Habitual Past and English Used To | Farsi Grammar

Persian normally expresses English used to with the ordinary می‌ past: می‌ + past stem + personal ending. هر روز پیاده می‌رفتم means “I used to walk every day,” and آن زمان در تهران زندگی می‌کردیم means “we lived / used to live in Tehran then.” There is no separate auxiliary corresponding word for word to English used to.

The same form can also describe an action in progress, especially in written or careful standard Persian. In ordinary conversation, داشتن + می‌ past more strongly foregrounds one concrete scene underway. The habitual reading of plain می‌ past comes from temporal framing and the kind of situation described: هر روز، آن وقت‌ها، وقتی بچه بودم، معمولاً all invite a repeated or characteristic interpretation.

The habitual frame

Part	Example	Contribution
past-time frame	آن سال‌ها	places the pattern in a past period
frequency cue	هر هفته	signals repetition
imperfective verb	می‌رفتیم	می‌ + رفت + یم
complete example	آن سال‌ها هر هفته می‌رفتیم.	We used to go every week.

The past stem is essential. Present می‌رویم uses رو and means “we go”; habitual past می‌رفتیم uses رفت and means “we used to go.” The prefix alone does not determine tense.

Nor does می‌ itself count repetitions. A phrase such as هر پنجشنبه supplies an open series of occasions, while یک بار normally selects one bounded event and the simple past. Aspect, lexical meaning, and time expressions work together to produce the habitual reading.

وقتی دانشجو بودم، بیشتر روزها با اتوبوس رفت‌وآمد می‌کردم.

vaqti dâneshju budam, bishtar-e ruz-hâ bâ otobus raft-o-âmad mi-kardam.

When I was a student, I used to commute by bus most days. (neutral standard; characteristic past routine)

پدربزرگم هر پنجشنبه برایمان آش می‌پخت.

pedarbozorg-am har panjshanbe barâ-yemân âsh mi-pokht.

My grandfather used to cook soup for us every Thursday. (neutral standard; repeated event)

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Do not search for a Persian word corresponding to used. Put the lexical verb in the می‌ past and make the past routine clear through context.

Repeated events and customary sequences

A habitual sentence may describe one repeated action or a sequence that happened on each relevant occasion. English sometimes uses would for repeated events; Persian keeps the same می‌ past.

تابستان‌ها صبح زود بیدار می‌شدیم، چای می‌خوردیم و کنار رودخانه قدم می‌زدیم.

tâbestân-hâ sobh-e zud bidâr mi-shodim, chây mi-khordim va kenâr-e rudkhâne qadam mi-zadim.

In the summers, we would get up early, drink tea, and walk by the river. (neutral narrative; customary sequence)

هر بار که باران می‌آمد، آب از سقف چکه می‌کرد.

har bâr ke bârân mi-âmad, âb az saqf chekke mi-kard.

Whenever it rained, water would drip from the ceiling. (careful standard; repeated condition and result)

Here می‌آمد does not mean that one rainstorm was unfolding when another event occurred. هر بار distributes the clause over many occasions, and می‌کرد describes the recurring result.

Repeated and continuing past states

The form is not limited to visible activities. Verbs of knowledge, preference, possession, and location can describe a state characteristic of a past period. English would is often awkward with such states—I would know him does not normally mean “I used to know him”—but English used to works. Persian again uses its past-state construction, although high-frequency بودن and داشتن have important simple-past patterns of their own.

آن روزها جواب هیچ‌کدام از این پرسش‌ها را نمی‌دانستم.

ân ruz-hâ javâb-e hich-kodâm az in porsesh-hâ râ nemi-dânestam.

In those days, I didn't know the answer to any of these questions. (neutral standard; past state)

قبل از ساخت بزرگراه، این محله خیلی آرام بود.

qabl az sâkht-e bozorgrâh, in mahalle kheyli ârâm bud.

Before the highway was built, this neighborhood used to be very quiet. (neutral standard; بودن normally uses simple بود for a past state)

در خانه‌ی قبلی حیاط بزرگی داشتیم.

dar khâne-ye qabli hayât-e bozorgi dâshtim.

At our previous house, we used to have a large yard. (neutral standard; possessive داشتن normally uses داشتیم)

The last two examples reveal a limitation on a mechanical formula. Neutral modern Persian normally says بود / داشت, not می‌بود / می‌داشت, for these simple past states. The habitual period is recovered from context. The dedicated pages on بودن in the Simple Past and داشتن in the Past explain these paradigms.

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Habitual meaning belongs to the whole sentence, not only to می‌. Time frames can make simple بودم and possessive داشتم translate as “used to be” and “used to have.”

Does the habit have to be over?

English used to normally suggests that the situation no longer holds. Persian می‌ past places the habit in a past frame but does not, by itself, assert that it stopped. آن سال‌ها زیاد پیاده‌روی می‌کردم conversationally suggests a contrast with now, yet a following sentence can say that the habit continues.

در نوجوانی هر صبح می‌دویدم و هنوز هم می‌دوم.

dar nowjavâni har sobh mi-davidam va hanuz ham mi-davam.

As a teenager I ran every morning, and I still do. (careful standard; continuation stated explicitly)

If discontinuation matters, say it: اما حالا دیگر... “but now no longer...” or تا پارسال... “until last year...” makes the endpoint clear.

پیش از این هر روز نوشابه می‌خوردم، اما حالا دیگر نمی‌خورم.

pish az in har ruz nushâbe mi-khordam, ammâ hâlâ digar nemi-khoram.

I used to drink soda every day, but now I no longer do. (neutral standard; discontinuation made explicit)

Habitual past versus one event or one ongoing scene

Meaning	Persian	Typical cue
one completed event	رفتم	دیروز یک بار
past habit	می‌رفتم	هر هفته، آن وقت‌ها
one event explicitly underway	داشتم می‌رفتم	همان لحظه، وقتی زنگ زدی

پارسال فقط یک بار با قطار به شیراز رفتم.

pârsâl faqat yek bâr bâ qatâr be shirâz raftam.

Last year I went to Shiraz by train only once. (bounded simple past)

آن سال هر ماه با قطار به شیراز می‌رفتم.

ân sâl har mâh bâ qatâr be shirâz mi-raftam.

That year I used to go to Shiraz by train every month. (habitual past)

Adding داشتن to the second sentence would shift attention away from the repeated schedule and toward a particular trip in progress. The Past Progressive with داشتن is not a Persian translation of used to.

Negated habits and register

Use نمی‌ + past stem + ending for habits that did not occur: نمی‌رفتم، نمی‌خواندند. Negative expressions such as هیچ‌وقت normally co-occur with the negative verb.

آن موقع هیچ‌وقت تنها سفر نمی‌کردم.

ân mowqe' hich-vaqt tanhâ safar nemi-kardam.

Back then I never used to travel alone. (neutral conversation; negative habit)

Tehran speech commonly reduces plural endings: standard می‌رفتید، می‌رفتند correspond to می‌رفتین، می‌رفتن (informal, regional: Tehran). The habitual function is unchanged.

بچه که بودین، تابستونا کجا می‌رفتین؟

bachche ke budin, tâbestunâ kojâ mi-raftin?

When you were children, where did you use to go in the summers? (informal, regional: Tehran; plural)

اغلب می‌رفتیم خونه‌ی مادربزرگمون.

aghlab mi-raftim khune-ye mâdarbozorg-emun.

We usually went to our grandmother's house. (informal, regional: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Inventing an auxiliary for used to

❌ من استفاده می‌کردم هر روز شنا کنم.

Incorrect transfer from English ‘used to’ — استفاده کردن means ‘use,’ not habitual aspect.

✅ آن زمان هر روز پیش از کار شنا می‌کردم.

ân zamân har ruz pish az kâr shenâ mi-kardam.

At that time I used to swim every day before work.

2. Using the present stem in the habitual past

❌ در کودکی هر روز به پارک می‌رومم.

Incorrect — past habitual رفتن uses past stem رفت plus ـم.

✅ در کودکی هر روز بعد از مدرسه به پارک می‌رفتم.

dar kudaki har ruz ba'd az madrese be pârk mi-raftam.

As a child, I used to go to the park every day after school.

3. Using داشتن progressive for a general habit

❌ آن سال‌ها هر شب داشتم کتاب می‌خواندم.

Incorrect for a neutral nightly habit — داشتم zooms in on one event in progress.

✅ آن سال‌ها بیشتر شب‌ها رمان می‌خواندم.

ân sâl-hâ bishtar-e shab-hâ român mi-khândam.

In those years I used to read novels most nights.

4. Assuming the habit necessarily ended

❌ از بچگی موسیقی کار می‌کردم، پس حالا دیگر کار نمی‌کنم.

Incorrect inference — the می‌ past alone does not entail that the activity stopped.

✅ در کودکی ساز می‌زدم و هنوز هم ساز می‌زنم.

dar kudaki sâz mi-zadam va hanuz ham sâz mi-zanam.

I played an instrument as a child, and I still do.

Key Takeaways

Express used to and repeated past events with می‌ + past stem + ending.
Past-time and frequency expressions select the habitual reading.
بودم and possessive داشتم normally express past states without می‌.
The form does not by itself entail that the habit has ended.
داشتم ... می‌کردم foregrounds one ongoing scene and is not the neutral habitual construction.

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