گفتن goftan: to Say | Farsi Grammar

گفتن goftan means “say, tell, state,” and introduces both quoted words and reported content. Its past stem گفت is regular from the infinitive, but its present stem گو surfaces as guy- before most endings: می‌گویم mi-guyam. The command بگو begu is shorter and has its own high-frequency pronunciation.

Persian does not divide English say and tell between two verbs. It normally marks the message as a direct object and the recipient with به: این خبر را به سارا گفتم “I told Sara this news.” That complement frame is as important as the stem pair.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Reading	Use
infinitive	گفتن	goftan	dictionary form
past stem	گفت	goft-	گفتم، می‌گفتم
present stem	گو	gu-/guy-	می‌گویم، بگوید
past participle	گفته	gofte	گفته‌ام
imperative	بگو؛ بگویید	begu; beguyid	singular; plural/polite
negative imperative	نگو؛ نگویید	nagu; naguyid	singular; plural/polite

Written گو represents two useful shapes. Before a vowel-initial personal ending, the glide is heard: گویَم، گویی، گوید. In singular بگو and نگو, the form ends in long u. Memorize the principal parts rather than trying to derive present گو from past گفت.

High-value paradigm

Person	Present indicative	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌گویم	گفتم	گفته‌ام	بگویم
you (sg.)	می‌گویی	گفتی	گفته‌ای	بگویی
he/she/it	می‌گوید	گفت	گفته است	بگوید
we	می‌گوییم	گفتیم	گفته‌ایم	بگوییم
you (pl./polite)	می‌گویید	گفتید	گفته‌اید	بگویید
they	می‌گویند	گفتند	گفته‌اند	بگویند

Negation is نمی‌گویم، نگفتم، نگفته‌ام، نگویم. In the simple past, گفت reports a bounded speech event; می‌گفت describes what someone was saying or repeatedly said. Present می‌گوید can also introduce a text's stable claim: این گزارش می‌گوید که....

من همیشه حقیقت را می‌گویم، حتی وقتی شنیدنش سخت است.

man hamishe haqiqat râ mi-guyam, hattâ vaqti shenidan-ash sakht ast.

I always tell the truth, even when it is hard to hear. (neutral standard)

هنوز نتیجه‌ی آزمایش را به کسی نگفته‌ایم.

hanuz natije-ye âzmâyesh râ be kasi na-gofte-im.

We have not told anyone the test result yet. (neutral standard; message plus recipient)

Direct and indirect speech

Direct speech reproduces the words and normally follows a colon. The reporting verb may precede or follow the quotation, depending on information flow.

مینا گفت: «فردا کمی دیرتر می‌آیم.»

minâ goft: «fardâ kami dir-tar mi-âyam.»

Mina said, “I will come a little later tomorrow.” (neutral written direct speech)

Indirect speech commonly uses که. Persian does not mechanically backshift every embedded tense after past گفت: if the arrival is still future relative to the speaker's current viewpoint, می‌آید can remain present.

مینا گفت که فردا کمی دیرتر می‌آید.

minâ goft ke fardâ kami dir-tar mi-âyad.

Mina said that she will come a little later tomorrow. (neutral indirect speech; no automatic English-style backshift)

When گفتن conveys an instruction, the requested action commonly appears in the subjunctive, with or without overt که.

مدیر به ما گفت پیش از ظهر برگردیم.

modir be mâ goft pish az zohr bar-gardim.

The manager told us to return before noon. (neutral standard; indirect command with subjunctive)

The full tense system of reported clauses is covered in Reported Speech and Tense Retention.

Message, recipient, and topic

An identified or discourse-specific message normally takes را; the recipient takes به. An indefinite, nonspecific message may appear without را: چیزی گفت “said something.” The topic is introduced separately, often with درباره‌ی.

این موضوع را به پریسا نگفتم، چون هنوز قطعی نبود.

in mowzu' râ be parisâ na-goftam, chun hanuz qat'i na-bud.

I did not tell Parisa about this, because it was not definite yet. (neutral standard)

لطفا دقیق بگویید درباره‌ی کدام نسخه صحبت می‌کنید.

lotfan daqiq beguyid darbâre-ye kodâm noskhe sohbat mi-konid.

Please say exactly which version you are talking about. (polite standard command)

💡

Map the roles before choosing word order: message را + به recipient + گفتن. English tell Sara the news puts the recipient directly after the verb, but Persian does not make that noun a bare direct object.

گفتن appears in compounds such as پاسخ گفتن “reply” (formal/literary) and سخن گفتن “speak” (formal/literary). Neutral conversation usually prefers جواب دادن and حرف زدن. The light-verb selection is lexical: قول دادن means “promise,” not invented قول گفتن.

سخنگو درباره‌ی علت تأخیر توضیحی نگفت.

sokhangu darbâre-ye ellat-e ta'khir towzihi na-goft.

The spokesperson gave no explanation for the delay. (formal news register; توضیحی گفتن)

Tehran speech

Everyday Tehran commonly has میگم، میگی، میگه، میگیم، میگین، میگن (informal: Tehran). Past گفتم remains close to the standard form, while quoted میگه is extremely common for both current speech and vivid retelling. These colloquial spellings belong in dialogue, not formal prose.

— بهش چی گفتی؟ — گفتم الان میام، ولی هنوز راه نیفتادم.

— be-hesh chi gofti? — goftam alân miyâm, vali hanuz râh nayoftâdam.

— What did you tell him or her? — I said I'm coming now, but I haven't left yet. (informal: Tehran)

هر بار زنگ می‌زنه میگه فقط دو دقیقه کار دارم.

har bâr zang mi-zane mige faqat do daqiqe kâr dâram.

Every time he or she calls, they say, ‘I only need two minutes.’ (informal: Tehran)

💡

Standard می‌گوید and Tehran میگه are parallel register choices. Do not create hybrids such as میگُوِه by combining the written stem with a colloquial ending.

Common Mistakes

1. Carrying the past stem into the present

❌ او همیشه حقیقت را می‌گفتد.

Incorrect — present forms use گو; گفت belongs to the past system.

✅ او معمولا نظرش را خیلی صریح می‌گوید.

u ma'mulan nazar-ash râ kheyli sarih mi-guyad.

He or she usually states their opinion very directly.

2. Double-marking the recipient

❌ این خبر را به سارا را گفتم.

Incorrect — the recipient takes به, not a second را.

✅ خبر تغییر برنامه را به سارا گفتم.

khabar-e taghyir-e barnâme râ be sârâ goftam.

I told Sara about the change of plan.

3. Using an infinitive for an indirect command

❌ به دانشجوها گفتم فردا آمدن.

Incorrect — the requested action must be finite, normally subjunctive.

✅ به دانشجوها گفتم فردا ده دقیقه زودتر بیایند.

be dâneshju-hâ goftam fardâ dah daqiqe zud-tar biyâyand.

I told the students to come ten minutes earlier tomorrow.

4. Separating the standard imperfective prefix

❌ او همیشه همین را می گوید.

Incorrect standard orthography — می‌ and گوید require a ZWNJ.

✅ او در هر جلسه همین نکته را می‌گوید.

u dar har jalase hamin nokte râ mi-guyad.

He or she makes this same point in every meeting.

Key Takeaways

Memorize گفتن — گفت — گو — گفته, with guy- before endings and singular imperative بگو begu.
An identified or discourse-specific message normally takes را, while a recipient takes به.
Direct quotation reproduces the words; indirect content normally uses که, without automatic English-style tense backshift.
Indirect instructions after گفتن use a finite subjunctive, not an infinitive.
Tehran میگم، میگه، میگن is natural informal speech; standard writing uses می‌گویم، می‌گوید، می‌گویند.

Now practice Farsi

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Farsi →