Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

To express taking action to prevent an unwanted outcome ("so that not" or "lest"), Farsi uses the negative purpose conjunction **مبادا**.

Because the prevented action is hypothetical, the verb following **مبادا** is in the **present subjunctive**. Since **مبادا** itself carries a negative meaning (literally "may it not be"), the following verb is always **affirmative**.

{{item:788174}}

{{item:788176}}

Notice in the sentences above that "تصادف کنی" (you crash) and "گم شویم" (we get lost) are affirmative verbs. The negative meaning comes entirely from **مبادا**.

### Precautions and Backup Plans

This structure is common when discussing taking precaution (**احتیاط کردن**), bringing spare (**یدکی**) items, or navigating ice (**یخ**).

{{item:788180}}

{{item:788185}}

The main clause describing the precaution can be in any tense—such as an imperative command, present indicative, or past tense—while the verb after **مبادا** remains in the present subjunctive.

{{item:788190}}

{{item:788188}}

Negative purpose (mabâdâ)

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
to take precaution / to be careful (exercising caution)	احتیاط کردنehtiyât kardan
lest / so that not	مباداmabâdâ
Be careful because of the snow, lest you crash.	به خاطر برف احتیاط کن مبادا تصادف کنی.be khâtere barf ehtiyât kon mabâdâ tasâdof koni.
to get lost	گم شدنgom shodan
Take the map with you lest we get lost in the forest.	نقشه را با خودت ببر مبادا در جنگل گم شویم.naqshe râ bâ khodat bebar mabâdâ dar jangal gom shavim.
gasoline	بنزینbenzin
spare / backup (physical parts or equipment)	یدکیyadaki
to run out / to finish (intransitive)	تمام شدنtamâm shodan
I am taking spare gasoline lest it run out on the road.	من بنزین یدکی می‌برم مبادا در جاده تمام شود.man benzin yadaki mibaram mabâdâ dar jâdde tamâm shavad.
ice	یخyakh
There is ice on the road; take a blanket lest you get cold.	روی جاده یخ است، پتو ببر مبادا سردت شود.ruye jâde yakh ast, patu bebar mabâdâ sardat shavad.
chain	زنجیرzanjir
to get stuck	گیر کردنgir kardan
Fasten the chain to the tire lest we get stuck in the snow.	زنجیر را به لاستیک ببند مبادا در برف گیر کنیم.zanjir râ be lâstik beband mabâdâ dar barf gir konim.
slippery	لغزندهlaghzande
The road towards the mountain is slippery; be careful lest you fall.	جاده به سمت کوه لغزنده است، احتیاط کن مبادا بیفتی.jâdde be samt-e kuh laghzande ast, ehtiyât kon mabâdâ beyofti.
Take the spare key lest the first key get lost.	کلید یدکی را بردار مبادا کلید اول گم شود.kalid-e yadaki râ bardâr mabâdâ kalid-e avval gom shavad
I want to buy a lot of food lest it run out.	می‌خواهم غذا زیاد بخرم مبادا تمام شود.mikhâham ghazâ ziyâd bekharam mabâdâ tamâm shavad.
We did not go towards the mountain lest we get stuck in the ice.	ما به سمت کوه نرفتیم مبادا در یخ گیر کنیم.mâ be samt-e kuh naraftim mabâdâ dar yakh gir konim.
The street is slippery; the old man is careful lest he slip.	خیابان لغزنده است، مرد پیر احتیاط می‌کند مبادا لیز بخورد.khiyâbân loghzande ast, mard-e pir ehtiyât mikonad mabâdâ liz bokhorad.
How many umbrellas did you bring lest it rain?	چند چتر آوردی مبادا باران ببارد؟chand chatr âvardi mabâdâ bârân bebârad?
Do you have a spare chain lest this chain break?	آیا زنجیر یدکی داری مبادا این زنجیر بشکند؟âyâ zanjir yadaki dâri mabâdâ in zanjir beshkanad?
The driver drives slowly lest the gasoline run out.	راننده آرام رانندگی می‌کند مبادا بنزین تمام شود.rânande ârâm rânandegi mikonad mabâdâ benzin tamâm shavad.