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### Negative Simple Past

To make a simple past tense verb negative, attach the prefix **نـ** to the beginning of the conjugated verb.

For example, **خریدم** (I bought) becomes **نخریدم** (I did not buy):

{{item:773719}}

(This sentence also uses **هیچ‌چیز** — "nothing". With a word like this, Farsi requires the verb to be negative as well; the **Double Negatives** section at the end of this lesson explains the rule.)

### Negative Compound Verbs

Most verbs in Farsi are compound verbs. To make a compound verb negative, attach the **نـ** prefix *only* to the base verb. The first part of the compound stays exactly the same.

{{item:773707}}

{{item:773710}}

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### Verbs Starting with a Vowel

When the base verb starts with **ا**, a **ی** is inserted between the prefix and the verb stem to make it easier to pronounce.

For example, in the compound verb **اتفاق افتادن** (to happen), the base verb **افتاد** becomes **نیفتاد**:

{{item:773721}}

### Double Negatives

Unlike in English, double negatives are required in Farsi. When you use negative words like **هیچ‌کس** (nobody) or **هیچ‌چیز** (nothing), the verb must also be negative.

{{item:773704}}

{{item:773717}}

{{item:773705}}

Negative simple past (na-)

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

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-)

Present perfect of compound verbs

Question	Answer
nobody	هیچ‌کسhichkas
reason	دلیلdalil
to believe	باور کردنbâvar kardan
Nobody believed the reason.	هیچ‌کس دلیل را باور نکرد.hich-kas dalil râ bâvar nakard.
I didn't lie, but nobody believed it.	من دروغ نگفتم، اما هیچ‌کس باور نکرد.man doroogh nagoftam, ammâ hich-kas bâvar nakard.
to explain	توضیح دادنtowzih dâdan
The manager didn't explain the reason.	مدیر دلیل را توضیح نداد.modir dalil râ towzih nadâd
They did not explain the reason to us.	آنها دلیل را به ما توضیح ندادند.ânhâ dalil râ be mâ towzih nadâdand.
to choose	انتخاب کردنentekhâb kardan
choice	انتخابentekhâb
We did not choose that big house.	ما آن خانه‌ی بزرگ را انتخاب نکردیم.mâ ân khâne-ye bozorg râ entekhâb nakardim.
Why didn't you choose the black shirt?	چرا پیراهن سیاه را انتخاب نکردی؟cherâ pirâhan-e siâh râ entekhâb nakardi?
to use	استفاده کردنestefâde kardan
The students did not use the dictionary.	دانشجویان از واژه‌نامه استفاده نکردند.dâneshjuyân az vâzhenâme estefâde nakardand
I didn't use your computer.	من از کامپیوتر تو استفاده نکردم.man az kâmpyuter to estefâde nakardam.
to realize/notice	متوجه شدنmotevajjeh shodan
nothing	هیچ‌چیزhich chiz
I didn't notice anything.	من متوجه هیچ‌چیز نشدم.man motevajjeh hich chiz nashodam.
She didn't realize the problem.	او متوجه مشکل نشد.u motevajjeh-ye moshkel nashod.
I did not buy anything yesterday.	من دیروز هیچ‌چیز نخریدم.man dirooz hich chiz nakharidam.
to happen	اتفاق افتادنettefâq oftâdan
event, incident	اتفاقettefâq
That problem didn't happen here.	آن مشکل اینجا اتفاق نیفتاد.ân moshkel injâ ettefâgh nayoftâd.
to ruin/break	خراب کردنkharâb kardan
The child didn't ruin the computer.	بچه کامپیوتر را خراب نکرد.bacheh kâmpyuter râ kharâb nakard
You didn't ruin the project.	شما پروژه را خراب نکردید.shomâ porozhe râ kharâb nakardid.
Nothing happened yesterday.	دیروز هیچ‌چیز اتفاق نیفتاد.dirooz hich-chiz ettefâgh nayoftâd.
This incident happened yesterday.	این اتفاق دیروز افتاد.in ettefâq dirooz oftâd.
That incident was not bad.	آن اتفاق بد نبود.ân ettefâgh bad nabud.
Your choice was good.	انتخابِ تو خوب بود.entekhâb-e to khub bud.
His choice was bad.	انتخابِ او بد بود.entekhâb-e u bad bud.