› in the present tense and nothing in the past.
Every Persian verb has two stems: the imperative/present stem and the past stem. In general, both stems of each verb must be learned because neither is not completely predictable from the other. There are some common patterns, though. For example, verbs whose infinitives end with تن ‹tan› , دن ‹dan› , or یدن ‹idan› often form the present stem by dropping those endings:
| Verb | Present stem |
| کشتن ‹koštan› (“to kill”) | کش ‹koš› |
| آوردن ‹âvardan› (“to bring”) | آور ‹âvar› |
| رسیدن ‹residan› (“to arrive”) | رس ‹res› |
| | | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” | “I work tomorrow.” |
| | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. | فردا کر می‌کنم. |
| | فردا | کار | می‌کنم | | | | | | | |
| ← | ‹fardâ› | ‹kar› | ‹mikonam› | | | | | | | |
| ← | “tomorrow” | “work” | “I do” | | | | | | | |
The simple present tense is also used to talk about a future event, as shown on the right.
The simple present tense can also be used to express that an event is occurring at the very moment that the speaker is speaking, but the present continuous tense is used more often for that purpose in both English and Persian. The present continuous tense will be discussed in a later chapter.

## Review

* Contents • Introduction
* Persian Alphabet lessons: 1 ( ۱ ) • 2 ( ۲ ) • 3 ( ۳ ) • 4 ( ۴ )
* Elementary grammar: 5 ( ۵ ) • 6 ( ۶ ) • 7 ( ۷ ) • 8 ( ۸ ) • 9 ( ۹ )
* 10 ( ۱۰ ) • 11 ( ۱۱ ) • 12 ( ۱۲ ) • 13 ( ۱۳ ) • 14 ( ۱۴ ) • 15 ( ۱۵ )
* Intermediate: 16 ( ۱۶ ) • 17 ( ۱۷ ) • 18 ( ۱۸ ) • 19 ( ۱۹ ) • 20 ( ۲۰ )
* 21 ( ۲۱ ) • 22 ( ۲۲ ) • 23 ( ۲۳ ) • 24 ( ۲۴ ) • 25 ( ۲۵ ) • 26 ( ۲۶ )
* Advanced:
* Appendix: Alphabet • Glossary • Handwriting

## References

* 1 2 3 4 Note: The Persian script here uses formal spelling, but the transcriptions in angle brackets shows typical colloquial pronunciation. In colloquial speech, for example, the ending ‍ید ‹-id› is often pronounced as ‹-in›. Other differences between spoken and written Persian will be given in the lessons that follow.
* ↑ Persian used to have a truly simple present tense with no prefix, distinct from the present imperfect tense with the prefix می ‹mi› . In modern Persian, though, the present imperfect tense has replaced the simple present tense for all verbs but داشتن ‹dâštan› (“to have”) and بودن ‹budan› (“to be”).