ماندن mândan: to Stay | Farsi Grammar

ماندن is the ordinary Persian verb for “to stay” and “to remain.” It can locate someone for a period—در هتل ماندن “to stay at a hotel”—or present a person or thing as continuing in a state—آرام ماندن “to remain calm.” That shared idea of not leaving or not ceasing explains uses that English divides among “stay,” “remain,” “be left,” and “keep.”

It is intransitive: the person or thing that remains is its subject. The verb that makes something stay or places it somewhere is usually گذاشتن “put/leave,” not a transitive form of ماندن.

Principal parts and the two stems

Form	Persian	Romanization	Typical use
infinitive	ماندن	mândan	dictionary form
past stem	ماند	mând	ماندم، می‌ماندم
present stem	مان	mân	می‌مانم، بمانم
past participle	مانده	mânde	مانده‌ام
imperative	بمان / بمانید	bemân / bemânid	stay; familiar / polite or plural
negative imperative	نمان / نمانید	namân / namânid	do not remain (less common than a contextual paraphrase)

The infinitive ending can be removed to obtain past stem ماند, but present stem مان must still be learned. This pair belongs to a productive-looking ـاندن / ـان shape, yet learners should store both stems because another verb ending in similar letters need not share the same behavior.

تا دوشنبه در شیراز می‌مانیم.

tâ doshanbe dar shirâz mi-mânim.

We are staying in Shiraz until Monday. (neutral standard)

دیشب پیش مادربزرگم ماندم.

dishab pish-e mâdarbozorg-am mândam.

I stayed at my grandmother's last night. (neutral standard)

A compact working paradigm

These four columns expose the stem alternation and cover the forms most useful at A2. The subjunctive also supplies the ordinary imperative base; see The Present Stem and Affirmative Imperative with ب.

Person	Present	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌مانم	ماندم	مانده‌ام	بمانم
you (sg.)	می‌مانی	ماندی	مانده‌ای	بمانی
he/she/it	می‌ماند	ماند	مانده است	بماند
we	می‌مانیم	ماندیم	مانده‌ایم	بمانیم
you (pl./polite)	می‌مانید	ماندید	مانده‌اید	بمانید
they	می‌مانند	ماندند	مانده‌اند	بمانند

Negation replaces the first positive prefix: نمی‌مانم “I do not stay / will not remain,” نماندم “I did not stay,” نمانده‌ام “I have not stayed,” and نمانم “that I not remain.” There is no object agreement because ماندن has no direct object.

Unvowelled می‌ماند has two possible readings. Present-stem مان plus third-singular ـد is read mi-mânad “he/she stays,” whereas imperfective می‌ plus past stem ماند is read mi-mând “he/she was staying / used to stay.” Context and pronunciation distinguish forms that standard spelling merges.

بهتر است امشب خانه بمانی.

behtar ast emshab khâne bemâni.

It is better for you to stay home tonight. (neutral standard; subjunctive after بهتر است)

اگر خسته‌اید، کمی بیشتر بمانید.

agar khaste-id, kami bishtar bemânid.

If you are tired, stay a little longer. (polite or plural imperative)

Location, host, and duration

A static setting commonly appears with در: در تهران ماندن. With a person or household, پیش means “at someone’s place / with someone.” A duration can be a bare time expression, while تا marks an endpoint. English “stay with” does not license mechanical با in every case: با دوستم ماندم can mean that the friend and I stayed together, whereas پیش دوستم ماندم normally means I stayed at the friend’s place.

سه شب در همان مهمان‌خانه ماندند.

se shab dar hamân mehmân-khâne mândand.

They stayed in the same guesthouse for three nights. (neutral narrative)

بچه‌ها تا عصر پیش خاله‌شان می‌مانند.

bachche-hâ tâ asr pish-e khâle-shân mi-mânand.

The children are staying at their aunt's until the afternoon. (neutral standard)

When the stay is current and temporary, Persian often uses a result-oriented perfect: فعلاً اینجا مانده‌ام “I am staying here for now,” literally “I have remained here.” The simple present is also possible, especially for a plan, habit, or open future. The choice reflects viewpoint, not two different dictionary verbs. Present Perfect Formation explains the form.

فعلا در خوابگاه مانده‌ام تا خانه‌ای پیدا کنم.

fe'lan dar khâbgâh mânde-am tâ khâne-i peydâ konam.

For now, I'm staying in the dorm until I find a place. (neutral spoken standard)

💡

The subject of ماندن is what stays. If something else causes or permits that state, Persian normally changes the verb: کتاب ماند “the book remained,” but کتاب را گذاشتم “I put/left the book.”

Remaining in a state

An adjective or participle before ماندن describes a continuing state: ساکت ماندن، باز ماندن، روشن ماندن، بی‌خبر ماندن. English often uses “keep” transitively, but Persian keeps the experiencer or affected item as the subject: در باز ماند “the door stayed open.” To cause that result, use a causative expression such as در را باز گذاشت “he/she left the door open.”

با وجود خبر بد، همه آرام ماندند.

bâ vojud-e khabar-e bad, hame ârâm mândand.

Despite the bad news, everyone remained calm. (neutral standard)

پنجره تمام شب باز مانده بود.

panjare tamâm-e shab bâz mânde bud.

The window had remained open all night. (neutral narrative)

The resultative adjective and ماندن together form one predicate, but they are normally written as separate words. This pattern is especially productive with states whose continuation is noteworthy.

High-frequency compounds and fixed frames

Expression	Meaning and register	Frame
باقی ماندن	to remain, be left (neutral/formal)	subject + باقی ماندن
جا ماندن	to be left behind; miss transport (neutral/informal)	subject + از + vehicle/group
زنده ماندن	to survive, remain alive (neutral)	subject + زنده ماندن
منتظر ماندن	to keep waiting (neutral)	منتظرِ person/thing ماندن
بر جا ماندن	to remain, survive as a trace (formal/literary)	از X بر جا ماندن
مات ماندن	to be stunned (informal/neutral)	ازِ cause مات ماندن

فقط دو صندلی خالی باقی مانده است.

faqat do sandali-ye khâli bâqi mânde ast.

Only two empty seats remain. (neutral/formal)

دیر رسیدم و از قطار جا ماندم.

dir residam va az qatâr jâ mândam.

I arrived late and missed the train. (literally, was left behind by it; everyday neutral)

The prepositions belong to the expression: از قطار جا ماندن, منتظر جواب ماندن, and از آن بنا چیزی بر جا نماند. Memorizing just an English gloss loses the argument frame.

Tehran conversational forms

In everyday Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran), the long vowel and following consonant shift in the present system: می‌مونم، می‌مونی، می‌مونه، می‌مونیم، می‌مونین، می‌مونن; the command is بمون and its negative نمون. Past forms such as موندم are also common. These are normal conversational forms, not spellings for formal prose.

امشب پیش ما بمون؛ فردا با هم می‌ریم.

emshab pish-e mâ bemun; fardâ bâ ham mi-rim.

Stay with us tonight; we'll go together tomorrow. (informal, regional: Tehran)

💡

Do not build a hybrid such as می‌موند in formal writing. Use consistently standard می‌ماند or, when representing Tehran conversation, consistently colloquial می‌موند.

Common Mistakes

1. Using the past stem in the present

❌ فردا در خانه می‌ماندم.

Incorrect for ‘I will stay tomorrow’ — می‌ماندم is past continuous because it contains past stem ماند.

✅ فردا برای تحویل بسته در خانه می‌مانم.

fardâ barâ-ye tahvil-e baste dar khâne mi-mânam.

I will stay home tomorrow to receive the package.

2. Treating ماندن as transitive

❌ کیف را روی صندلی ماندم.

Incorrect — ماندن is intransitive; the speaker caused the bag's location.

✅ کیف را کنار پذیرش گذاشتم.

keyf râ kenâr-e paziresh gozâshtam.

I left the bag beside reception.

3. Translating English “with” mechanically

❌ دیشب به عمویم ماندم.

Incorrect — a host is introduced with پیش, not goal marker به.

✅ دیشب پیش عمویم ماندم چون راه بسته بود.

dishab pish-e amu-yam mândam chun râh baste bud.

I stayed at my uncle's last night because the road was closed.

4. Omitting the ZWNJ after می

❌ من تا ساعت پنج اینجا می مانم.

Incorrect standard orthography — prefix می‌ attaches to مانم with a ZWNJ, not a full space.

✅ من تا ساعت پنج اینجا می‌مانم.

man tâ sâ'at-e panj injâ mi-mânam.

I will stay here until five o'clock. (neutral standard)

Key Takeaways

Store ماندن — ماند — مان as infinitive, past stem, and present stem.
The subject is what stays; use گذاشتن when an agent puts or leaves something somewhere.
Locations take frames such as در جایی ماندن and پیش کسی ماندن; duration and endpoint are separate complements.
Adjective + ماندن means continuing in a state: آرام ماندن، باز ماندن.
Tehran می‌مونم / بمون is everyday speech; standard writing uses می‌مانم / بمان.

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