Four of the most frequent Persian commands—برو “go,” بیا “come,” بگو “say/tell,” and بده “give”—cannot be built by looking only at their infinitives. Their verbs have irregular present stems: رفتن (رو)، آمدن (آی)، گفتن (گو)، دادن (ده). The command machinery remains recognizable, but vowel junctions and conventional surface forms make these words worth learning as a set.
Their irregularity is lexical, not evidence that Persian commands lack structure. Once the present stem and its imperative shape are known, plural ـید, negative نـ, objects, and compound-verb placement behave systematically.
The four families
| Infinitive | Present stem | Singular | Plural/polite | Negative singular | Negative plural/polite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| رفتن | رو | بروbero | برویدberavid | نروnaro | نرویدnaravid |
| آمدن | آی | بیاbiyâ | بیاییدbiyâyid | نیاnayâ | نیاییدnayâyid |
| گفتن | گو | بگوbegu | بگوییدbeguyid | نگوnagu | نگوییدnaguyid |
| دادن | ده | بدهbede | بدهیدbedahid | ندهnade | ندهیدnadahid |
The table shows two kinds of knowledge. You must memorize the unexpected present stem, such as رو beside رفتن. You must also learn its surface command: singular برو has the careful conventional reading bero, whereas the stem before the full ـید ending is heard in careful بروید beravid.
برو: motion away from the center
برو directs the addressee away from the speaker’s current or imagined deictic center. Its ordinary careful pronunciation is bero; boro is extremely common in Tehran conversation (informal, regional: Tehran). The negative is نرو naro, not a form containing both نـ and بـ.
به داروخانه برو و این نسخه را تحویل بده.
be dârukhâne bero-vo in noskhe râ tahvil bede.
Go to the pharmacy and hand in this prescription. (familiar singular; careful spoken standard)
بدون نقشه به مسیر کوهستانی نروید.
bedun-e naqshe be masir-e kuhestâni naravid.
Do not take the mountain route without a map. (polite/plural warning)
In colloquial writing, برو normally keeps the standard spelling even when pronounced boro. Writing pronunciation creatively is not needed for this common form.
بیا: motion toward the center
The present stem of آمدن begins with a vowel. Persian resolves the junction with the imperative prefix as بیا, not as a separate ب آ... sequence. The plural/polite form بیایید contains the full stem-plus-ending junction; بیاید with one fewer ی is a third-singular subjunctive “may he/she come,” not a plural command.
بیا کنار من بنشین تا عکسها را ببینی.
biyâ kenâr-e man beneshin tâ aks-hâ râ bebini.
Come sit next to me so you can see the photos. (familiar singular)
ده دقیقه زودتر بیایید تا جای مناسبی پیدا کنیم.
dah daqiqe zud-tar biyâyid tâ jâ-ye monâsebi peydâ konim.
Come ten minutes early so we can find a suitable place. (plural or polite standard)
بیا also develops a discourse use equivalent to “come on, let’s...,” but only when followed by a first-plural subjunctive. That construction is the topic of Hortative بیا and بیایید.
بگو: saying and telling
The command بگو uses present stem گو, far removed from past stem گفت. Before plural/polite ـید, a written and pronounced ی appears: بگویید. That ی is part of the correct junction; omitting it gives the wrong standard form.
راستش را بگو؛ اصل ماجرا چه بود؟
râst-ash râ begu; asl-e mâjarâ che bud?
Tell me the truth—what was the real story? (familiar singular; direct request)
اگر نشانی عوض شده، به راننده بگویید.
agar neshâni avaz shode, be rânande beguyid.
If the address has changed, tell the driver. (plural or polite standard)
The established Tehran plural/polite form is بگین (informal, regional: Tehran). The reduced stem and ending form a single spoken paradigm, while بگویید is the unmarked edited form.
بده: giving and light-verb use
دادن has present stem ده. The familiar singular is بده bede, but before overt ـید careful Iranian Persian has بدهید bedahid; the negative pair is نده nade and ندهید nadahid. As a simple verb it takes a thing given and often a recipient with به. The specific object normally appears before the final verb.
نمک را به من بده، دستم به آن نمیرسد.
namak râ be man bede, dast-am be ân nemi-rasad.
Pass me the salt; I can't reach it. (familiar singular)
کارت ورود را به مسئول نگهبانی بدهید.
kârt-e vorud râ be mas'ul-e negahbâni bedahid.
Give the entry card to the security officer. (polite/plural standard)
دادن is also a light verb. Only that verbal part takes imperative morphology: توضیح بده، نشان بده، ادامه بده. The preceding element is not a disposable translation aid; together the two words form one lexical predicate.
از این بخش یک مثال سادهتر نشان بده.
az in bakhsh yek mesâl-e sâde-tar neshân bede.
Show a simpler example from this section. (familiar singular; light verb دادن)
Joined spelling, not ZWNJ spelling
The imperative and negative prefixes in these four forms are written directly against the stem: برو، بیا، بگو، بده؛ نرو، نیا، نگو، نده. There is no ordinary space and no ZWNJ after initial ب or ن. Likewise, بگویید and نیایید are single orthographic words.
This differs from productive می, which standard orthography separates with a ZWNJ in میروم and میگویم. Learners who visually transfer that rule create nonstandard برو or نگو.
Standard and Tehran pronunciations
Careful standard forms useful for reading aloud are برو، بیایید، بگویید، بدهید with the full plural endings represented in the table. Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) commonly has برو، بیاین، بگین، بدین, alongside negative نرین، نیاین، نگین، ندین. The written form may remain standard even when a speaker’s pronunciation is reduced.
بیا بریم؛ اگه دیر برسیم، درها رو میبندن.
biyâ berim; age dir beresim, dar-hâ ro mi-bandan.
Come on, let's go; if we're late, they'll close the doors. (informal, regional: Tehran)
شما برین جلو، من الان میام.
shomâ berin jelow, man alân miyâm.
You go on ahead; I'm coming now. (informal, regional: Tehran; polite or plural)
A short exchange
بیا ببین چه چیزی برایت آوردهام.
biyâ bebin che chizi barây-at âvarde-am.
Come see what I've brought you. (familiar singular; excited invitation)
اول بگو چیست، بعد نشانم بده.
avval begu chist, ba'd neshân-am bede.
First tell me what it is, then show me. (familiar singular response)
Common Mistakes
1. Using the past stem of رفتن
❌ الان بروفت خانه.
Incorrect — بروفت mixes imperative morphology with the past stem رفت; the command uses present stem رو.
✅ الان برو خانه و کمی استراحت کن.
alân bero khâne-vo kami esterâhat kon.
Go home now and get some rest.
2. Misspelling the plural command of آمدن
❌ فردا زود بیاید اینجا.
Incorrect for direct plural/polite address — بیاید is third-singular subjunctive, while the command is بیایید.
✅ فردا ساعت هشت بیایید اینجا.
fardâ sâ'at-e hasht biyâyid injâ.
Come here at eight tomorrow. (plural or polite)
3. Leaving the imperative prefix detached
❌ واقعیت را ب گو.
Incorrect — imperative بـ attaches directly to present stem گو.
✅ هرچه میدانی صادقانه بگو.
harche mi-dâni sâdeqâne begu.
Tell me honestly everything you know.
4. Dropping the polite/plural ending
❌ شما این بسته را به علی بده.
Incorrect in the intended polite address — شما requires بدهید.
✅ شما این بسته را به علی بدهید.
shomâ in baste râ be ali bedahid.
Please give this package to Ali.
5. Adding affirmative بـ to the negative
❌ هنوز نبگو چه شده است.
Incorrect — negative نـ replaces affirmative بـ.
✅ تا مطمئن نشدهای به کسی نگو.
tâ motma'en na-shode-i be kasi nagu.
Don't tell anyone until you're sure.
Key Takeaways
- The four commands come from irregular present stems: رو، آی، گو، ده.
- Plural ـید and negative نـ remain systematic once each imperative family is learned.
- بیا / بیایید and بگو / بگویید show important vowel-and-glide junctions.
- Prefixes are written joined directly to the stem, without a space or ZWNJ.
- Learn the standard and Tehran endpoints as reliable models; natural speech may show intermediate reductions, but they should not be invented mechanically.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- High-Frequency Irregular Present StemsA1 — Master the present stems رو، آی، گو، خواه، ده, and شو and build their standard and colloquial forms accurately.
- Affirmative Imperative with بA2 — Build familiar singular commands from the Persian present stem, including simple, prefixed, and compound verbs.
- Polite and Plural Imperatives in یدA2 — Use the shared ـید imperative to address several people or one person politely, and soften requests naturally.
- Negative Imperative with نA2 — Form Persian prohibitions with نـ, place negation correctly in simple and compound verbs, and control their social force.
- Hortative بیا and بیاییدA2 — Invite someone to act together with بیا or بیایید followed by a first-plural Persian subjunctive.
- The Present StemA1 — Learn why Persian present stems must be stored with each verb, recognize common alternations, and use the stem in present-system forms.