Verbs: Perfect Tense — Persian Grammar

The perfect is for something finished whose result still matters - "I have seen", "she has gone". Persian builds it out of two familiar pieces.

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).

(raftraftrft) gives (rafterafterft) gone
(diddiddyd) gives (didedidedyd) seen
(kardkardkrd) gives (kardekardekrd) done
(xâbidkhâbidxabyd) gives (xâbidekhâbidexabyd) slept

Adding the 'to be' Endings

Then attach the short "to be" endings, and you have the tense.

⁧رَفتِه‌اَم⁩
rafte-amrafte-amrft-am
I have gone
⁧رَفتِه‌ای⁩
rafte-irafte-irft-ay
you have gone
⁧رَفتِه‌ایم⁩
rafte-imrafte-imrft-aym
we have gone
⁧رَفتِه‌اید⁩
rafte-idrafte-idrft-ayd
you have gone
⁧رَفتِه‌اَند⁩
rafte-andrafte-andrft-and
they have gone

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 xabyd ast
He has slept too.
⁧اُتُوبوس دیر کَردِه اَست.⁩
otobus dir karde astotobus dir karde astatbvs dyr krd ast
The bus is late.

In Use

⁧آیا خوابیدِه‌ای؟⁩
âyâ xâbide-iâyâ khâbide-iaya xabyd-ay
Have you slept?
⁧قَبلاً آن را دیدِه‌اَم.⁩
qablan ân râ dide-amqablan ân râ dide-amqbln an ra dyd-am
I have seen it before.
⁧مَن قَبلاً بِه فَرانسِه رَفتِه‌اَم.⁩
man qablan be farânse rafte-amman qablan be farânse rafte-ammn qbln b frans rft-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 šnyd-ayd
Have you heard this band?

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

Negation

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

⁧او نَخوابیدِه اَست.⁩
u naxâbide astu nakhâbide astav nxabyd ast
She has not slept.
⁧مَن دیر نَکَردِه‌اَم.⁩
man dir nakarde-amman dir nakarde-ammn dyr nkrd-am
I am not late.

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 astmġaz bst 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 škst ast
My old office chair is broken.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Persian course

26 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 10. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Perfect Tense” is about in bold:

او هم خوابیده است. او نخوابیده است.
u ham xâbide ast. u naxâbide ast.u ham khâbide ast. u nakhâbide ast.av hm xvabydh ast. av nxvabydh ast.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16
اوه، من فرانسه را می‌شناسم. من قبلاً به فرانسه رفته‌ام.
uh, man farânse râ mi-šenâsam. man qablan be farânse rafte-am.uh, man farânse râ mi-shenâsam. man qablan be farânse rafte-am.avh, mn fransh ra my-šnasm. mn qblan bh fransh rfth-am.
Oh, I know France. I have been to France before.
Lesson 208
من دیر نکرده‌ام. من زود آمده‌ام. ترافیک عادی بود.
man dir nakarde-am. man zud âmade-am. terâfik ʿâddi bud.man dir nakarde-am. man zud âmade-am. terâfik 'âddi bud.mn dyr nkrdh-am. mn zvd amdh-am. trafyk ʿady bvd.
I am not late. I am early. Traffic was normal.
Lesson 279

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