داشتن dâshtan: to Have | Farsi Grammar

داشتن dâshtan is the ordinary verb for having something in one’s sphere: a possession, enough time, a relative, a symptom, or an idea. It is also the auxiliary in the emphatic progressive دارم می‌خوانم “I am reading right now.” These uses share one lexeme, but they do not share every tense, negative, or imperative possibility.

English have also builds perfect tenses and expressions such as “have breakfast.” Persian does neither mechanically: the perfect uses the copula after a participle, and “eat breakfast” is صبحانه خوردن. Treat داشتن as a Persian verb with its own valency and idioms, not as a universal replacement for English have.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Reading	Use and register
infinitive	داشتن	dâshtan	dictionary form; all registers
past stem	داشت	dâsht-	past system: داشتم
present stem	دار	dâr-	possession present: دارم
past participle	داشته	dâshte	perfects; also before باش
imperative resources	داشته باش؛ نگه دار	dâshte bâsh; negah dâr	“have/keep”; bare possession has no broadly useful command

The present stem دار is not predicted by simply removing ـن: that gives past stem داشت. Store the pair داشتن — دار. Unlike most present indicatives, neutral possessive دارم has no می‌. Standalone می‌دارم survives in literary language, while the same inflected segment is fully current inside established compounds such as نگه می‌دارم “I keep.” Neither is the ordinary way to say “I have.”

High-value paradigm

Person	Present “have”	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	دارم	داشتم	داشته‌ام	داشته باشم
you (sg.)	داری	داشتی	داشته‌ای	داشته باشی
he/she/it	دارد	داشت	داشته است	داشته باشد
we	داریم	داشتیم	داشته‌ایم	داشته باشیم
you (pl./polite)	دارید	داشتید	داشته‌اید	داشته باشید
they	دارند	داشتند	داشته‌اند	داشته باشند

All four columns are (neutral standard). Negation is regular at the left edge: ندارم، نداشتم، نداشته‌ام، نداشته باشم. Modern possession normally uses the periphrastic subjunctive داشته باشم, not freely created بدارم. Forms with بدارـ are literary or belong to lexical compounds and should be learned there.

برای این سفر دو هفته وقت دارم.

barâ-ye in safar do hafte vaqt dâram.

I have two weeks for this trip. (neutral standard; availability)

آن فایل قدیمی را هنوز روی لپ‌تاپم دارم.

ân fâyl-e qadimi râ hanuz ru-ye lap-tâp-am dâram.

I still have that old file on my laptop. (neutral standard; specific object with را)

وقتی دانشجو بودم، پول زیادی نداشتم.

vaqti dâneshju budam, pul-e ziyâdi na-dâshtam.

When I was a student, I did not have much money. (neutral standard; negative past)

تا حالا چنین فرصت خوبی نداشته‌ام.

tâ hâlâ chonin forsat-e khubi na-dâshte-am.

I have never had such a good opportunity before. (neutral standard; present perfect)

💡

Possessive داشتن is syntactically transitive: the possessor is the subject and the thing possessed is its object. A nonspecific object is often bare; an already identified object can take را.

What can be “had”

The object selects the practical meaning. خانه داشتن expresses possession, وقت داشتن availability, دو خواهر داشتن a family relationship, تب داشتن a bodily state, and نظر داشتن an opinion. None requires a special English-style existential structure.

مریم دو برادر کوچک‌تر دارد.

maryam do barâdar-e kuchek-tar dârad.

Maryam has two younger brothers. (neutral standard; kinship)

از دیشب کمی تب و بدن‌درد دارم.

az dishab kami tab-o badan-dard dâram.

I have had a slight fever and body aches since last night. (neutral conversation; experienced state)

To identify an owner of a particular item, Persian often prefers مالِ ... بودن; for temporary custody it uses پیشِ ... بودن. The distinctions are mapped on Having with داشتن versus Possessive Predicates.

داشتن as the progressive auxiliary

Before a second finite verb with می‌, داشتن marks an event visibly under way: دارم کار می‌کنم. Both verbs agree with the same subject. Auxiliary دارم has no می‌ of its own, and the construction is much more characteristic of speech and speech-like writing than of highly formal prose.

الان دارم برای مصاحبه تمرین می‌کنم.

alân dâram barâ-ye mosâhebe tamrin mi-konam.

I am practicing for the interview right now. (neutral spoken standard; progressive auxiliary)

The auxiliary is normally not negated as ندارم می‌خوانم. To deny an action in progress, ordinary Persian generally uses the negative lexical present نمی‌خوانم or a contextually contrasted دارم نمی‌خوانم with special corrective force. The full limits belong on Present Progressive with داشتن.

Lexical compounds and idioms

In دوست داشتن “to like/love,” خبر داشتن از “to know/be informed about,” and نگه داشتن “to keep/hold,” the complete expression determines meaning and valency. Ordinary present دوست دارم lacks می‌, while نگه می‌دارم requires it. That contrast is lexical; there is no single rule “compound داشتن never takes می‌.”

من قهوه‌ی خیلی تلخ را دوست ندارم.

man qahve-ye kheyli talkh râ dust na-dâram.

I do not like very bitter coffee. (neutral standard; دوست داشتن takes its object directly)

از تغییر ساعت جلسه خبر داری؟

az taghyir-e sâ'at-e jalase khabar dâri?

Do you know about the change in the meeting time? (neutral conversation; خبر داشتن از)

این رسید را تا آخر ماه نگه دار.

in resid râ tâ âkhar-e mâh negah dâr.

Keep this receipt until the end of the month. (neutral singular imperative; نگه داشتن)

💡

The imperative دار! does not serve as a general command “have!” Modern Persian uses داشته باش for “make sure you have” and commands an established compound as a whole: نگه دار “keep it.”

Tehran speech

Everyday Tehran keeps دارم، داری، داریم but regularly shortens third singular and plural/polite endings: داره، دارین، دارن (informal: Tehran). Past forms similarly give داشتین، داشتن. These are systematic conversational forms, not spelling for formal prose.

— شارژر اضافه داری؟ — آره، دوتا توی کیفم دارم.

— shârzher-e ezâfe dâri? — âre, dotâ tu-ye kif-am dâram.

— Do you have a spare charger? — Yeah, I have two in my bag. (informal: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Adding می‌ to neutral possession

❌ من یک سؤال می‌دارم.

Incorrect in neutral modern Persian — ordinary possession uses دارم without می‌.

✅ درباره‌ی این بند قرارداد یک سؤال دارم.

darbâre-ye in band-e qarârdâd yek so'âl dâram.

I have a question about this clause of the contract.

2. Using the infinitive as a finite predicate

❌ ما امروز وقت کافی داشتن.

Incorrect — داشتن is an infinitive; the subject ما requires داریم.

✅ ما امروز برای بررسی همه‌ی پرونده‌ها وقت کافی داریم.

mâ emruz barâ-ye barrasi-ye hame-ye parvande-hâ vaqt-e kâfi dârim.

We have enough time to review all the files today.

3. Guessing a modern subjunctive from دار

❌ امیدوارم فردا وقت بدارم باشم.

Incorrect — بدارم and باشم cannot be stacked; possessive subjunctive uses داشته باشم.

✅ امیدوارم فردا وقت بیشتری داشته باشم.

omidvâram fardâ vaqt-e bishtari dâshte bâsham.

I hope I have more time tomorrow.

4. Copying English have into an unrelated predicate

❌ ساعت هشت صبحانه دارم.

Incorrect for ‘I eat breakfast at eight’ — Persian uses صبحانه خوردن, not داشتن.

✅ روزهای کاری ساعت هشت صبحانه می‌خورم.

ruz-hâ-ye kâri sâ'at-e hasht sobhâne mi-khoram.

On workdays I eat breakfast at eight.

5. Separating a perfect ending from the participle

❌ تا حالا چنین فرصتی نداشته ام.

Incorrect standard orthography — the enclitic after داشته is joined with a ZWNJ.

✅ پیش از این چنین فرصت مناسبی نداشته‌ام.

pish az in chonin forsat-e monâsebi na-dâshte-am.

I have not had such a suitable opportunity before.

Key Takeaways

Memorize داشتن — داشت — دار — داشته; neutral possessive present is دارم, not می‌دارم.
The object distinguishes possession, availability, kinship, symptoms, and other “have” meanings.
Progressive دارم می‌خوانم has two agreeing finite verbs and different negation behavior from possession.
Subjunctive possession normally uses داشته باشم; commands occur chiefly in داشته باش and lexical compounds such as نگه دار.

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