The Persian past participle is built by adding written ه -e to the past stem: رفت → رفته “gone,” دید → دیده “seen,” نوشت → نوشته “written.” It is the essential base for the present perfect, past perfect, passive, and many result-state adjectives.
The participle is not itself a complete finite past verb. رفته names a resulting state or participates in a larger construction; person and tense come from a copula or auxiliary: رفتهام “I have gone,” رفته بودیم “we had gone.”
Formation: past stem plus ه
First remove final ن from the infinitive to obtain the past stem. Then add ه directly, without a space or ZWNJ.
| Infinitive | Past stem | Past participle | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| رفتن | رفت | رفته | rafte |
| دیدن | دید | دیده | dide |
| شنیدن | شنید | شنیده | shenide |
| نوشتن | نوشت | نوشته | neveshte |
| آمدن | آمد | آمده | âmade |
| گرفتن | گرفت | گرفته | gerefte |
مسافران زودتر از انتظار رسیدهاند.
mosâferân zud-tar az entezâr reside-and.
The passengers have arrived earlier than expected. (neutral standard; رسیده + ـاند)
این داستان را پیشتر شنیده بودم.
in dâstân râ pish-tar shenide budam.
I had heard this story before. (neutral standard; شنیده + بودم)
The participle always uses the past stem, even when the present stem is very different. دیدن has present stem بین, but its participle is دیده, never a form built on بین.
Perfect constructions supply person and tense
In the present perfect, a present copula follows the participle: خواندهام، خواندهای، خوانده است. In the past perfect, past بودن follows: خوانده بودم، خوانده بودی، خوانده بود. The participle remains خوانده throughout.
تا امروز سه فصل از کتاب را خواندهام.
tâ emruz se fasl az ketâb râ khânde-am.
By today I have read three chapters of the book. (present perfect)
پیش از جلسه همهی یادداشتها را خوانده بودیم.
pish az jalase hame-ye yâddâsht-hâ râ khânde budim.
Before the meeting, we had read all the notes. (past perfect)
English participles include unpredictable forms such as gone, seen, written. Persian derives رفته، دیده، نوشته regularly from the past stem. The irregular lexical work was already done when that stem was learned.
Spacing before the copula
The participial ه is part of the word. A vowel-initial enclitic copula attaches with a ZWNJ: رفتهام، رفتهای، رفتهایم، رفتهاید، رفتهاند. Third-person singular standard است remains a separate word: رفته است.
| Boundary | Correct form | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| stem + participial suffix | نوشته | no boundary |
| participle + enclitic copula | نوشتهام | ZWNJ after final ه |
| participle + third-singular copula | نوشته است | است is a separate standard word |
| participle + past auxiliary | نوشته بود | بود is a separate finite auxiliary |
The next page gives the full Present Perfect Formation, including all six spellings.
Compound verbs keep their nonverbal element
For a compound verb, add ه only to the past stem of the light verb: کار کرده، تصمیم گرفته، شروع شده، جواب داده. The nonverbal element remains before it as a separate part of the lexical predicate.
تا حالا در سه شرکت مختلف کار کردهام.
tâ hâlâ dar se sherkat-e mokhtalef kâr karde-am.
So far I have worked at three different companies. (neutral standard; کار کردن)
مدیر هنوز دربارهی درخواست ما تصمیم نگرفته است.
modir hanuz darbâre-ye darkhâst-e mâ tasmim nagerefte ast.
The manager has not yet decided about our request. (formal-neutral; تصمیم گرفتن)
ثبتنام دوره هفتهی پیش شروع شده است.
sabt-nâm-e dowre hafte-ye pish shoru' shode ast.
Course registration began last week. (formal-neutral recent report; شروع شدن)
Do not run the two written parts together. کارکرده is itself an adjective meaning “experienced/seasoned”; کار کرده is the participial form of the predicate کار کردن. Spacing can therefore change the analysis.
Adjectival and result-state uses
Many participles describe the state resulting from an event. As attributive adjectives they follow a noun through ezâfe: پنجرهی شکسته “the broken window,” غذای پخته “cooked food.” Persian participles do not change for gender or number.
پنجرهی شکسته را فردا عوض میکنند.
panjare-ye shekaste râ fardâ avaz mi-konand.
They will replace the broken window tomorrow. (neutral standard; attributive participle)
غذای پخته را در یخچال بگذارید.
ghazâ-ye pokhte râ dar yakhchâl be-gozârid.
Put the cooked food in the refrigerator. (polite standard; result-state adjective)
در ورودی بسته است، اما در پشتی باز است.
dar-e vorudi baste ast, ammâ dar-e poshti bâz ast.
The front door is closed, but the back door is open. (neutral standard; predicative result state)
In در بسته است, context may favor a state (“the door is closed”) rather than a report of a prior act (“someone has closed the door”). Persian often leaves that boundary less explicit than English. A passive event can add شدن, while a pure adjective simply describes the resulting property.
Productive and lexicalized adjective behavior is explored on Participial Adjectives.
Negative participles
The negative prefix attaches before the past stem, and ه remains at the end: نرفته، ندیده، نشنیده، انجام نداده. The negative belongs inside the participle, before the copula or past auxiliary.
هیچکدام از مهمانها هنوز نرسیدهاند.
hich-kodâm az mehmân-hâ hanuz naraside-and.
None of the guests has arrived yet. (neutral standard; negative participle)
Common Mistakes
1. Building the participle from the present stem
❌ من این منظره را بینهام.
Incorrect — the participle of دیدن uses past stem دید, not present stem بین.
✅ من این منظره را پیش از این دیدهام.
man in manzare râ pish az in dide-am.
I have seen this view before.
2. Adding ه to the infinitive
❌ او به خانه رفتنه است.
Incorrect — remove infinitive-final ن before adding participial ه.
✅ او پیش از غروب به خانه رفته است.
u pish az ghorub be khâne rafte ast.
He or she has gone home before sunset.
3. Separating ه from the past stem
❌ گزارش را نوشت هام.
Incorrect spelling — ه is part of the participle نوشته.
✅ گزارش نهایی را نوشتهام.
gozâresh-e nahâyi râ neveshte-am.
I have written the final report.
4. Joining the parts of an ordinary compound predicate
❌ او سالها اینجا کارکرده است.
as the present perfect of کار کردن
Incorrect spacing for the intended verb — کار کرده remains two words; کارکرده is a lexical adjective.
✅ او سالها در این بیمارستان کار کرده است.
u sâl-hâ dar in bimârestân kâr karde ast.
He or she has worked at this hospital for years.
5. Treating the bare participle as a complete first-person verb
❌ من امروز زود آمده.
Incorrect — آمده alone does not mark first person; the present perfect needs ـام.
✅ من امروز زودتر از همه آمدهام.
man emruz zud-tar az hame âmade-am.
I have arrived earlier than everyone today.
Key Takeaways
- Add ه directly to the past stem: رفت → رفته، دید → دیده.
- A participle needs a copula or auxiliary to become a finite perfect form.
- Use a ZWNJ before attached copulas in رفتهام, but a space in رفته است and رفته بود.
- In compound verbs, only the light verb becomes participial: کار کرده، تصمیم گرفته.
- Participles can describe result states as invariant adjectives: پنجرهی شکسته، در بسته.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- The Infinitive and Past StemA1 — Recognize Persian infinitives, recover the fully predictable past stem, and use both forms correctly when learning and looking up verbs.
- Long Infinitives as Verbal NounsA2 — Use Persian infinitives as noun-like names of actions, with ezâfe complements, prepositional phrases, possessors, and countable event readings.
- Present Perfect FormationA2 — Form the Persian present perfect with a past participle and present copula, including six standard spellings, negation, compound verbs, and Tehran reductions.
- Past PerfectA2 — Form the Persian past perfect with a participle plus بود and use it to place one completed event before another past reference point.
- Participial AdjectivesB1 — Recognize Persian adjectives derived from past and present verb stems, and distinguish result states from passive events and lexicalized meanings.
- Passive across the Tense and Mood SystemB1 — Carry Persian passive bases through subjunctive, perfect, future, modal, negative, and agreement patterns by conjugating the شدن layer.