Past داشتن “to have” uses past stem داشت plus the regular past endings: داشتم، داشتی، داشت، داشتیم، داشتید، داشتند. As a lexical verb it expresses past possession, relationships, features, resources, and states such as having time or patience. Negative نداشتم adds نـ directly to the same past stem.
The same forms also serve as the first verb in a past progressive: داشتم نامه مینوشتم “I was writing a letter.” The difference is structural. Lexical یک نامه داشتم has a possessed noun; auxiliary داشتم نامه مینوشتم is followed by a separate matching می past verb.
The six past forms
| Person | Affirmative | Negative | Common Tehran form |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | داشتمdâshtam | نداشتمnadâshtam | داشتم |
| you singular | داشتیdâshti | نداشتیnadâshti | داشتی |
| he/she/it | داشتdâsht | نداشتnadâsht | داشت |
| we | داشتیمdâshtim | نداشتیمnadâshtim | داشتیم |
| you plural/polite | داشتیدdâshtid | نداشتیدnadâshtid | داشتین |
| they | داشتندdâshtand | نداشتندnadâshtand | داشتن |
Third singular is bare داشت, not داشتد. Positive simple-past stress normally remains on the final syllable of the stem; negative نـ attracts stress in نداشتم. Ordinary spelling shows neither stress nor short vowels.
در نوجوانی یک دوربین ساده داشتم.
dar nowjavâni yek durbin-e sâde dâshtam.
As a teenager, I had a simple camera. (neutral standard; past possession)
برای ارائه وقت کافی داشتید؟
barâ-ye erâ'e vaqt-e kâfi dâshtid?
Did you have enough time for the presentation? (polite standard)
Past ownership and association
The possessor is the grammatical subject and controls agreement. A specific possessed object can take را, while a new or nonspecific possession normally does not.
آن زمان یک مغازهی کوچک نزدیک بازار داشتند.
ân zamân yek maghâze-ye kuchek nazdik-e bâzâr dâshtand.
At that time they had a small shop near the bazaar. (neutral standard; nonspecific possession)
راننده همان نقشهای را که لازم داشتیم همراهش داشت.
rânande hamân naqshe-i râ ke lâzem dâshtim hamrâh-ash dâsht.
The driver had with him the very map that we needed. (careful standard; specific object with را)
داشتن also relates a whole to its features: خانه دو بالکن داشت “the house had two balconies,” جاده پیچ تندی داشت “the road had a sharp bend.” The possessor, not the feature, controls the verb.
اتاق قبلی دو پنجرهی بزرگ داشت.
otâq-e qabli do panjare-ye bozorg dâsht.
The previous room had two large windows. (neutral standard; singular possessor)
Past states and the translation “used to have”
Simple داشتم can describe a possession or associated state throughout a past period. Persian normally does not need میداشتم merely because English uses used to have or because the state lasted.
This matters because a simple-past form is not automatically a punctual event. The lexical meaning of داشتن is stative: ماشین داشتم describes a possession holding over some interval. A date or phrase such as در آن سالها supplies its boundaries without changing the verb's internal form.
پیش از بازسازی، خانه حیاط بزرگی داشت.
pish az bâzsâzi, khâne hayât-e bozorgi dâsht.
Before the renovation, the house used to have a large yard. (neutral standard; durable past possession)
آن روزها برای ورزش انرژی بیشتری داشتم.
ân ruz-hâ barâ-ye varzesh enerzhi-ye bishtari dâshtam.
In those days, I had more energy for exercise. (careful standard; past state)
This differs from the ordinary habitual می past of event verbs. The habitual overview explains why بودم and possessive داشتم commonly remain simple on Habitual Past and English Used To.
Having is not acquiring
English had and got can overlap in conversation, but Persian keeps a useful semantic distinction. یک دوچرخه داشتم describes the state of owning a bicycle. یک دوچرخه خریدم “I bought a bicycle” or یک دوچرخه گرفتم “I got a bicycle” presents an acquisition event. Do not use داشتن when the point is the moment possession began.
در سفر ماشین نداشتیم، پس یکی کرایه کردیم.
dar safar mâshin nadâshtim, pas yeki kerâye kardim.
We didn't have a car on the trip, so we rented one. (neutral standard; state followed by acquisition of access)
The negative نداشتم likewise denies a state of possession or availability; it does not mean that an attempt to obtain something failed. That event would require a verb such as پیدا نکردم “I did not find/get hold of.”
Common expressions with داشتن
Frequent noun-plus-داشتن combinations must be understood as whole predicates. وقت داشتن means “have time,” کار داشتن can mean “have work” or “need something from someone,” حق داشتن means “have the right / be entitled,” and حوصله داشتن means “feel up to / have the patience for.” All use the same past paradigm.
بعد از جلسه با شما کار داشتم، اما زود رفتید.
ba'd az jalase bâ shomâ kâr dâshtam, ammâ zud raftid.
I needed to speak with you after the meeting, but you left early. (polite standard; با کسی کار داشتن)
دیشب حوصلهی آشپزی نداشتیم و غذا سفارش دادیم.
dishab howsele-ye âshpazi nadâshtim va ghazâ sefâresh dâdim.
Last night we didn't feel like cooking, so we ordered food. (neutral conversation)
English uses have in many expressions that Persian builds differently: “have breakfast” is صبحانه خوردن, not صبحانه داشتن. Past tense does not change the lexical pairing.
The past progressive auxiliary
When داشتن is followed by a matching می past verb, it no longer expresses possession. Both verbs agree with the same subject, and the construction foregrounds one event underway.
داشتم قبضها را پرداخت میکردم که اینترنت قطع شد.
dâshtam qabz-hâ râ pardâkht mi-kardam ke internet qat' shod.
I was paying the bills when the internet went out. (neutral spoken standard; auxiliary داشتن)
همکارها داشتند برای نمایشگاه آماده میشدند.
hamkâr-hâ dâshtand barâ-ye namâyeshgâh âmâde mi-shodand.
The colleagues were getting ready for the exhibition. (careful standard; third plural on both verbs)
For ordinary negative “was not doing,” do not negate the auxiliary: use نمیکردم with past-time context. The full agreement and negation constraints appear on Past Progressive with داشتن.
Colloquial Tehran forms
Tehran speech reduces second plural داشتید to داشتین and third plural داشتند to داشتن; negatives are نداشتین، نداشتن (informal, regional: Tehran). The third-plural form is spelled like the infinitive, so syntax matters.
دیشب مهمون داشتین یا تنها بودین؟
dishab mehmun dâshtin yâ tanhâ budin?
Did you have guests last night, or were you alone? (informal, regional: Tehran; plural/polite)
نه، بچهها امتحان داشتن و خونه بودن.
na, bachche-hâ emtehân dâshtan va khune budan.
No, the kids had an exam and were home. (informal, regional: Tehran)
Common Mistakes
1. Using the infinitive as a finite past verb
❌ من دیروز وقت داشتن.
Incorrect — داشتن is an infinitive and has no first-person ending.
✅ من دیروز برای خرید وقت کافی داشتم.
man diruz barâ-ye kharid vaqt-e kâfi dâshtam.
I had enough time to shop yesterday.
2. Using the present stem for past possession
❌ آن خانه در گذشته بالکن دارد.
Incorrect for past time — use past stem داشت, not present دارد.
✅ آن خانهی قدیمی یک بالکن باریک داشت.
ân khâne-ye qadimi yek bâlkon-e bârik dâsht.
That old house had a narrow balcony.
3. Adding می to ordinary past possession
❌ من در کودکی یک دوچرخه میداشتم.
Incorrect for neutral modern possession — simple داشتم expresses the past state.
✅ من در کودکی یک دوچرخهی قرمز داشتم.
man dar kudaki yek docharkhe-ye qermez dâshtam.
I had a red bicycle as a child.
4. Negating past possession with نمی
❌ برای تاکسی پول نقد نمیداشتم.
Incorrect in neutral Iranian Persian — past possession uses نداشتم.
✅ برای کرایهی تاکسی پول نقد نداشتم.
barâ-ye kerâye-ye tâksi pul-e naqd nadâshtam.
I didn't have cash for the taxi fare.
Key Takeaways
- Past داشتن uses داشت + the ordinary past endings; third singular is bare داشت.
- Lexical داشتم expresses possession and associated past states; negative نداشتم joins directly.
- Simple داشتم can translate “used to have” without می.
- Auxiliary داشتم is identified by a following matching می past verb.
- Tehran داشتین / داشتن correspond to standard داشتید / داشتند.
Now practice Farsi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- داشتن in the PresentA1 — Conjugate داشتن in the present for possession, relationships, resources, and the progressive auxiliary, including ندارم and Tehran forms.
- Irregular Simple-Past ParadigmsA2 — Conjugate بودن، داشتن، رفتن، آمدن, and گفتن in the simple past, including zero-marked third person, negatives, and compound predicates.
- Past Progressive with داشتنA2 — Build داشتم ... میکردم progressives with matched agreement and use them to foreground an event underway at a past reference point.
- Habitual Past and English Used ToA2 — Express repeated past events and states with می plus the past stem, without inventing a separate equivalent of English used to.
- Compound Verbs in Past TensesA2 — Keep the nonverbal element stable while the light verb carries simple-past, imperfective, negative, and progressive morphology.