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### The Formal Progressive

In news reports and formal writing, Persian uses a specific construction to describe actions currently in progress. 

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To say someone is "in the process of" doing something, use **در حال** linked with the Ezafe to an action noun (either a formal verbal noun or a full infinitive), followed by the "to be" copula. The action noun itself does not conjugate; only the copula at the end of the sentence changes to match the subject.

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### The Past Tense

You will frequently hear this structure used to discuss infrastructure and public works. To describe an action that *was* ongoing in the past, keep the exact same structure but use the past tense of the copula (such as **بودند**) at the end of the sentence.

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### Compound Verbs and Objects

When using compound verbs, place the entire full infinitive (such as **کامل کردن** or **تماشا کردن**) right after **در حال**. If the action has a direct object, the object simply follows the infinitive or verbal noun, connected by the Ezafe.

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Formal ongoing actions (dar hâl-e)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

suffix

verb

Singular pronouns and copula (man, -am)

Plural pronouns and copula (mâ, -im)

Subject pronoun omission

Singular demonstratives (in, ân)

Plural demonstratives (inhâ, ânhâ)

Independent copula (hastam, hast)

Negative present copula (nistam, nist)

Yes/No questions (âyâ)

Regular plurals (-hâ)

Animate plurals (-ân)

Indefiniteness (yek)

Indefinite marker (-i)

Describing nouns (-e / -ye)

Possession (-e / -ye)

Singular possessives (-am, -at, -ash)

Plural possessives (-emân, -etân, -eshân)

Basic prepositions (dar, be, az, bâ)

Spatial prepositions (ru-ye, zir-e...)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yek, do, se...)

Numbers and singular nouns

Numbers 11 to 20 (yâzdah, davâzdah...)

Counting by tens to 100

Telling time (sâ'at)

The verb to have (dâram)

Negative to have (nadâram)

Basic word order (SOV)

Infinitives and present stems (-an)

Present indicative (mi-)

Negative present indicative (nemi-)

Compound verbs

Question words (che, kojâ)

How many (chand)

The definite object marker (râ)

Object pronouns (man râ, to râ)

Singular commands (be-)

Formal and plural commands (be- ... -id)

Negative commands (na-)

The present subjunctive (be-)

The negative present subjunctive (na-)

Must (bâyad)

Might (shâyad)

Wanting to do something (khâstan)

Being able to do something (tavânestan)

Forming the past stem

The simple past of to be (budan)

The simple past tense

Negative simple past (na-)

Attached object pronouns on verbs (-am, -at, -ash)

Comparative adjectives (-tar)

Basic conjunctions (va, ammâ, yâ)

Giving reasons (chon)

Adverbs of frequency and degree (hamishe, hargez, kheyli, kam)

Everyday actions (kâr kardan, bâz kardan)

Non-human plural subjects

Indefinite pronouns (kasi, chizi, jâyi)

Negative indefinite pronouns (hich-kas, hich-chiz, hich-jâ)

Reciprocal pronouns (hamdigar, yekdigar)

Reflexive pronouns (khod-)

Reflexive direct objects (khod râ)

Emphatic pronouns (khod)

The quantifier every (har)

The quantifier all (hame)

The quantifier some (ba'zi)

Another and other (-i digar)

Which (kodâm)

How much (cheghadr)

Comparisons of equality (mesl-e)

Superlative adjectives (-tarin)

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Ordinal numbers (-om)

Pre-nominal ordinal numbers (-omin)

Fractions and percentages

Prepositions of theme (dar mored-e)

Prepositions of time (ghabl az, ba'd az)

Preposition of exclusion (bedun-e)

Resultative conjunctions (banâbarin, pas)

Hortative construction (biyâ, biyâyid)

The present progressive tense (dâram mi-)

The past continuous tense (mi-)

Negative past continuous (ne-mi-)

Past continuous of to have (dâshtam)

The past progressive tense (dâshtam mi-)

The past participle (-e)

Present perfect tense (-e-am, -e-ast)

Negative present perfect (na-)

Question	Answer
in the process of / currently	در حالdar hâl-e
construction / establishment (infrastructure, facilities)	احداثehdâs
dam	سدsadd
The engineers are currently constructing a big dam.	مهندسان در حال احداث یک سد بزرگ هستند.mohandesân dar hâle ehdâse yek sadde bozorg hastand
phase	فازfâz
power plant	نیروگاهnirugâh
We are currently building the second phase of the power plant.	در حال ساختن فاز دوم نیروگاه هستیم.dar hâl-e sâkhtan-e fâz-e dovom-e nirougâh hastim
complex (building/center)	مجتمعmajtama'
Those people are currently reconstructing a commercial complex.	آنان در حال بازسازی یک مجتمع تجاری هستند.ânân dar hâl-e bâzsâzi-ye yek majtama'-e tejâri hastand
mayor	شهردارshahrdâr
machinery	ماشین‌آلاتmâshin-âlât
As soon as the mayor arrived, they were testing the machinery.	همین که شهردار رسید، آنان در حال آزمایش کردن ماشین‌آلات بودند.hamin ke shahrdâr resid, ânân dar hâle âzmâyesh kardane mâshin-âlât budand.
crane	جرثقیلjarrasaqil
concrete	بتنbeton
A large crane is currently moving the concrete.	یک جرثقیل بزرگ در حال جابه‌جا کردن بتن است.yek jarsaghil bozorg dar hâle jâbejâ kardan beton ast.
Whether it rains or not, we are currently constructing the power plant.	چه باران ببارد چه نه، ما در حال احداث نیروگاه هستیم.che bârân bebârad che na, mâ dar hâl-e ehdâs-e nirugâh hastim.
The workers are currently completing the final phase of this commercial complex.	کارگران در حال کامل کردن فاز نهایی این مجتمع تجاری هستند.kârgarân dar hâle kâmel kardane fâze nahâ'iye in mojtama'e tejâri hastand
This heavy machinery is currently pouring the concrete.	این ماشین‌آلات سنگین در حال ریختن بتن است.in mâshin-âlât-e sangin dar hâl-e rikhtan beton ast.
The mayor is currently watching the crane.	شهردار در حال تماشا کردن جرثقیل است.shahrdâr dar hâle tamâshâ kardane jarsaghil ast.
We had sent the machinery, and they were in the process of starting the project.	ما ماشین‌آلات را فرستاده بودیم، و آنان در حال شروع کردن پروژه بودند.mâ mâshin-âlât râ ferestâde budim, va ânân dar hâl shoru' kardan poroje budand.
The mayor is constructing a dam.	شهردار در حال احداث سد است.shahrdâr dar hâle ehdâse sad ast.