The present progressive indicative tense describes an ongoing occurrence (→ progressive aspect) in present or future, which is based on the known state of affairs (→ indicative mood). This tense is mainly used in spoken Persian of Iran. In written Persian, the imperfective present tense or progressive structures are used instead. Classically, Persian tenses are divided into past and non-past (i.e. present or future). Present tenses can equally express future occurrences. The context indicates the exact time. Regarding present progressive, it can also function as future progressive. Therefore, a verbal form like دارم می‌روم (dâram miravam) can mean “I am going” and “I will be going”.
Formation
The present progressive indicative tense is formed according to the following pattern:
| Auxiliary داشتن in
perfective present |
Main verb in
imperfective present |
The above pattern can be expanded to:
| داشتن in
perfective present |
می
(mi-) |
Present stem | primary ending |
The following table shows the conjugation of داشتن (“dâštan”; to have) in perfective present.
| 1S | دارم
dâram |
1P | داریم
dârim |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2S | داری
dâri |
2P | دارید
dârid |
| 3S | دارد
dârad |
3P | دارند
dârand |
Conjugation
Simple verbs
- Verb: رفتن (“raftan”; to go)
- Present stem: رو (“rav”)
| 1S | دارم می‌روم
dâram miravam I am going |
|---|---|
| 2S | داری می‌روی
dâri miravi You are going |
| 3S | دارد می‌رود
dârad miravad He/She/It is going |
| 1P | داریم می‌رویم
dârim miravim We are going |
| 2P | دارید می‌روید
dârid miravid You are going |
| 3P | دارند می‌روند
dârand miravand They are going |
Compound verbs
- Verb: کار کردن (“kâr kardan”; to work)
- Preverb: کار (“kâr”)
- Present stem: کن (“kon”)
| 1S | دارم کار می‌کنم
dâram kâr mikonam I am working |
|---|---|
| 2S | داری کار می‌کنی
dâri kâr mikoni You are working |
| 3S | دارد کار می‌کند
dârad kâr mikonad He/She/It is worksing |
| 1P | داریم کار می‌کنیم
dârim kâr mikonim We are working |
| 2P | دارید کار می‌کنید
dârid kâr mikonid You are working |
| 3P | دارند کار می‌کنند
dârand kâr mikonand They are working |
Examples
| داری چه کار می‌کنی؟
Dâri če kâr mikoni? What are you doing? |
| دارم کتاب می‌خوانم
Dâram ketâb mixwânam I’m reading a book |
| دارد باران می‌آید
Dârad bârân miâyad It is raining |
| دارم برای امتحانها آماده می‌شوم
Dâram barâ-ye emtehânhâ âmâde mišavam I am preparing for the exams |
| فردا این موقع، دارم امتحان می‌دهم
Fardâ in mowǧeø, dâram emtehân midaham This time tomorrow, I will be taking an exam |
Negative conjugation
Progressive tenses are only used when an occurence exists. As a result, they do not have a negative form. When we want to say that an occurence is not in progress, the equivalent imperfective tense i.e. imperfective present is used.
| Affirmative
(present progressive) |
Negative
(imperfective present) |
|---|---|
| دارد باران می‌آید
Dârad bârân miâyad It is raining |
باران نمی‌آید
Bârân nemiâyad It is not raining |