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### Expressing Ongoing Duration

When you want to say that an action has been happening for a certain amount of time and is still going on, English uses the present perfect continuous tense (e.g., "I have been working"). Farsi approaches this much more simply.

Because the action is still happening right now, Farsi uses the standard present indicative tense, introduced by the phrase **است که** (is that).

The formula is:
**[Time period] + است که + [Present Indicative Verb]**

Literally, you are saying "It is [time period] that I am doing [action]."

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Notice how the Farsi verbs are in the present tense because the action continues into the present moment.

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To ask a question about how long an ongoing action has been happening, you can use the phrase **مدت زیادی است که** (is it a long time that) combined with a question word like **آیا** or simply with a rising tone of voice.

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Ongoing duration (...ast ke)

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
century	قرنqarn
invention	اختراعekhterâ'
We have been using this invention for a century.	یک قرن است که از این اختراع استفاده می‌کنیم.yek gharn ast ke az in ekhterâ estefâde mikonim.
decade	دههdahe
model	مدلmodel
smart (devices, technology)	هوشمندhushmand
to develop	توسعه دادنtowse'e dâdan
They have been developing this smart model for a decade.	یک دهه است که این مدل هوشمند را توسعه می‌دهند.yek dahe ast ke in model-e hushmand râ towse'e midahand.
period	مدتmoddat
digital	دیجیتالdijitâl
Have you been working with this digital device for a long time?	آیا مدت زیادی است که با این دستگاه دیجیتال کار می‌کنید؟âyâ moddat-e ziyâdi ast ke bâ in dastgâh dijitâl kâr mikonid?
communication / connection	ارتباطertebât
They have been studying digital communication for two decades.	دو دهه است که در مورد ارتباط دیجیتال تحقیق می‌کنند.do dahe ast ke dar morede ertebât-e dijitâl tahghigh mikonand.
progress	پیشرفتpishraft
We have been seeing progress in this software for five years.	پنج سال است که در این نرم‌افزار پیشرفت می‌بینیم.panj sâl ast ke dar in narm-afzâr pishraft mibinim.
He has been developing this digital model for a month.	یک ماه است که این مدل دیجیتال را توسعه می‌دهد.yek mâh ast ke in model dijitâl râ towse'e midahad.
Scientists have been working on this new invention for a century.	یک قرن است که دانشمندان روی این اختراع جدید کار می‌کنند.yek qarn ast ke dâneshmandân ru-ye in ekhterâ'-e jadid kâr mikonand.
Have you been looking for the new model for a long time?	آیا مدت زیادی است که دنبال مدل جدید می‌گردید؟âyâ moddat ziyâdi ast ke donbâl model jadid migardid?
I have been using this smart phone for a long time.	مدت زیادی است که از این گوشی هوشمند استفاده می‌کنم.moddat-e ziyâdi ast ke az in gooshi-ye hushmand estefâde mikonam
I have been downloading this file for twenty minutes!	بیست دقیقه است که این فایل را دانلود می‌کنم!bist daghighe ast ke in fâyl râ dânlod mikonam!
I have been reading about this new technology for a week.	یک هفته است که درباره‌ی این تکنولوژی جدید می‌خوانم.yek hafte ast ke darbâre-ye in teknolozhi jadid mikhânam.
Technology has been helping the progress of digital communication for a decade.	یک دهه است که تکنولوژی به پیشرفت ارتباط دیجیتال کمک می‌کند.yek dahe ast ke teknolozhi be pishraft-e ertebât-e dijitâl komak mikonad.