Formation
The negative conjugation is formed by prefexing na- to the verb:
| raftam (I went) | naraftam (I did not go) |
| kâr kardam (I worked) | kâr nakardam (I did not work) |
| xorde budam (I had eaten) | naxorde budam (I had not eaten) |
Sample conjugations
raftan (to go) in indicative past simple
| naraftam | I did not go | naraftim | we did not go |
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| narafti | you did not go | naraftid | you did not go |
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| naraft | he/she/it did not go | naraftand | they did not go |
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kâr kardan (to work) in indicative past simple
| kâr nakardam | I did not work | kâr nakardim | we did not work |
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| kâr nakardi | you did not work | kâr nakardid | you did not work |
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| kâr nakard | he/she/it did not work | kâr nakardand | they did not work |
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raftan (to go) in indicative future simple
| naxwâham raft | I won't go | naxwâhim raft | we won't go |
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| naxwâhi raft | you won't go | naxwâhid raft | you won't go |
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| naxwâhad raft | he/she/it won't go | naxwâhand raft | they won't go |
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kâr kardan (to work) in indicative future simple
| kâr naxwâham kard | I won't work | kâr naxwâhim kard | we won't work |
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| kâr naxwâhi kard | you won't work | kâr naxwâhid kard | you won't work |
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| kâr naxwâhad kard | he/she/it won't work | kâr naxwâhand kard | they won't work |
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In Iranian Persian, na- changes to ne- before the imperfective particle mi-:
| miraftam (I went) | nemiraftam (I did not go) |
| miravam (I go) | nemiravam (I don't go) |
If the verb beings with the vowels â, a, o, u then a -y- is added after na-:
| âmadam (I came) | nayâmadam (I did not come) |
| oftâd (it fell) | nayoftâd (it did not fall) |
| istâd (he stood) | naistâd (he did not stand) |
Examples
- Budan yâ nabudan — To be or not to be
- Hanuz rânandegi yâd nagerefte — She still hasn't learned to drive
- Bishtar-e maǧâzehâ tâ sâat-e dah-e sobh, bâz nemikonand — Most of the stores don't open until 10 a.m.
- Man nadozdidam-ash — I did not steal it
Budan in present tense
The verb budan (to be) has a special negative form in present tense. It's the result of the contraction of ni (a negative prefix in classical Persian) and astan (a verb in classical Persian that means «to be»). For example, ni+astam makes ni'stam, which is simply written nistam
| nistam | I am not | nistim | we are not |
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| nisti | you are not | nistid | you are not |
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| nist | he/she/it is not | nistand | they are not |
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Examples
- Emruz havâ sard nist — It isn't cold today
Present subjunctive
The negative form of present subjunctive is made by replacing be- with na-:
neveštan (to write)
| singular | plural |
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| nanevisam | nanevisim |
| nanevisi | nanevisid |
| nanevisad | nanevisand |
kâr kardan (to work)
| singular | plural |
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| kâr nakonam | kâr nakonim |
| kâr nakoni | kâr nakonid |
| kâr nakonad | kâr nakonand |