Verbs: Perfect Tense

01

The Past Participle

English has a form of the verb that is neither past nor present and cannot stand alone as a sentence: gone, seen, done. It pairs with "have" to make the perfect, and it doubles as an adjective — a broken window. Persian has the same form. Take the past stem and add ⁧ـِه⁩ (-e).

• ⁧⁧رَفت⁩⁩ (raftraftrft) gives ⁧⁧رَفتِه⁩⁩ (rafterafterfth) gone
• ⁧⁧دید⁩⁩ (diddiddyd) gives ⁧⁧دیدِه⁩⁩ (didedidedydh) seen
• ⁧⁧کَرد⁩⁩ (kardkardkrd) gives ⁧⁧کَردِه⁩⁩ (kardekardekrdh) done
• ⁧⁧خوابید⁩⁩ (xâbidkhâbidxvabyd) gives ⁧⁧خوابیدِه⁩⁩ (xâbidekhâbidexvabydh) slept

02

Adding the 'to be' Endings

Attach the short "to be" endings to the past participle - ⁧⁧رَفتِه⁩⁩ (rafterafterfth), "gone" - and you have the perfect.

• ⁧رَفتِه‌اَم⁩

  rafte-amrafte-amrfth-am

  I have gone

• ⁧رَفتِه‌ای⁩

  rafte-irafte-irfth-ay

  you have gone

• ⁧رَفتِه‌ایم⁩

  rafte-imrafte-imrfth-aym

  we have gone

• ⁧رَفتِه‌اید⁩

  rafte-idrafte-idrfth-ayd

  you have gone

• ⁧رَفتِه‌اَند⁩

  rafte-andrafte-andrfth-and

  they have gone

⁧ای⁩ (-i) is "you" said to one person, ⁧اید⁩ (-id) "you" said to several people or to one person politely.

The third person singular is the one that stands apart: there the "to be" word stays separate.

• ⁧او هَم خوابیدِه اَست.⁩

  u ham xâbide astu ham khâbide astav hm xvabydh ast

  He has slept too.

• ⁧اُتُوبوس دیر کَردِه اَست.⁩

  otobus dir karde astotobus dir karde astatvbvs dyr krdh ast

  The bus is late.

03

In Use

The perfect is for something finished whose result still matters now. Someone who has gone to sleep is asleep, so "have you slept?" also asks whether a person is asleep now.

• ⁧آیا خوابیدِه‌ای؟⁩

  âyâ xâbide-iâyâ khâbide-iaya xvabydh-ay

  Have you slept?

• ⁧قَبلاً آن را دیدِه‌اَم.⁩

  qablan ân râ dide-amqablan ân râ dide-amqblan an ra dydh-am

  I have seen it before.

• ⁧مَن قَبلاً بِه فَرانسِه رَفتِه‌اَم.⁩

  man qablan be farânse rafte-amman qablan be farânse rafte-ammn qblan bh fransh rfth-am

  I have been to France before.

• ⁧آیا این گُروه را شِنیدِه‌اید؟⁩

  âyâ in goruh râ šenide-idâyâ in goruh râ shenide-idaya ayn grvh ra šnydh-ayd

  Have you heard this band?

The last two show the perfect doing what English does with "have ever" - asking about experience rather than about a particular occasion.

04

Negation

The ⁧نَ⁩ (na-) goes on the participle, not on the "to be" ending.

• ⁧او نَخوابیدِه اَست.⁩

  u naxâbide astu nakhâbide astav nxvabydh ast

  She has not slept.

• ⁧مَن دیر نَکَردِه‌اَم.⁩

  man dir nakarde-amman dir nakarde-ammn dyr nkrdh-am

  I am not late.

05

The Participle on Its Own

Detached from the "to be" ending, the participle works as an adjective, much as "broken" or "closed" do in English.

• ⁧مَغازِه بَستِه اَست.⁩

  maġâze baste astmaghâze baste astmġazh bsth ast

  The shop is closed.

• ⁧صَندَلیِ اِداریِ قَدیمیِ مَن شِکَستِه اَست.⁩

  ṣandali-ye edâri-ye qadimi-ye man šekaste astsandali-ye edâri-ye qadimi-ye man shekaste astṣndly-y adary-y qdymy-y mn šksth ast

  My old office chair is broken.