The imperfective past indicative tense describes a continuing, repetitive or habitual occurrence (→ imperfective aspect) in the past, which is based on the known state of affairs (→ indicative mood). This tense does not have an equivalent in English and has to be translated with different tenses depending on the context. When it refers to a habitual or repeated occurrence, the past simple tense or “used to” structure can be used. When it refers to a continuing or an ongoing occurrence, the past progressive tense can be used. Since the imperfective aspect is a superset of the progressive aspect, Persian’s imperfective past tense can be used in situations where English uses its past progressive tense.
Formation
The imperfective past indicative is formed according to the following pattern:
| می
(mi-) |
past stem | secondary ending |
Conjugation
Simple verbs
- Verb: رفتن (“raftan”; to go)
- Past stem: رفت (“raft”)
| 1S | می‌رفتم
miraftam I used to go I was going |
|---|---|
| 2S | می‌رفتی
mirafti You used to go You were going |
| 3S | می‌رفت
miraft He/She/It used to go He/She/It was going |
| 1P | می‌رفتیم
miraftim We used to go We were going |
| 2P | می‌رفتید
miraftid You used to go You were going |
| 3P | می‌رفتند
miraftand They used to go They were going |
Compound verbs
- Verb: کار کردن (“kâr kardan”; to work)
- Preverb: کار (“kâr”)
- Past stem: کرد (“kard”)
| 1S | کار می‌کردم
kâr mikardam I used to work I was working |
|---|---|
| 2S | کار می‌کردی
kâr mikardi You used to work You were working |
| 3S | کار می‌کرد
kâr mikard He/She/It used to work He/She/It was working |
| 1P | کار می‌کردیم
kâr mikardim We used to work We were working |
| 2P | کار می‌کردید
kâr mikardid You used to work You were working |
| 3P | کار می‌کردند
kâr mikardand They used to work They were working |
Negative conjugation
The negative form of the imperfective past tense is constructed by prefixing ن (“ne”) to می (“mi-”). In the presence of the imperfective particle “mi”, the negation particle “na” is pronounced “ne”.
| 1S | نمی‌رفتم
nemiraftam I did not use to go I was not going |
|---|---|
| 2S | نمی‌رفتی
nemirafti You did not use to go You were not going |
| 3S | نمی‌رفت
nemiraft He/She did not use to go He/She was not going |
| 1P | نمی‌رفتیم
nemiraftim We did not use to go We were not going |
| 2P | نمی‌رفتید
nemiraftid You did not use to go You were not going |
| 3P | نمی‌رفتند
nemiraftand They did not use to go They were not going |
| 1S | کار نمی‌کردم
kâr nemikardam I did not use to work I was not working |
|---|---|
| 2S | کار نمی‌کردی
kâr nemikardi You did not use to work You were not working |
| 3S | کار نمی‌کرد
kâr nemikard He/She did not use to work He/She was not working |
| 1P | کار نمی‌کردیم
kâr nemikardim We did not use to work We were not working |
| 2P | کار نمی‌کردید
kâr nemikardid You did not use to work You were not working |
| 3P | کار نمی‌کردند
kâr nemikardand They did not use to work They were not working |
Examples
Adverbs such as “always, sometimes, often, every day/morning/year/etc” denote duration and require imperfective aspect.
| تا دو سال پیش در تهران زندگی می‌کردند
Tâ do sâl-e piš, dar Tehrân zendegi mikardand They lived in Tehran until two years ago |
| اغلب به این رستوران می‌آمدیم
Aǧlab be in resturân miâmadim We used to come to this restaurant often |
| همیشه دلش می‌خواست انگلیسی یاد بگیرد
Hamiše del-aš mixwâst Engelisi yâd begirad He always wanted to learn English |
| همیشه دیر به کلاس می‌آمد
Hamiše dir be kelâs miâmad She always came late to class |
| قبلا در بانک کار می‌کردم
Ǧablan dar bânk kâr mikardam I previously worked in a bank |
The following examples demonstrate the difference between perfective past and imperfective past. In each pair, the first sentence uses perfective past and the second sentence uses imperfective past. English uses the same tense in all cases because it does not have imperfective aspect.
| دیروز پنج کیلومتر دویدم
Diruz panj kilumetr davidam I ran five kilometers yesterday |
| هر صبح پنج کیلومتر می‌دویدم
Har sobh panj kilumetr midavidam I ran five kilometers every morning |
| ساعت هفت شام خوردیم
Sâat-e haft šâm xordim We ate dinner at seven o’clock |
| همیشه ساعت هفت شام می‌خوردیم
Hamiše sâat-e haft šâm mixordim We always ate dinner at seven o’clock |
English sometimes uses past progressive to denote (annoying) repeated actions:
| همیشه دیر می‌آمد
Hamiše dir miâmad He was always coming late |
Exceptions
The verbs بودن (“budan”: to be) and داشتن (“dâštan”: to have) are not normally conjugated in imperfective past and instead, their perfective past form is used.
| وقتی که بچه بودم، از سگ می‌ترسیدم
Vaǧt-i ke bačče budam, az sag mitarsidam When I was a kid, I was afraid of dogs |
| اگر پول داشتم، آن ماشین را می‌خریدم
Agar pul dâštam ân mâšin râ mixaridam If I had money, I would buy that car |
However, this does not mean that they cannot be conjugated in imperfective aspect.
| این آخرین یادگاری من از مردی‌ست که زمانی دوستش می‌داشتم
In âxarin yadegâri-ye man az mard-i’st ke zamân-i dust-aš midâštam This is my last memento of the man that I once loved |
| شاید اگر ما هم به جای آنها می‌بودیم همین کار را می‌کردیم
Šâyad agar mâ ham jâ-ye ânhâ mibudim hamin kâr râ mikardim Maybe if we were in their place, we would do the same thing |