- How is a past active participle formed?
- Is it used in tense formation?
- What meanings does it convey?
The past active participle, or simply past participle, is formed by removing -an from the infinitive of a verb and adding -e. In other words, by adding -e to the past stem of a verb.
Infinitive | Past Stem | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
رفتن raftan to go |
رفت raft |
رفته rafte gone |
دیدن didan to see |
دید did |
دیده dide seen |
بودن budan to be |
بود bud |
بوده bude been |
نوشتن neveshtan to write |
نوشت nevesht |
نوشته neveshte written |
گذشتن gozashtan to pass |
گذشت gozasht |
گذشته gozashte passed |
Tense formation
Past participles are used in the formation of certain tenses.
Tense | Example |
---|---|
Past narrative | رفتهام rafeam I have gone |
Past precedent | رفته بودم rafte budam I had gone |
Word formation
Past participles can be used as an adjective or noun. Derived words literally mean "someone or something that has done". They usually find extended meanings, depending on the context. For example, گذشته (gozashte) literally means "something that has passed" but it also means "past".
Tense | Example |
---|---|
گذشتن gozashtan to pass |
گذشته gozashte passed; past |
بستن bastan to close |
بسته baste closed; package |
فرستادن ferestâdan to send |
فرستاده ferestâde envoy |
گفتن goftan to say |
گفته gofte words (the things said) |