Negative Imperatives and Subjunctives | Farsi Grammar

Persian uses the same negative prefix نـ in two closely related constructions: a direct prohibition such as نرو “don’t go,” and a negative subjunctive such as نروی “that you not go.” The prohibition addresses someone directly; the subjunctive places a negated possibility, wish, recommendation, or purpose inside a larger clause.

English often uses do not or not to for both jobs. Persian marks the difference through clause structure and person endings, while نـ occupies the prefix position that affirmative بـ would otherwise use.

The core contrast

Function	Second-person form of رفتن	Typical frame
affirmative command	برو	Go!
negative command	نرو	Don’t go!
affirmative subjunctive	بروی	that you go
negative subjunctive	نروی	that you not go
negative indicative	نمی‌روی	you do not go / are not going

امشب از کوچه‌ی پشتی نرو؛ چراغ‌هایش خاموش است.

emshab az kuche-ye poshti na-rav; cherâgh-hâ-yash khâmush ast.

Don’t take the back alley tonight; its lights are off. (neutral familiar prohibition)

بهتر است امشب از کوچه‌ی پشتی نروی.

behtar ast emshab az kuche-ye poshti na-ravi.

It is better that you not take the back alley tonight. (neutral standard; embedded negative subjunctive)

The first sentence is an independent directive, so familiar singular نرو has no person ending. In the second, بهتر است evaluates a possible action; نروی carries the second-singular ending ـی because the subject of the subordinate clause is “you.”

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A useful diagnostic is whether another expression licenses the verb: نرو! stands alone, whereas ممکن است نروی and می‌خواهم نروی depend on a modal, evaluation, desire, or purpose.

Forming a direct negative imperative

For a simple verb, replace affirmative بـ with نـ before the present stem. Familiar singular has no ending; plural or polite شما adds ـید.

Infinitive	Affirmative singular	Negative singular	Negative polite/plural
رفتن	برو	نرو	نروید
کردن	بکن / کن	نکن	نکنید
خوردن	بخور	نخور	نخورید
آمدن	بیا	نیا	نیایید

There is no می‌ in an ordinary prohibition. نمی‌روی reports a negative fact; it does not mean “don’t go.” There is also no sequence نبـ: modern standard Persian has نرو, not نبرو.

این دارو را با معده‌ی خالی نخورید.

in dâru râ bâ me'de-ye khâli na-khorid.

Do not take this medicine on an empty stomach. (polite/formal instruction)

تا جواب قطعی نگرفته‌ای، بلیت نخر.

tâ javâb-e qat'i na-gerefte-i, belit na-khar.

Don’t buy a ticket until you have received a definite answer. (neutral familiar advice)

Direct prohibitions range from warnings to requests. نکنید is grammatically polite or plural, but its social force can still be abrupt. لطفاً or a reason often softens it: لطفاً در را نبندید؛ منتظر یک نفر هستیم “Please don’t close the door; we are waiting for someone.”

The full negative subjunctive paradigm

Unlike the familiar singular command, the subjunctive agrees with its own subject. With رفتن, the paradigm is:

Person	Negative subjunctive	Meaning inside a larger clause
I	نروم	that I not go
you, singular	نروی	that you not go
he/she/it	نرود	that he/she/it not go
we	نرویم	that we not go
you, plural/polite	نروید	that you not go
they	نروند	that they not go

ممکن است فردا به جلسه نرسم.

momken ast fardâ be jalase na-resam.

I may not make it to the meeting tomorrow. (neutral standard; possibility plus first-singular subjunctive)

نگرانم که بسته پیش از تعطیلات نرسد.

negarân-am ke baste pish az ta'tilât na-resad.

I’m worried that the package may not arrive before the holidays. (neutral standard; feared non-event)

پنجره‌ها را ببندیم تا اتاق سرد نشود.

panjere-hâ râ be-bandim tâ otâq sard na-shavad.

Let’s close the windows so that the room does not get cold. (neutral standard; negative purpose clause)

The prefix نـ replaces subjunctive بـ, just as it replaces imperative بـ. The person endings remain because an embedded proposition must identify whose action is being negated. The full affirmative system is introduced in Present Subjunctive Formation.

Where the negation takes scope

Negating the matrix verb and negating the subordinate verb do not normally say the same thing.

نمی‌خواهم امشب بیرون بروی.

nemi-khâham emshab birun be-ravi.

I don’t want you to go out tonight. (neutral standard; the wanting is negated)

می‌خواهم امشب بیرون نروی.

mi-khâham emshab birun na-ravi.

I want you not to go out tonight. (neutral standard; the going is negated)

The first speaker denies having a desire for the outing; context often turns that into opposition, but the grammar itself locates نـ on خواستن. The second explicitly has a desire whose content is non-going. English can blur this distinction in casual speech; Persian prefix placement makes the formal scope visible.

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Attach negation to the event you mean to deny. Matrix نمی‌خواهم denies the desire; subordinate نروی makes “not going” the desired outcome.

Compound verbs and lexical preverbs

In a compound predicate, polarity belongs on the light verb: فراموش نکن، تماس نگیر، آماده نشو. This remains true in an embedded negative subjunctive: ممکن است فراموش نکند، بهتر است تماس نگیری، امیدوارم دیر آماده نشوند.

یادت نرود که نسخه‌ی قرارداد را همراه بیاوری.

yâd-at na-ravad ke noskhe-ye qarârdâd râ hamrâh biyâvari.

Don’t forget to bring the copy of the contract with you. (neutral standard; literally ‘may it not leave your memory’)

بدون هماهنگی با پشتیبانی حساب تازه‌ای باز نکنید.

bedun-e hamâhangi bâ poshtibâni hesâb-e tâze-i bâz na-konid.

Do not open a new account without coordinating with support. (formal/polite instruction)

With a lexical preverb, نـ appears between the preverb and the stem: برگرد → برنگرد، بردار → برندار. The same placement survives person marking: برنگردی، برندارد. This is lexical morphology, not a freely movable word order.

امیدوارم مجبور نشوی زود برگردی.

omidvâr-am majbur na-shavi zud bar-gardi.

I hope you won’t have to return early. (neutral standard; negation on the modal predicate)

Notice that برگردی remains positive here: what the speaker hopes will not happen is becoming obliged. Changing it to برنگردی would negate the returning itself and create a different meaning.

Spoken forms and register

Everyday Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) commonly has نرین، نکنین for standard نروید، نکنید, and embedded نیاد، نکنه، نکنن for standard نیاید، نکند، نکنند. Use the standard forms in formal writing and with learners outside a clearly colloquial setting.

Older مرو، مکن، مگو occur in classical literature and deliberate archaism (literary, archaic). They are not ordinary contemporary alternatives to نرو، نکن، نگو. Modern learners need to recognize them but should not use them as neutral conversation.

A short exchange

— فردا تنها برویم؟ — نه، بهتر است بدون راهنما نرویم؛ مسیر را بلد نیستیم.

— fardâ tanhâ be-ravim? — na, behtar ast bedun-e râhnamâ na-ravim; masir râ balad nistim.

— Shall we go alone tomorrow? — No, it is better that we not go without a guide; we don’t know the route. (neutral conversation)

Common Mistakes

1. Keeping affirmative بـ after negation

❌ امشب تنها نبرو.

Incorrect — negative نـ replaces affirmative بـ; it does not combine with it.

✅ امشب تنها به ایستگاه نرو.

emshab tanhâ be istgâh na-rav.

Don’t go to the station alone tonight.

2. Using an indicative as a command

❌ هنگام رانندگی به تلفن جواب نمی‌دهی.

Incorrect for the intended prohibition — this is an indicative statement, ‘you do not answer.’

✅ هنگام رانندگی به تلفن جواب نده.

hengâm-e rânandegi be telefon javâb na-deh.

Don’t answer the phone while driving.

3. Dropping the subjunctive person ending

❌ ممکن است فردا نرو.

Incorrect as ‘you may not go’ — the embedded verb must agree with its subject.

✅ ممکن است فردا به دانشگاه نروی.

momken ast fardâ be dâneshgâh na-ravi.

You may not go to the university tomorrow.

4. Negating the nonverbal part of a compound

❌ گزارش را نفراموش کن.

Incorrect — فراموش کردن places negation on the light verb کردن.

✅ فراموش نکن گزارش هفتگی را بفرستی.

farâmush na-kon gozâresh-e haftegi râ be-feresti.

Don’t forget to send the weekly report.

5. Putting نـ before a lexical preverb

❌ دیر نبرگرد.

Incorrect prefix placement — with برگشتن, negation follows the lexical preverb برـ.

✅ امشب دیر به خوابگاه برنگرد.

emshab dir be khâbgâh bar-na-gard.

Don’t return to the dormitory late tonight.

Key Takeaways

نرو is a direct familiar prohibition; نروی is a second-singular negative subjunctive inside a larger frame.
Negative نـ replaces affirmative بـ. Ordinary imperatives and subjunctives do not use می‌.
The subjunctive retains all six person endings: نروم، نروی، نرود، نرویم، نروید، نروند.
Negate the light verb in compound predicates and place نـ after a lexical preverb.
Matrix and subordinate negation have different scope: نمی‌خواهم بروی is not structurally identical to می‌خواهم نروی.

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