The Focus Of This Lesson Is Verbs: Past Tense and "Must"

چرا؟ من می تونم (می توانم) به تو کمک کنم.
cheraa? man mitoonam (mitavaanam) be to komak konam.
"Why? I can help you."

In this lesson, we will learn how to:

1. Use the Past Tense
2. Use The Verb "Must" in Persian

1. Past Tense

There are no regular or irregular verbs in Persian, unlike English language. To make a past tense from infinitive verbs, see the table below.

In Persian all the infinitives end in -tan(تن) or -dan(دن) .

The past tense is made simply by removing the -an (ن) from the infinitive and adding past endings. Personal endings for past tense are:

Note: the singular third person doesn't get a personal ending.

Conjugation chart

Verb "to go", رفتن, raftan

Verb "to tell", گفتن, goftan

Verb "to give", دادن, daadan

Verb "to arrive", رسیدن, residan

Verb "to eat", خوردن, khordan

Verb "to do", کردن, kardan

Verb "to see", دیدن, didan

Verb "to take", بردن, bordan

Examples

2. The Verb "Must" in Persian

baayad, باید, ("must") can be considered an adverb or an auxiliary verb.

There is no conjugation for the verb باید , baayad, "must."

We commonly use this sentence pattern:

Subject + baayad +object + main verb

Note: Sometimes we drop subject because the suffix at the end of verb represents the subject. So, in order to make the sentence shorter, we can drop the subject and start the sentence with باید, baayad ("must"). Just like the first sample sentence below, م, m is the suffix for the main verb ببینم, bebinam ("to see by me"), so we know the subject is من , man, ("I").

Sample sentences

1. باید هر روز تو را ببینم.
   baayad har rooz to raa bebinam.
   "I must see you every day."
2. من باید به ایران برگردم
   man baayad be iraan bargardam.
   "I must go back to Iran."
3. شما باید به خانه بروید.
   shomaa baayad be khaane beravid
   "You must go home."

Examples from the Dialogue

1. نمی تونم (نمی‌توانم) سر وقت به کلاس برسم چون کلاس خیلی‌ زود شروع میشه (می‌شود). 
   nemitoonam (nemitavaanam) sar-e vaqt be kelaas beresam chon kelaas kheyli zood shoroo mishe (mishavad).
   "I can't get to the class on time because class starts too early."
2. می تونی (می‌توانی) با ماشین خودت بری (بروی) تا زودتر برسی. 
   mitooni (mitavaani) baa maashin-e khodet beri (beravi) taa zoodtar beresi.
   "You can go with your car to get there earlier."

Sample Sentences

1. دیروز هوا گرم بود.
   dirooz havaa garm bood.
   "Yesterday the weather was warm."
2. من به مدرسه رفتم.
   man be madrese raftam.
   "I went to school."
3. پدر شام خورد و خوابید.
   pedar shaam khord va khaabid.
   "Father dined and slept."

سخته
sakhte
"It is hard"

Sakhte, سخته, is the short form of سخت است, sakht ast. It means "It is hard." سخت, sakht, ("hard") + است, ast, ("is") = سخت است, sakht ast, ("It is hard").

We use this sentence when something is hard, either physically or mentally. Examples : این امتحان سخت بود, in emtehaan sakht bood, ("This exam was difficult"), این چوب سخت است, in choob sakht ast, ("This wood is hard"). In Persian, we use the word "hard" to describe both the hardness of solid materials and difficult subjects, but for non-solid materials (ex.fruits or candies, muscles, the tightness of a screw, clothes or shoes, the hardness of a chair or piece of furniture) we use the word سفت , seft, which also means "hard." Example: کباب سفت بود., kabaab seft bood, ("The kebab was hard").

For example:

1. این امتحان سخت بود
   ein emtehaan sakht bood.
   "This exam was difficult."

چرت زدن
chort zadan
"to take a nap, to doze off"

Chort, "nap," "dozing off" + zadan, "to hit," to take," "to do" = چرت زدن, chort zadan, "to take a nap"

This is a colloquialism, which native speakers use. As for چرت ,chort, you can use the verb زدن, zadan ("to hit" or "to do"). چرت زدن, chort zadan ("to take a nap") can also mean "to doze off" when you're not actually taking a nap. We can always use this phrase when taking a nap or dozing off.

Drug addicts, especially those who use opium, are always dozing off, so in Persian چرتی‌ , chorti is a synonym for "an opium addict."

For example:

1. پدر بعد از ناهار نیم ساعت چرت زد.
   pedar b'ad az naahaar nim saa'at chort zad.
   "Father took a nap after lunch for half an hour."

زمان بردن
zamaan bordan
"to take time"

zaman, "time" + bordan, "to carry" or "to take" =زمان بردن , zaman bordan, "to take times."

We can use this phrase on two occasions: 1) when something takes a long time to achieve or make, and 2) when we want to indicate how long it takes to do, make, or build something. It does not have to be a long time. We can use this phrase without any restrictions.

Examples:

1. saakhtan-e in pol dah saal zaman bord,
   "Building this bridge took ten years."
2. pokhtan-e berenj faghat bist daghigheh zaman mibarad,
   "Cooking rice just takes 20 minutes."

For example:

1. بدنسازی زمان می‌‌برد.
   badansaazi zamaan mibarad.
   "Bodybuilding takes time."

Heavy traffic in Tehran

With 8.2 million permanent residents and a couple of millions visitors every day, Tehran is one of the busiest and most polluted cities in the Middle East. In order to get to work people must wake up as early as they can. The traffic control plan is one of the most effective solutions for Tehran's heavy traffic and air pollution. It was introduced in late 80's, and Tehran's traffic plan as well as new metro lines have helped a lot to improve Tehran's heavy traffic problem. Based on traffic plan of Tehran, during rush hours some streets are closed to private cars but are open to public transportation vehicles, such as buses and taxis. Furthermore, people receive free metro tickets to encourage them to ride on buses or metro trains. There are free bicycles for those who prefer to ride a bicycle to work, and the government also provides intensive and lower taxes on hybrid cars. Billboard ads and TV programs inform people of the danger of air pollution in the city, and statistics on the quality of air is provided on a daily basis. As a result of these efforts in the past few years, today Tehran enjoys better air quality. While it's the best and Tehran remains one of the most polluted cities of Asia, little by little it is improving.

Useful expression

1. طرح ترافیک
   tarh-e teraafic
   "traffic plan"