Building the Present Indicative
Now that you know how to find a verb's present stem, you are ready to conjugate! To talk about actions happening right now or regular habits, Persian uses the present indicative tense.
Building it is highly consistent. Just attach the prefix می to the front of the present stem, and add the matching personal ending to the back:
می + present stem + personal ending
Here is how you conjugate the verb "to read/study" (present stem: خوان):
| Pronoun | Conjugated Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| من | میخوانم | I read / I am reading |
| تو | میخوانی | You read / You are reading |
| او | میخواند | He/She reads / is reading |
| ما | میخوانیم | We read / We are reading |
| شما | میخوانید | You read / You are reading |
| آنها | میخوانند | They read / They are reading |
Notice that Persian does not distinguish between "I read" and "I am reading"—this single tense covers both!
| I always study Persian. | من همیشه زبان فارسی میخوانم.man hamishe zabân fârsi mikhânam. |
| Do you watch movies at home? | آیا شما در خانه فیلم میبینید؟âyâ shomâ dar khâne film mibinid? |
Talking About Habits
Because this tense expresses routines, it frequently pairs with adverbs of time to describe how often you do something.
| always | همیشهhamishe |
| sometimes | گاهیgâhi |
| every | هرhar |
Watch how the prefix می and the personal endings frame the present stem to describe everyday routines:
| I eat warm bread every morning. | من هر روز صبح نان گرم میخورم.man har ruz sobh nân garm mikhoram. |
| You exercise every day. | تو هر روز ورزش میکنی.to har ruz varzesh mikoni. |
| He sometimes works a lot at the company. | او گاهی در شرکت زیاد کار میکند.u gâhi dar sherkat ziâd kâr mikonad. |
When the subject changes to "we", "you (plural)", or "they", simply swap out the personal ending to match.
| We go to the museum every week. | ما هر هفته به موزه میرویم.mâ har hafte be muze miravim. |
| You go to your mother's house every week. | شما هر هفته به خانهی مادرتان میروید.shomâ har hafte be khâne-ye mâdaretân miravid. |
| They always stay in the hotel. | آنها همیشه در هتل میمانند.ânhâ hamishe dar hotel mimânand. |