- How is the indicative past narrative tense formed?
- How is its negative conjugation formed?
- What is the equivalent English tense?
The indicative past narrative is a past tense with an indicative mood and a narrative aspect. It is formed according to the following pattern:
| past participle | + | weak form of auxiliary verb بودن (to be) in present simple |
|---|
The weak form of بودن (budan: to be) in present simple is:
| 1S | ام am |
1P | ایم im |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2S | ای i |
2P | اید id |
| 3S | است ast |
3P | اند and |
Conjugation
Simple verbs
- Infinitive: رفتن (raftan: to go)
- Past participle: رفته (rafte: gone)
| 1S | رفته‌ام rafteam I have gone |
|---|---|
| 2S | رفته‌ای raftei You have gone |
| 3S | رفته‌است rafteast He/She has gone |
| 1P | رفته‌ایم rafteim We have gone |
| 2P | رفته‌اید rafteid You have gone |
| 3P | رفته‌اند rafteand They have gone |
رفته‌ام literally means “I am gone”, رفته‌ای means “You are gone” and so on.
Compound verbs
- Verb: کار کردن (kâr kardan: to work)
- Preverb: کار (kâr: work)
- Infinitive: کردن (kardan: to do)
- Past participle: کرده (karde: done)
| 1S | کار کرده‌ام kâr kardeam I have worked |
|---|---|
| 2S | کار کرده‌ای kâr kardei You have worked |
| 3S | کار کرده‌است kâr kardeast He/She has worked |
| 1P | کار کرده‌ایم kâr kardeim We have worked |
| 2P | کار کرده‌اید kâr kardeid You have worked |
| 3P | کار کرده‌اند kâr kardeand They have worked |
Negative conjugation
The negative form of the past narrative tense is constructed by prefixing ن (na) to the past participle.
| 1S | نرفته‌ام narafteam I have not gone |
|---|---|
| 2S | نرفته‌ای naraftei You have not gone |
| 3S | نرفته‌است narafteast He/She has not gone |
| 1P | نرفته‌ایم narafteim We have not gone |
| 2P | نرفته‌اید narafteid You have not gone |
| 3P | نرفته‌اند narafteand They have not gone |
| 1S | کار نکرده‌ام kâr nakardeam I have not worked |
|---|---|
| 2S | کار نکرده‌ای kâr nakardei You have not worked |
| 3S | کار نکرده‌است kâr nakardeast He/She has not worked |
| 1P | کار نکرده‌ایم kâr nakardeim We have not worked |
| 2P | کار نکرده‌اید kâr nakardeid You have not worked |
| 3P | کار نکرده‌اند kâr nakardeand They have not worked |
Examples
This tense is equivalent to English present perfect.
| آن فیلم را چند بار دیده‌ام Ân film râ chand bâr dideam I have seen that movie several times |
| دو سال اینجا کار کرده‌است Do sâl injâ kâr kardeast He has worked here for two years |
| ده روز است که او را ندیده‌ام Dah ruz ast ke u râ nadideam I have not seen him for ten days |
| این بهترین کتابی است که تا کنون خوانده‌ام In behtarin ketâb-i ast ke tâ konun khwândeam This is the best book that I have ever read |