Under normal circumstances the verb is always placed at the end of the sentence.

However, more complex sentences may be constructed according to the following structure:

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-39a]من دیروز به سینما رفتم[/tag]
man diruz be sinamā raftam
“I went to movies yesterday.”

The very first important rule in Persian is that the verb normally comes at the end of the sentence (especially in the written material).

In colloquial Persian, however, it is very normal to move the verb and bring it closer to the subject of the sentence (pretty much like in English); that is to say, instead of [tag resources Sentence_Structure-32a]من به سینما رفتم[/tag] man be sinamā raftam ‘I went to a movie’, it is very common to say, [tag resources Sentence_Structure-32b]من رفتم سینما[/tag] man raftam sinamā (as we can see, even the preposition be has been elided. This is discussed further in the diglossia section, which deals with the colloquial rules).

Also in certain affirmative emphatic cases the verb may be moved and placed between a noun and its modifier:

[tag resources masentstruct01]ابن سینا مردیست دانشمند[/tag]
ebn-e sinā mardist dānešmand
‘Avicenna is a knowledgeable man.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-36a]لوس آنجلس شهریست بسیار بزرگ[/tag]
los āngeles šahrist besiyār bozorg
“Los Angeles is a very large city.”

The subject and the element(s) of time may spontaneously switch places; i.e.:

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-39a]من دیروز به سینما رفتم[/tag]
man diruz be sinamā raftam
“Yesterday I went to see a movie.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-39b]دیروز من به سینما رفتم[/tag]
diruz man be sinamā raftam
“I went to see a movie yesterday.”

If there is more than one person as the subject of the sentence, still the element of time may come before or after the cluster, according to the wish of the speaker/author:

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-44a]من و پدرم دیروز به سینما رفتیم[/tag] ~ [tag resources Sentence_Structure-44b]دیروز من و پدرم به سینما رفتیم[/tag]
diruz man va pedaram be sinamā raftim ~ man va pedaram diruz be sinamā raftim
“Yesterday my father and I went to a movie.” ~ “My father and I went to a movie yesterday.”

Unlike English, when, in addition to the narrator, there are one or more subjects in the sentence, there is no hierarchical priority between the narrator and the other noun(s). That is to say, there is no preference for starting the sentence with the narrator or any of the other nouns (and putting the narrator at the end). Therefore, my father and I…, or I and my father… are both permissible. In the two examples in section “e”, we may have one of the two following forms:

[tag resources masentstruct02]من و پدرم دیروز به سینما رفتیم[/tag] or [tag resources masentstruct03]پدرم و من دیروز به سینما رفتیم[/tag]

If there is an element of place in the sentence, normally it immediately precedes the verb (that is, at the end of the sentence). However, if in regards with that element of place there are more explanations and some grammatical elements (such as an attributive adjective, etc.) are present, they may intervene between the element of place and the verb:

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-49a].دیروز من و برادرم به خانهٔ پدربزرگمان، که در بازار مسگران است، رفتیم[/tag]
diruz man va barādaram be xāne-ye pedar bozorgemān, ke dar bāzār-e mesgarān ast, raftim
“Yesterday my brother and I went to our grandfather’s house, which is in the coppersmiths’ quarters.”

In this sentence the parenthetical clause …که در بازار مسگران است “which is in the coppersmiths’ quarter…”, which provides extra information about the noun house as the element of place, intervenes between this noun and the verb. (It must be understood that the segment خانهٔ پدربزرگمان xāne-ye pedar bozorgemān ‘our grandfather’ house’ as a whole represents the element of place.)

Additional grammatical elements may consist of a preposition, the object of the sentence, an adverbial phrase, or a combination of several grammatical features, which could make a sentence more and more complex.

Compare and contrast the following sentences:

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-54a].من دیروز برای دیدن یک فیلم به سینما رفتم[/tag]
man diruz barā-ye didan-e yek film be sinamā raftam
‘Yesterday I went to see a movie.’ (literally, ‘I went to a movie theater for seeing (= in order to see) a movie.’)

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-55a].من دیروز با خواهرم به سینما رفتم[/tag]
man diruz bā xāharam be sinamā raftam
‘Yesterday I went to a movie with my sister.’

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-56a].من دیروز با خواهرم برای دیدن یک فیلم به سینما رفتم[/tag]
man diruz bā xāharam barā-ye didan-e yek film be sinamā raftam
‘Yesterday I went to see a movie with my sister.’

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-57a].من و خواهرم دیروز برای دیدن یک فیلم به سینما رفتیم[/tag]
man va xāharam diruz barā-ye didan-e yek film be sinamā raftim
“My sister and I went to see a movie yesterday.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-59a]دیروز من و خواهرم برای دیدن یک فیلم خیلی معروف به سینمایی کهبسیار زیبا بود رفتیم.ز[/tag]
diruz man va xāharam barā-ye didan-e yek film-e xeyli ma’ruf, be sinamā-yi ke besiyār zibā bud, raftim
“To see a very well-known (famous) movie, yesterday my sister and I went to a theater, which was very beautiful.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-63a].این مرد معلّم ماست[/tag]
in mard mo’allem-e māst
“This man is our teacher.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-65a].برادرمن با مادرمان به ایران رفت[/tag]
barādar-e man bā mādaremān be irān raft
“My brother went to Iran with our mother.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-68a].خانهٔ ما خیلی بزرگ است[/tag]
xāne-ye mā xeyli bozorg ast
“Our house is very large/big.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-70a].من یک خواهر بزرگتر دارم[/tag]
man yek xāhar-e bozorgtar dāram
“I have an older sister.”

[tag resources Sentence_Structure-72a].این مدرسه یکی از بهترین مدارس آمریکا است[/tag]
in madrese yeki az behtarin madāres-e āmrikā ast (āmrikāst)
“This school is one of the best among the American schools.”