Breakdown of من بازی نمیکنم، اما باید تمرین کنم.
من
I
اماammâ
but
بازی کردنbâzi kardan
to play
بایدbâyad
must
تمرین کردنtamrin kardan
to practice
Questions & Answers about من بازی نمیکنم، اما باید تمرین کنم.
Does the word باید change if I want to say "you must" or "she must"?
No, باید (bâyad) is impersonal, meaning it stays exactly the same no matter who is doing the action. You show who "must" do it by looking at the personal ending on the second verb, which is ـم (-am) for "I" in کنم (konam).
Why is the second verb just تمرین کنم and not تمرین بکنم?
When making the present subjunctive for compound verbs that use کردن (to do), Farsi speakers almost always drop the subjunctive بـ (be-) prefix. So instead of adding the prefix to make بکنم (bekonam), you just use کنم (konam).
Why doesn't the second verb have a می prefix like the first verb does?
The first verb (نمیکنم) is stating a regular fact ("I do not play"), so it uses the normal present tense which requires the میـ (mi-) or نمیـ (nemi-) prefix. The second verb follows باید (must), so it has to switch to the present subjunctive tense. The subjunctive never uses the میـ prefix.
Do I need to say من (I) again before باید to show who must practice?
No, you don't need to repeat the pronoun من (man) because the verb ending ـم (-am) on the very last word کنم (konam) already tells us that "I" am the one who must practice. In Farsi, dropping the pronoun is very common.
Learn من بازی نمیکنم، اما باید تمرین کنم and more in Farsi
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free