Hello everyone, welcome back!
Last week we learned the subjective pronouns in Persian. I hope you had no problems with them. Let’s take a look at them again.
1- I = 
.
2- You = 
.
3- he and she = 
.
4- it = 
.
5- we = 
.
6- You = 
.
7- they = 
.
And 
.
In learning a language, we normally begin with present tenses, like present simple tense (ex. I go to school every day) or present continuous tense (ex. I am writing a letter now). It seems quite natural, as these present tenses bring us less difficulty for other complicated ones. However, I am going to change this procedure a bit and I believe it will be more helpful.
Here, we are going to start with the simple past tense. The reason I am doing this is that we, as beginners, will find it easier to follow, as almost all verbs in this tense are regular not irregular. Let me explain it a bit more for those who have problems with these items.
Look at this verb: Go. This verb is irregular because we have to change its construction in different tenses. Like this: go – went -gone.
Examples:
- I go to school everyday. (Present simple tense)
- I went to school yesterday. (Simple past tense)
- I have already gone to school. (Present perfect tense)
As you see, the verb ‘Go’ has different forms in different tenses. That’s why I said its construction changes! These kinds of verbs are irregular verbs.
Now, look at this one: Clean. This verb is different from the previous one. Here we don’t have to change its construction! All we need to do is putting ‘ed’ at the end of this verb.
Examples:
- I clean my room everyday. (Present simple tense)
- I cleaned my room yesterday. (Simple past tense)
- I have already cleaned my room. (Present perfect tense)
As you see, we just added ‘ed’ to this verb in different tenses. These kinds of verbs are regular. Is that clear? Wonderful!
Now, let’s go back to our Persian.
In Persian, it’s not the verbs that define the regularity or irregularity of the verbs. Rather, it’s the tense that imposes a regular or an irregular form on the verbs. Confused? Let me explain it more.
In English we say that this verb is regular or irregular. Is that correct? Great! But in Persian, we say that this tense is regular or irregular. For example, verbs in simple past tense are regular while in present simple tense are irregular. It doesn’t depend on the verbs; it depends on tenses. All verbs follow the same rule. As far as I remember now, all tenses except present tenses can be considered regular. So, our problem will be with present simple tense only. That’s why I have currently put off this tense.
As far as I remember, there is no such a well-defined rule in the Persian grammar books. Probably, there hasn’t been a necessity to define such a rule for Persian-speaking students. I’m afraid, you will not be able to find such clear explanations in Persian grammar books.
All right. The following examples will show you that it is really as easy as 1-2-3! Don’t believe me? Look at the following examples.
As I have already mentioned, we are going to start with simple past tense. To do this, we need to learn some verbs or I’d better say some infinitives.
All we have to do is finding the infinitives (to + verb, like: to go).
Let’s see what’s ‘to go’ means in Persian.
‘To go’ means 
/ræftæn/, which is an infinitive.
Now, let’s see its form in simple past tense. As you know, in simple past tense almost all verbs are regular. Now, if we simply delete 
/nu:n/ from the infinitive , we will have 
/ræft/, which is in simple past tense.
Note: all infinitives (to + verb) end with in Persian. Simply delete , and you’ll have simple past tense. It’s that easy!
In short, this is /ræftæn/ and means ‘to go’. Just delete from its end to change it into simple past tense. You will have /ræft/.
Now that we know the rule, it will not be difficult to have this verb with the subjective pronouns. Ready?
I went ==== 
/ mæn ræftæm/.
+ 
/æm/ = 
You went== 
/ræfti/.
+ 
/i:/= 
He and she went === 
/u: ræft/.
+ nothing =
It went ==== 
/a:n ræft/.
+ nothing =
We went === 
/ma: ræftim/.
+ 
/im/= 
You went ==== 
/shoma: ræftid/.
=> + 
/id/ = 
They went === 
/a:nha: ræftænd/.
=> + 
/ænd/= 
Was it difficult? You may apply this rule to all verbs in simple past tense.
Now try this one.
‘To write’ means 
/neveshtæn/, which is an infinitive.
Delete /nu:n/ from its end, and you will have 
/nevesht/.
Then combine it with subjective pronouns. You will say:
I wrote === 
/mæn neveshtæm/.
+ /æm/
You wrote=== 
/to neveshti/.
+ /i:/
He and she wrote === 
/u: nevesht/.
+ nothing
It wrote === 
/a:n nevesht/.
+ nothing
We wrote == 
/ma: neveshtim/.
+ /im/
You wrote === 
/shoma: neveshtid/.
+ /id/
They wrote=== 
/a:nha: neveshtænd/.
+ /ænd/
All right. With this we come to the end of lesson 11. I am sorry if I had to speak a lot today! I hope you are not tired.
Don’t forget to check the Let’s write and Useful drill pages now.
I invite you to go to Useful drills page now. You will find more words to practice.
Feel tired? Hit me
adil shakoor
April 19, 2012 @ 9:07 am
Sir,
thanks for providing such a nice place to learn FARSI
BR
Hassan H
April 19, 2012 @ 10:37 pm
Khahesh mikonam!
(You’re welcome!)
Bunny
May 2, 2012 @ 4:50 pm
Thank you so much for these lessons.Your effort have made it easy to learn Farsi.
But after this lesson,I got a problem ,why the simple past tense verb is different ? I went is “من رفم”，you(single) went is “تو رفتی”， and he/she went is “او رفت”，different subject makes the last letter changed.Is it the rule???
Thank you again for your effort!
maria
May 7, 2012 @ 9:42 pm
Yes, why are you so surprised? English changes too in the present tense from “I have” to “he has”. Well, in some languages the past tense changes too according to the subject.
parvaiz Akhtar
October 19, 2015 @ 6:01 pm
Thank you so much for these lessons.Your effort have made it easy to learn Farsi.
But after this lesson,I got a problem ,why the simple past tense verb is different ? I went is “من رفم”，you(single) went is “تو رفتی”， and he/she went is “او رفت”，different subject makes the last letter changed.Is it the rule???
Thank you again for your effort!
Feya
May 16, 2012 @ 2:38 pm
Thank you very much!
I like the way You explain the rules. :)
Kedar
May 26, 2012 @ 5:10 pm
Salam!
Haale shoma Khoobhastin?
Merci…This is a very wonderfull peice that you have gathered. Really appreciate the hard efforts and work you have been put in this.
Hassan H.
May 29, 2012 @ 11:44 pm
Thanks everybody for your kind notes.
Bunny,
Maria is right. Verbs change if subjects change (as you yourself have mentioned).
And,
Thanks Maria for your help.
Best,
Hassan
Mr.KAL'YAAN
June 10, 2012 @ 4:01 am
Hi Sir.I’m from India.six years ago i’ve studied some lessons and stopped as time didn’t permit.now as i completed my studies, i’ve come here to learn Parsi.i’m glad that there’s a dedicated teacher for a language which i desired to learn and i strongly believe you are a great patriot.i like you so much sir.
ok..now i have a doubt.how is ‘T’ pronounced in RAFT.is it like ‘th’ in thing or ‘T’ in top.and ‘D’ in raftand like ‘D’ in date or ‘th’ in there?i heard the pronunciation but a bit confused.once again glad to meet you sir :)
Vaulson
July 29, 2016 @ 12:57 pm
It is pronounced as normal D. The “th” sound you mentioned does not exist in Farsi
Keryn S
June 11, 2012 @ 12:11 am
Thank you so much for providing such a great site. You have a great presence and teach very clearly. I feel blessed to have access to learning this beautiful language. Thank you again!
m.usman
June 12, 2012 @ 6:54 pm
raftam is teasing me.
Katte
June 13, 2012 @ 3:00 pm
Thank you for this class , we have more common letters in arabic but just the combination of the words bring new terms…
peter
June 19, 2012 @ 10:06 pm
we should make a table of the subject and verb conjugations
M. Rehan Abbas Ch,
August 18, 2012 @ 9:57 am
What a wonderfult website for learning Persian….. Live long … you are my Guru
Taslim
September 20, 2012 @ 2:41 am
Mr. Hassan, thank so much for all the knowledge and effort displayed in this website. I married my beatiful and lovely persian husband 12 years ago, and I really wanted to learn his lenguage, but God…it looked so difficult. I discovered this website a couple of years ago…and still thinking…now I am in lesson 11…waooooo I am so happy. I really realized that you have been always there for me. I can feel your kidness and your passion for teaching and for your students. Reading your stories, poems, the alphabet song and how good you explain everything make me study every day. Thank you again and God bless you…!!!
Note: I really apologize for my English, this is not my language. Still learning…!!!
武火
February 5, 2017 @ 11:13 pm
long live
Payam
September 25, 2012 @ 3:56 am
Thank you indeed! It is very hard to learn Farsi due to the lack of resources.
lorentso
October 6, 2012 @ 11:28 pm
salam hame adm. I am sorry but why are not you adding vowels to the word???? for eg, in raft???
babelian quest
November 5, 2012 @ 12:17 pm
Thanks so much for sharing all these lessons with anyone eager to learn persian!
I’m at the beginning of a wonderful journey to discover farsi, but i’m already impatient to impress my iranian friends with all i’m about to learn here.
Thanks again for this awesome site!
umer boby
November 24, 2012 @ 10:09 am
lun bc
Salahi
November 24, 2012 @ 10:51 pm
Thank you for this site
Diego B.
December 9, 2012 @ 1:48 pm
Kheili merci for this website khoshgele! I’d like to learn Farsi very soon. I’d like ask to you if it is possible to have all lessons in pdf format in a way that I can learn this language during my daily long trip on the train.
Thank you very very much!
Mokthar
December 19, 2012 @ 7:59 am
Hi am young learner what does it mean by the three types of tenses?
Brian
December 19, 2012 @ 9:08 pm
Hi, Mokthar. One way of explaining a tense is that it’s a form of a verb that carries with it some sense of when the action of the verb occurred. Did it occur in the past? Is it occurring right now? Will it occur in the future? That’s why you will often hear the terms like present tense, past tense, etc. I don’t know what your native language is, but in English, if one were to take the verb “to go,” and use it in the past tense, an example might be “I went.” An example of the present tense would be “I go.” Hopefully this helps. I’m not sure where the number three comes from, but there are more than three.
Chris
April 14, 2013 @ 5:42 am
Number 3 is “I will go.” Future tense :)
jack
January 9, 2013 @ 2:51 pm
Hey great lessons. I was wondering if you could put your usual test where you have to find the words in this one in the useful drills section?
Hasan Mahfooz
January 13, 2013 @ 3:26 pm
Why are there two different words for you wrote/ you went = tu and Shuma
Could you explain this please. Thanks
Josh
January 14, 2013 @ 11:40 pm
Toh is the informal form of referring to the second person and shoma is the formal form. Use the formal with people you do not know well and elders…unless directed otherwise by whomever you are speaking with.
liam
January 17, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
I’m confused by the pronunciation of نوشتن : It looks like it should be pronounced something like ‘noo-sh-tann’ no? Where does the ‘v’ sound come from?
Ed
January 21, 2013 @ 2:07 pm
The letter و can be pronounced as ‘oo’ or ‘v’. I think it depends on the placement in relation to the other letters in a word.
ABCD...Z
February 11, 2013 @ 1:50 am
thank you very much. this is very helpful
Auke
February 13, 2013 @ 7:15 am
I think one audiolink is misspelled ‘shome raftid’ instead of ‘shoma raftid’ and one audiolink ‘nevetan’ should say ‘neveshtan’. Excellent way of teaching Persian!
Erikson Dimgba
February 23, 2013 @ 4:50 pm
its so wonderful, containing invaluable archives of persian language…it certainly deserves an awards…hassan keep it up!
TC
June 21, 2013 @ 10:14 pm
Does ishan use the same form as shoma?
TC
June 21, 2013 @ 10:15 pm
I mean anha…
brennynpieper
June 24, 2013 @ 2:39 pm
Yes they will both have the same ending on the verb: ند
From my understanding ishan is more formal. Hope this helps
Boiko K.
July 9, 2013 @ 10:24 pm
This website is amazing! And a wonderful way for people to learn Farsi with somebody who explains things so thoroughly. Very good job, Hassan! I just have one small question because I am not very bright when it comes to paying attention to the small details. When we write a word like Raftan /ræftæn/, how do we know that there are sounds like “æ” and where they are?
Boiko K.
July 10, 2013 @ 12:54 pm
Never mind. I’ve found my answer. Again, good job and thank you for blessing us with your knowledge! :)
MNA
July 25, 2013 @ 11:42 am
This is an easy to way to learn the fantastic language PERSIAN. I appreciate the efforts of teaching the Persian language.
武火
February 5, 2017 @ 11:16 pm
can u explain to me? i am confused.
Karen S.
September 25, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
I have a question about /a:nha:/ – Here, the /nu:n/ is small form and attached to /he/ which is written in attached (middle) form. Elsewhere, I have seen /nu:n/ large form and then /he/ small form but the type for at the beginning. Is there any difference?
Misagh
January 5, 2014 @ 7:02 am
سلام اقاحسن و ممنون بخاطر زحماتی که میکشید کلا سایت خوبیه فقط دیدم تو این درس نوشتید زمان حال(مضارع) قانون خاصی نداره که غلطه هر چهار زمان مضارع(ساده-مستمر-اخباری-التزامی)قانون دارند.بازم مرسی از سایت خوبتون.
Karen S.
January 5, 2014 @ 6:39 pm
Thank you for your reply. Sadly, I am only on lesson 14 so I don’t understand what you wrote. (It is a good exercise for me, but I wish I know what you said.) Would you translate for me?
misagh
January 6, 2014 @ 3:11 pm
hi karen first i must say im sorry because the comment that ive wrote as a reply 4 u was 4 hassan it was my mistake….but about ur question there is no difference between انها و ان ها in persian if you had any question send me an email([email protected])im a 16year old boy from isfahan and i speak persian in nate.ill be glad to help u.
gaatjeniksaan
February 16, 2014 @ 8:32 pm
it’s so hard….
I like arabic more :)
Mir Shabir
February 18, 2014 @ 7:42 pm
i am a kashmiri.. for me persian reading and writing is easy…. because kashmiri has the same script… However i am learing persian speaking… and this is a nice Guide…. i wud need more tips….. n more knowledge…..and also audio video stuff.. kindly help
Zubair
May 12, 2014 @ 5:09 am
Why there are two different words for “you”? تو and شما,
Sir please differentiate both? When and where to use ?
carlos
October 5, 2014 @ 8:00 pm
You may have solved your problem allready, but just in case you still wonder:
As in many other languages persian seems to have different words for you singular and you plural.
/to/ is singular, as in: “You are Hassan”.
/shoma:/ is the plural, as in: “You are all very good students”
And as said before by other students: this webside really rocks! Its simply fantastic. Thank you Hassan, Sir.
Chris
May 13, 2014 @ 3:21 am
Reza definitely interested in a study partner. I have some experience in learning and tutoring foreign language acquisition. I’m trying to make Farsi language number 6. Would appreciate working with you. Thanks.
Chris
Email me:
[email protected]
Angel
June 8, 2014 @ 5:08 pm
until now I dunno. how Ishan became Ishan if its start with Alef.
violinist
July 2, 2014 @ 11:01 pm
If you write alef before i: than it just becomes an i: .That was explained earlier. Hope this helps.
Artem Litovchenko
July 9, 2014 @ 1:02 pm
Thank you! Very clear explained
Lola
August 18, 2014 @ 9:26 pm
Hi,
Thanks for providing this website. I am learning a lot and I appreciate your effort.
You have Shome raftid instead of Shoma raftid. I just wanted to point that out. Again I appreciate your time and effort in putting this together.
Best Regards,
Lola
Masooma
September 4, 2014 @ 2:15 pm
Hi, firstly i would like to tell you that you’re doing a very good job with the teaching, it’s been really helpful. Im writing to you mainly because i have a doubt concerning pronouns. I have heard some people speak Farsi and while they do so, they say ‘manam’. Is it the same as ‘man’ ? For instance, which phrase out of these is correct: Manam khasta shodam or Man khasta shodam? Could you please enlighten me with the difference between these? Thank you
Mehdi
October 4, 2015 @ 11:50 am
Dear Masooma,
‘Man’ here means me, but ‘Manam’ means me too. Actually ‘Manam’ is ‘Man Ham’
rien
October 17, 2014 @ 3:17 am
Thank you, sir, for providing such a fantastic resource online.
rien
SUIFANG
December 6, 2014 @ 7:19 am
Salam Mr.Hassan,
Good job! We appreciate for your time and great work. This is an amazing website! My boyfriend bought me many textbooks with no explanation (I mean not as much details as you wrote here), I found it’s quite easy to understand persian by this website.
The let’s write page and useful drills page are awesome. Merci, thank you very much!
schur
December 7, 2014 @ 3:06 pm
Hi, I found a typo in this page: https://www.easypersian.com/farsi/lesson-11/ . It should be Neve(S)htan in one line I think. Many thanks for this great site!
azizam
January 23, 2015 @ 10:44 pm
I love this. Man in (?) kheili dust daram. : )
Kheili mamnoon! <3
Ari
February 15, 2015 @ 9:23 am
I am fan of your online lessons. Your explanations are beautiful. You are a born teacher. Keep up the good work.
eldi
March 21, 2015 @ 1:15 pm
Which is the difference between anha and ishan?
Soli
July 20, 2015 @ 8:53 am
Anha only uses for “they” but you can use ishan for “they” or instead of “she/he” to show respect. Ishan is formal.
Arun
March 29, 2015 @ 9:22 am
Kindly correct Nevehtan to Neveshtan. Its a great site and I am learning Persian.
Ali
December 9, 2015 @ 10:14 am
Great Homepage. I learned to speak farsi from my family but they never cared to teach me how to read and write. It’s interesting to see, how many spoken mistakes I have made not knowing the basic grammar rules behind it. Thanks Hassan. It’s also funny and joyful to see, how many people from around the world (Chris, Carlos, Jack, Erikson, Josh, Liam etc.) are here to learn. Makes me happy.
yousef
December 15, 2015 @ 2:00 pm
Dear my teacher,
I just want to say: THANKS A LOT VERY MUCH.
I will follow this classes until I know persian well.
I would like to pay for this brillant classes.
Sulabha
December 18, 2015 @ 12:59 pm
Very very helpful. Thank you so much.
Aslihan
March 1, 2016 @ 12:04 pm
this is by far the best Farsi teaching website :) Thank you so much. I like your methods and practices they help me a lot!!
I’m Turkish.. I have to say that I tried to learn some other languages but Persian is the only language that does not overexert me at all. It has beautiful phonics..
qadeer
September 24, 2016 @ 11:46 am
i want to ask you one question are you from Iran orAfghanistan