Infinitives as Verbal Nouns
Before building past tense verbs, it helps to recognize Farsi infinitives. Every Farsi infinitive ends in either تن or دن.
Aside from being dictionary entries, infinitives are frequently used in sentences as verbal nouns. This is equivalent to the English "-ing" gerund (like "cooking" or "arriving").
| Cooking dinner for the guests is very important. | پختن شام برای مهمانها خیلی مهم است.pokhtan-e shâm barâye mehmân-hâ kheyli mohem ast. |
| Arriving late to the party is a mistake. | دیر رسیدن به مهمانی اشتباه است.dir residan be mehmâni eshtebâh ast. |
| Fearing that black dog is a mistake. | ترسیدن از آن سگ سیاه اشتباه است.tarsidan az ân sag-e siyâh eshtebâh ast. |
Extracting the Past Stem
To conjugate any verb into the past tense in Farsi, you first need the past stem. The rule for finding it is simple and completely regular for every verb in the language.
Simply take the infinitive and drop the final ن.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Past Stem |
|---|---|---|
| ساختن | to build | ساخت |
| پختن | to cook | پخت |
| ترسیدن | to fear | ترسید |
| رسیدن | to arrive | رسید |
Now that you know how to extract the past stem, you are ready to start conjugating Farsi verbs in the past tense!
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io