Infinitives and present stems (-an)

The Infinitive Form

In Persian, the dictionary form of a verb is called the infinitive. You can easily spot an infinitive because it always ends in either تن or دن.

Infinitives as Verbal Nouns

Persian infinitives are incredibly versatile. In addition to meaning "to [do something]", they also act like nouns (similar to English "-ing" gerunds). This means you can use an un-conjugated infinitive as the subject or object of a sentence.

When combined with other words, infinitives seamlessly express ideas like "having a plan to go" or "taking photos" (literally "photo taking").

Finding the Present Stem

Before you can conjugate a verb to say "I go" or "she buys", you need its present stem.

While finding a past stem is as simple as dropping the final ن, finding the present stem requires dropping the entire تن or دن ending. Because the root often changes shape unpredictably, your best strategy is to memorize the present stem alongside every new infinitive:

For now, get comfortable recognizing the infinitive form and using it as a noun. It allows you to build sophisticated sentences without conjugating a single verb!