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Lesson 136

Hello everyone, hope you are fine and doing well.
Today, we are going to learn how we can use two ‘Verbs' in one Persian sentence. So far, we have learnt ‘single –verb' sentence such as ‘I went to school' – ‘I saw a man in the market' – or, ‘I bought a cat'. I am sure all of you know these already. If not, please take my advice and start over!
Today, we want to see how we can say this sentence in Persian: “I want to go”.
As you see, there are two ‘verbs' in this sentence: ‘want' and ‘go'.
Do you have any idea how we can use them both in one sentence? Give it a try and write down your final phrase in Persian on a piece of paper. I just want some proof!!
Ok, now, let's try it together. Ready?
“To want” = خواستن /kha:stæn/
“To go” = رفتن /ræftæn/

So,
I want = می خواهم /mi kha:hæm/.
You knew this already, right? Great!
As you see, we have no problems with the first ‘Verb' in our sentence. All we need to do is to change the ‘second verb' a bit. Here's how:
I hope you still remember the way we handled ‘Present Simple Tense' in lesson 53. According to what we have learned, each Persian verb has an ‘imperative base or root'. What we need to do here is to find that ‘imperative part' of each verb. Here, for example, ‘To go' = رفتن - and the main root is رو /ro/ or برو /boro/.
What we need here is the second choice ( برو /boro/).
We are almost done! Now, let's go back to our phrase “I want to go”.

Ready?

I want to go. = می خواهم بروم /mikha:hæm berævæm/.

You want to go. = می خواهی بروی /mikha:hi berævi/.

He / she wants to go. = می خواهد برود /mikha:hæd berævæd/.

We want to go. = می خواهیم برویم /mikha:him berævim/.

You want to go. = می خواهید بروید /mikha:hid berævid/.

They want to go. = می خواهند بروند /mikha:hænd berævænd/.

Got it? Wonderful!

Now, let's try this one: I want to sleep.

“To sleep” = خوابیدن = /kha:bidæn/.

The root is خواب /kha:b/ - or, بخواب /bekha:b/.

As I just told you, we need the second root (/bekha:b/).

Now, let's continue it with different subjects.

I want to sleep. = می خواهم بخوابم /mikha:hæm bekha:bæm/.

You want to sleep. = می خواهی بخوابی /mikha:hi bekha:bi/.

He /she wants to sleep. = می خواهد بخوابد /mikha:hæd bekha:bæd/.

We want to sleep. = می خواهیم بخوابیم /mikha:him bekha:bim/.

You want to sleep. = می خواهید بخوابید /mikha:hid bekha:bid/.

They want to sleep. = می خواهند بخوابند /mikha:hænd bekha:bænd/.

Easy, isn't it? That's the sugar!!

Now let's see another example.

“To study” = درس خواندن /dærs kha:ndæn/.

Oops, this is a compound verb in Persian ( درس خواندن )! What should we do? We just focus on the second part. Here's how:

The root is درس خوان /dærs kha:n/ or درس بخوان /dærs bekha:n/.

As you know, we need the second option which has /be/ in the beginning ( درس بخوان ).

All right, the problem seems solved!

I want to study. = می خواهم درس بخوانم /mikha:hæm dærs bekha:næm/.

You want to study. = می خواهی درس بخوانی /mikha:hi dærs bekha:ni/.

He / she wants to study. = می خواهد درس بخواند /mikha:hæd dærs bekha:næd/.

We want to study. = می خواهیم درس بخوانیم /mikha:him dærs bekha:nim/.

You want to study. = می خواهید درس بخوانید /mikha:hid dærs bekha:nid/.

They want to study. = می خواهند درس بخوانند /mikha:hænd dærs bekha:nænd/.

One more example before you start your job!

I want to write a letter. = می خواهم نامه ای بنویسم /mikha:hæm na:meh ee benevisæm/.

You want to write a letter. = می خواهی نامه ای بنویسی /mikha:hi na:meh ee benevisi/.

He / she want to write a letter. = می خواهد نامه ای بنویسد /mikha:hæd na:meh ee benevisæd/.

We want write to a letter. = می خواهیم نامه ای بنویسیم /mikha:him na:meh ee benevisim/.

You want to write a letter. = می خواهید نامه ای بنویسید /mikha:hid na:meh ee benevisid/.

They want write a letter. = می خواهند نامه ای بنویسند /mikha:hænd na:meh ee benevisænd/.

Important note: Please note that this is not the final rule. There will be some minor changes. We will take care of it during our next lessons.

Ok, I enjoyed this lesson! I have no idea about your struggles!! I just hope you enjoyed it as well.
Please go to the Useful Drills page for further practices. We continue this lesson next week.
Till then, bye! تا بعد – خدا حافظ /ta: bæd, Khoda: ha:fez/!