Say what happens now or happened before

A verb tells you about an action or state: eat, go, be. Compare “I eat” with “I ate” and learn how a time word helps you place the action.

≈ 5 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

خوردنkhordan“to eat; to drink” has a present piece خورkhor and a past piece خوردkhord. You need both below.
Present می‌خورمmikhoram is می‌mi- + خورkhor + -am. Past خوردمkhordam is خوردkhord + -am. The -am means “I.”
می‌خورمmikhoram can mean “I eat” or “I am eating”; a time word can also give it a future reading.
دارم می‌خورمdâram mikhoram makes “I am eating right now” explicit.
فردا می‌خورمfardâ mikhoram is the normal conversational shape for “I’ll eat tomorrow.”
دیروز خوردمdiruz khordam means “I ate yesterday”; the ending -am tells you “I.”
آب خوردنâb khordan is the ordinary expression for drinking water, even though خوردنkhordan means “eat” with food.

In English, “I eat,” “I am eating,” and “I will eat” are different forms. In Farsi, you can often use the same form and add a word like “tomorrow”. Look at what happens to “I eat” below.

Build I eat and I ate

The part of a verb that carries its main meaning is called a stem. Farsi often uses different stems for the present and past. Both forms here end in -am, meaning “I.”

خورkhor“present piece of eat”

می‌خورمmikhoram“I eat; I am eating”

Add می‌mi- at the front and -am at the end. This reusable piece is called the present stem.

خوردkhord“past piece of eat”

خوردمkhordam“I ate”

Add the same “I” ending, -am. This is the past stem. For خوردنkhordan, remove final -an to find it: khord-an → khord. Learn present khor with the verb, because it cannot always be guessed.

Keep “I eat bread” and change the time clue

Farsi	What tells you when it happens
هر روز نان می‌خورم.har ruz nân mikhoram“I eat bread every day.”	هر روزhar ruz“every day” shows that it happens regularly.
الان نان می‌خورم.alân nân mikhoram“I am eating bread now.”	Only the first words changed: الانalân“now” replaces هر روزhar ruz“every day”. The person, bread, and verb stay the same.
فردا نان می‌خورم.fardâ nân mikhoram“I will eat bread tomorrow.”	فرداfardâ“tomorrow” gives the familiar form a future meaning.
دیروز نان خوردم.diruz nân khordam“I ate bread yesterday.”	Now change the time word and the verb: دیروزdiruz“yesterday” and past خوردمkhordam. It is still “I” because the ending is still -am.

Change one time clue

Change هر روز نان می‌خورم.har ruz nân mikhoram“I eat bread every day.” to “I am eating bread now.”
Replace “every day” with الانalân“now”.
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الان نان می‌خورم.alân nân mikhoram“I am eating bread now.” The rest did not change.
Change الان نان می‌خورم.alân nân mikhoram“I am eating bread now.” to “I will eat bread tomorrow.”
Show answer +Hide answer −
فردا نان می‌خورم.fardâ nân mikhoram“I will eat bread tomorrow.” Only the time word changed.

I am eating bread right now.

دارم نان می‌خورم.

dâram nân mikhoram.

Add دارمdâram to make an action in progress right now explicit. The main verb stays می‌خورمmikhoram.

Change mi- to nemi- to say “not”

نان می‌خورم.nân mikhoram.“I eat bread.”

نان نمی‌خورم.nân nemikhoram.“I do not eat bread.”

می‌mi- changes to نمی‌nemi-. Bread, the present stem khor, and the “I” ending -am stay the same.

Look for the word that tells you when

فردا آب می‌خورم.
فرداfardâ“tomorrow”
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فردا آب می‌خورم.fardâ âb mikhoram“I will drink water tomorrow.”
دارم آب می‌خورم.
دارمdâram makes an action happening now explicit.
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دارم آب می‌خورم.dâram âb mikhoram“I am drinking water right now.”
دیروز آب خوردم.
دیروزdiruz“yesterday”
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دیروز آب خوردم.diruz âb khordam“I drank water yesterday.”
Change نان می‌خورم.nân mikhoram“I eat bread.” to “I do not eat bread.”
می‌mi- changes to نمی‌nemi-.
Show answer +Hide answer −
نان نمی‌خورم.nân nemikhoram.“I do not eat bread.”

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Farsi chapters ↗