Unseen Past Events
In Farsi, the Present Perfect tense has a special "evidential" or "inferential" use. It is used to report past events that you did not directly witness. When talking about distant history, such as the age of dinosaurs, or drawing conclusions from clues like fossils, Farsi speakers use the Present Perfect rather than the Simple Past.
| That hunter died in this forest one million years ago. | آن شکارچی یک میلیون سال پیش در این جنگل مرده است.ân shekârchi yek milyun sâl pish dar in jangal morde ast. |
| All dinosaurs went extinct several million years ago. | همهی دایناسورها چند میلیون سال پیش منقرض شدهاند.hame-ye dâynâsorhâ chand milyun sâl pish monqarez shode-and |
Notice that while English uses the simple past ("died", "went extinct") for these historical facts, Farsi uses the Present Perfect to signal that the speaker knows this through evidence rather than having seen it happen.
Deducing Facts from Evidence
When scientists and archaeologists make deductions based on their discoveries, the Present Perfect is the natural choice.
| Archaeologists have found the fossil of a huge dinosaur. | باستانشناسان فسیل یک دایناسور عظیم را پیدا کردهاند.bâstân-shenâsân fosil yek dâynâsor azim râ peydâ karde-and. |
| Scientists have understood from these bones that the animal only ate plants. | دانشمندان از این استخوانها فهمیدهاند که حیوان فقط گیاه خورده است.dâneshmandân az in ostekhân-hâ fahmide-and ke heyvân faghat giâh khorde ast. |
| Apparently, this dinosaur only ate plants. | ظاهراً این دایناسور فقط گیاه خورده است.zâheran in dâynâsor faghat giyâh khorde ast. |
Using "To Be" and "To Have" Inferentially
Even common verbs like بودن (to be) and داشتن (to have) take the Present Perfect form when describing states in the unseen past. The past participle of بودن is بوده, and for داشتن it is داشته.
| The bones of this hunter were huge and heavy. | استخوانهای این شکارچی خیلی عظیم و سنگین بودهاند.ostokhân-hâye in shekârchi kheyli azim o sangin bude-and. |
| The dinosaur that died under this mountain had very strong legs. | دایناسوری که زیر این کوه مرده است، پاهای خیلی قوی داشته است.dâynâsori ke zir in kuh morde ast, pâhâ-ye kheyli qavi dâshte ast. |
| The animals that were in this river went extinct several million years ago. | حیوانهایی که در این رودخانه بودهاند، چند میلیون سال پیش منقرض شدهاند.heyvân-hâyi ke dar in rudkhâne bude-and, chand milyun sâl pish monqarez shode-and. |