Negative Copula نیست | Farsi Grammar

The negative present copula is نیست nist “is not,” inflected as نیستم، نیستی، نیست، نیستیم، نیستید، نیستند. It follows a noun, adjective, or locative predicate: پزشک نیستم “I am not a doctor,” خسته نیستی “you are not tired,” اینجا نیستند “they are not here.”

Negation replaces the positive copula construction; it does not simply add نـ to خسته‌ام or place a free word meaning not before the adjective. English says not tired inside the predicate, but Persian leaves خسته unchanged and puts the negative person-marked copula after it.

The full paradigm

Person	Negative copula	Reading	Example predicate
first singular	نیستم	nistam	خسته نیستم “I am not tired”
second singular	نیستی	nisti	خسته نیستی “you are not tired”
third singular	نیست	nist	خسته نیست “he/she/it is not tired”
first plural	نیستیم	nistim	خسته نیستیم “we are not tired”
second plural/polite	نیستید	nistid	خسته نیستید “you are not tired”
third plural	نیستند	nistand	خسته نیستند “they are not tired”

Unlike an enclitic such as ـام in خسته‌ام, every نیست form is written as a separate word after the predicate. The endings on نیست identify person and number, so subject pronouns can again be omitted.

نگران نیستم؛ فقط می‌خواهم برنامه روشن باشد.

negarân nistam; faqat mi-khâham barnâme rowshan bâshad.

I'm not worried; I just want the plan to be clear. (neutral standard; subject omitted)

از این همه پیاده‌روی خسته نیستید؟

az in hame piyâde-ravi khaste nistid?

Aren't you tired from all this walking? (polite standard)

امروز مدیر در دفتر نیست.

emruz modir dar daftar nist.

The manager is not in the office today. (neutral standard; locative predicate)

💡

Build the affirmative and negative in parallel: خسته‌ام becomes خسته نیستم, and آماده‌اند becomes آماده نیستند. The predicate stays intact; the positive copula is replaced by an inflected نیست form.

Noun predicates

With a noun predicate, نیست denies identity, classification, occupation, or ownership. Persian still uses no indefinite article: پزشک نیستم means “I am not a doctor,” not “I am not doctor” in learner English.

من پزشک نیستم؛ پرستارم.

man pezeshk nistam; parastâr-am.

I'm not a doctor; I'm a nurse. (neutral standard; corrective contrast keeps من)

این شماره‌ی بخش فروش نیست.

in shomâre-ye bakhsh-e forush nist.

This isn't the sales department's number. (neutral standard; noun phrase predicate)

این چتر مال من نیست.

in chatr mâl-e man nist.

This umbrella isn't mine. (careful spoken standard; possessive predicate)

The constituent before نیست may itself contain ezâfe or a possessive phrase. نیست negates the whole predication; it does not break the internal noun phrase apart.

Adjective predicates

The adjective stays invariant. Compare من آماده نیستم, او آماده نیست, and آن‌ها آماده نیستند. There is no gender ending, and plural marking belongs on نیستند, not on آماده.

این مسیر طولانی نیست، اما شیب زیادی دارد.

in masir tulâni nist, ammâ shib-e ziyâdi dârad.

This route isn't long, but it has a steep incline. (neutral standard)

هنوز برای تصمیم نهایی مطمئن نیستیم.

hanuz barâ-ye tasmim-e nahâyi motma'en nistim.

We're still not sure about the final decision. (neutral standard)

Persian نه has important uses in coordination and contrast—roughly “not X but Y” or “neither X nor Y”—but it is not the ordinary finite negative copula. For a plain assertion, راحت نیست is the productive pattern.

Location, presence, and availability

A location phrase can serve as the predicate: خانه نیستم “I am not at home,” اینجا نیست “he/she/it is not here.” Third-singular نیست also appears in existential statements such as وقت نیست “there is no time.” Context distinguishes “X is not here” from “there is no X here.”

فردا صبح خانه نیستم؛ عصر تماس بگیر.

fardâ sobh khâne nistam; asr tamâs begir.

I won't be home tomorrow morning; call in the afternoon. (careful spoken standard; present form with future-time context)

در این خیابان دستگاه خودپرداز نیست.

dar in khiyâbân dastgâh-e khodpardâz nist.

There is no ATM on this street. (neutral standard; existential نیست)

The first sentence illustrates a Persian–English tense difference: a present copula plus a clear future adverb can describe a scheduled future absence. Do not assume every English will not be requires a separately marked future tense in Persian.

Human and inanimate plural subjects

Plural human subjects normally take نیستند. Inanimate plural subjects may take singular نیست in formal or collective construals, while plural نیستند is common when the individual items are salient. This is the same agreement choice found with positive copulas.

دانشجویان امروز غایب نیستند؛ همه در کلاس‌اند.

dâneshju-yân emruz ghâyeb nistand; hame dar kelâs-and.

The students aren't absent today; they are all in class. (neutral standard; human plural agreement)

این دستگاه‌ها هنوز روشن نیست.

in dastgâh-hâ hanuz rowshan nist.

These devices are not on yet. (formal/careful standard; inanimate plural construed collectively)

The choice is explained in depth on Inanimate Plurals and Singular Verb Agreement.

Colloquial Tehran forms

The first four forms remain close to the standard in ordinary Tehran speech: نیستم، نیستی، نیست، نیستیم. Second plural/polite commonly becomes نیستین, and third plural نیستن (informal, regional: Tehran). The third-singular form may sound shortened in rapid speech, but standard spelling remains نیست outside deliberately colloquial dialogue.

من الان خونه نیستم؛ توی راهم.

man alân khune nistam; tu-ye râh-am.

I'm not home right now; I'm on my way. (informal, regional: Tehran)

شما برای شام اینجا نیستین؟

shomâ barâ-ye shâm injâ nistin?

Aren't you here for dinner? (informal, regional: Tehran; polite/plural ـین)

نه، بچه‌ها امشب خونه نیستن.

na, bachche-hâ emshab khune nistan.

No, the kids aren't home tonight. (informal, regional: Tehran; third-plural ـن)

💡

Colloquial نیستین/نیستن reduce only the plural endings; they still form one negative-copula paradigm. Use standard نیستید/نیستند in edited prose and formal communication.

A short exchange

این صندلی خالی است؟

in sandali khâli ast?

Is this seat free? (careful spoken standard)

نه، خالی نیست؛ دوستم همین الان برمی‌گردد.

na, khâli nist; dust-am hamin alân bar-mi-gardad.

No, it isn't free; my friend will be right back. (careful spoken standard)

Common Mistakes

1. Prefixing نـ to the adjective-plus-copula form

❌ من امروز نه‌خسته‌ام.

Incorrect — ordinary predicate negation uses نیستم; نه is not prefixed to خسته‌ام.

✅ من امروز به‌هیچ‌وجه خسته نیستم.

man emruz be-hich-vajh khaste nistam.

I'm not tired at all today.

2. Using نه as the ordinary negative copula

❌ این کفش نه راحت است.

as a neutral simple negative rather than the first half of a نه ... نه ... contrast

Incorrect as a neutral simple negation — نه does not replace the inflected copula.

✅ این کفش برای پیاده‌روی راحت نیست.

in kafsh barâ-ye piyâde-ravi râhat nist.

This shoe isn't comfortable for walking.

3. Attaching نیست to its predicate

❌ اتاق امروز خلوتنیست.

Incorrect spelling — نیست is a separate word after the predicate.

✅ سالن انتظار امروز خلوت نیست.

sâlon-e entezâr emruz khalvat nist.

The waiting room isn't quiet today.

4. Using third plural with a first-plural subject

❌ ما برای رفتن آماده نیستند.

Incorrect — ما requires first-plural نیستیم.

✅ ما هنوز برای رفتن آماده نیستیم.

mâ hanuz barâ-ye raftan âmâde nistim.

We aren't ready to leave yet.

Key Takeaways

The negative series is نیستم، نیستی، نیست، نیستیم، نیستید، نیستند.
نیست replaces the positive copula and follows the predicate as a separate word.
Noun, adjective, locative, possessive, and existential predicates can all occur before نیست.
Subject omission remains possible because the negative copula carries person and number.
Informal Tehran نیستین/نیستن correspond to standard نیستید/نیستند.

Now practice Farsi

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

Start learning Farsi →