- How is the indicative past narrative progressive tense formed?
- How is its negative conjugation formed?
- What is the equivalent English tense?
The indicative past narrative progressive is a past tense with an indicative mood that has both narrative and progressive aspects at the same time. It is formed according to the following pattern:
| auxiliary verb داشتن (to have) in past narrative |
+ | main verb in past narrative imperfect |
|---|
Conjugation
Simple verbs
- Verb: رفتن (raftan: to go)
| 1S | داشته‌ام می‌رفته‌ام dâshteam mirafteam I have been going |
|---|---|
| 2S | داشته‌ای می‌رفته‌ای dâshtei miraftei You have been going |
| 3S | داشته‌است می‌رفته‌است dâshteast mirafteast داشته می‌رفته dâshte mirafte He/She has been going |
| 1P | داشته‌ایم می‌رفته‌ایم dâshteim mirafteim We have been going |
| 2P | داشته‌اید می‌رفته‌اید dâshteid mirafteid You have been going |
| 3P | داشته‌اند می‌رفته‌اند dâshteand mirafteand They have been going |
Compound verbs
- Verb: کار کردن (kâr kardan: to work)
| 1S | داشته‌ام کار می‌کرده‌ام dâshteam kâr mikardeam I have been working |
|---|---|
| 2S | داشته‌ای کار می‌کرده‌ای dâshtei kâr mikardei You have been working |
| 3S | داشته‌است کار می‌کرده‌است dâshteast kâr mikardeast داشته کار می‌کرده dâshte kâr mikarde He/She has been working |
| 1P | داشته‌ایم کار می‌کرده‌ایم dâshteim kâr mikardeim We have been working |
| 2P | داشته‌اید کار می‌کرده‌اید dâshteid kâr mikardeid You have been working |
| 3P | داشته‌اند کار می‌کرده‌اند dâshteand kâr mikardeand They have been working |
In third person singular, the auxilary verb است (ast) is normally dropped. That is, we normally say داشته می‌رفته instead of داشته‌است می‌رفته‌است and داشته کار می‌کرده instead of داشته‌است کار می‌کرده‌است.
Negative conjugation
Progressive tenses are only used for describing in-progress actions and do not have a negative form. Instead, their imperfect counterpart is used. Regarding the past narrative progressive tense, its imperfect counterpart is the past narrative imperfect tense.
| داشته‌ام می‌رفته‌ام dâshteam mirafteam I have been going |
نمی‌رفته‌ام nemirafteam I have not been going |
| داشته‌ام کار می‌کرده‌ام dâshteam kâr mikardeam I have been working |
کار نمی‌کرده‌ام kâr nemikardeam I have not been working |
Examples
Porgressive tenses are mainly used in spoken Persian. This tense is similar to English present perfect continuous.
| نمی‌دانم چه کار داشته می‌کرده Nemidânam che kâr dâshte mikarde I don't know what she has been doing |