Verbs: Past Imperfective

01

The Form

Take the simple past and put ⁧می‌⁩ (mi-) in front of it.

• ⁧⁧رَفتَم⁩⁩ (raftamraftamrftm) I went, gives ⁧⁧می‌رَفتَم⁩⁩ (mi-raftammi-raftammy-rftm) I used to go
• ⁧⁧کَردَم⁩⁩ (kardamkardamkrdm) I did, gives ⁧⁧می‌کَردَم⁩⁩ (mi-kardammi-kardammy-krdm) I used to do

The exception is ⁧⁧بودَن⁩⁩ (budanbudanbvdn), "to be", which has no ⁧می‌⁩ (mi-) form: its plain past ⁧⁧بودَم⁩⁩ (budambudambvdm) does this job as well.

02

Habit and Background

It covers what English says with "used to", with "would", and with "was doing" - a repeated action, or the setting against which something else happened.

• ⁧وَقتی جَوان بودَم، دَر چین زِندِگی می‌کَردَم.⁩

  vaqti javân budam dar čin zendegi mi-kardamvaqti javân budam dar chin zendegi mi-kardamvqty jvan bvdm dr čyn zndgy my-krdm

  When I was young, I lived in China.

That sentence puts both past tenses side by side: ⁧⁧بودَم⁩⁩ (budambudambvdm) for the state, and ⁧⁧می‌کَردَم⁩⁩ (mi-kardammi-kardammy-krdm) for the habit that filled it. Swapping them would change the sense entirely.

03

In Unreal Conditions

The same form does a second job, and a very common one. An ⁧⁧اَگَر⁩⁩ (agaragaragr) sentence about something that did not happen puts this tense in both halves.

• ⁧اَگَر بِه مَن می‌گُفتی، بِه تُو پول می‌دادَم.⁩

  agar be man mi-gofti be to pul mi-dâdamagar be man mi-gofti be to pul mi-dâdamagr b mn my-gfty b t pvl my-dadm

  If you had told me, I would have given you the money.

• ⁧مَن اَگَر جایِ شُما بودَم، این کار را نِمی‌کَردَم.⁩

  man agar jây-e šomâ budam in kâr râ nemi-kardamman agar jây-e shomâ budam in kâr râ nemi-kardammn agr jay-a šma bvdm ayn kar ra nmy-krdm

  If I were you, I would not do this.

English switches tense and adds "would"; Persian keeps this one form in both halves, and the meaning comes from ⁧⁧اَگَر⁩⁩ (agaragaragr). The second sentence shows the exception from above: "to be" has no ⁧می‌⁩ (mi-) form, so ⁧⁧بودَم⁩⁩ (budambudambvdm) stands in.

04

Negation

⁧نَ⁩ (na-) in front of ⁧می‌⁩ (mi-) becomes ⁧نِ⁩ (ne-), exactly as in the present.

• ⁧نِمی‌کَردَم⁩

  nemi-kardamnemi-kardamnmy-krdm

  I would not do it