Verbs:

There are many sorts of phonetic mutations in the infinitives, as well as the stems of the present and the past tenses. In particular contexts, vowels may change; for example, written [tag resources diglossia13001]آوَردن[/tag] āvardan ‘to bring’ becomes the spoken [tag resources diglossia13002]آوردن[/tag] āvordan and secondarily, [tag resources diglossia13003]اوردن[/tag] ovordan, [tag resources diglossia13004]اَنداختن[/tag] andāxtan ‘to drop, throw’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13005]اِنداختن[/tag]endāxtan, etc.

Medial glottal segment (that is, the CV syllable) is normally dropped; for example, [tag resources diglossia13006]می دهم[/tag]midaham ‘I give’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13007]می دم[/tag]midam, [tag resources diglossia13008]می خواهم[/tag]mixāham ‘I want’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13009]می خوام[/tag]mixām, etc.

The Persic [-ān-] becomes [-un-] mutation also applies; for example, [tag resources diglossia13010]دانستن[/tag]dānestan ‘to know’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13011]دونسن[/tag]dunessan/ [tag resources diglossia13012]دونستن[/tag]dunestan, [tag resources diglossia13013]توانست[/tag]tavānestan ‘to be able, can’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13014]تونسن[/tag]tunessan/ [tag resources diglossia13015]تونستن[/tag]tunestan (from [tag resources diglossia13016]تونستن[/tag]tavunestan), etc.

The persic [-st-] becomes [-s(s)-] also applies, as in [tag resources diglossia13017]خواستن[/tag]xāstan ‘to want’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13018]خواسن[/tag]xāssan, [tag resources diglossia13019]شستن[/tag]šostan ‘to wash’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13020]شُسن[/tag]šossan, [tag resources diglossia13021]شکستن[/tag]šekastan, vt., vi., ‘to break’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13022]شکسن[/tag]šekassan, etc.

With the exception of the above mentioned verb [tag resources diglossia13023]توانستن[/tag]tavānestan (which becomes [tag resources diglossia13024]تونسم[/tag]tunessam, etc./[tag resources diglossia13025]تونستم[/tag]tunestam, etc.), almost all of the past stems are consistent with the written form. All the phonetic mutations, however, apply, namely [tag resources diglossia13026]خواستم[/tag]xāstam ‘I wanted’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13027]خواسم[/tag]xās(s)am, [tag resources diglossia13028]ماندم[/tag]māndam ‘I stayed’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13029]موندم[/tag]mundam, etc.

All the singulars and the first person plural suffixes are the same as the written form. In the case of the second person and third person plural, first, since the final dental is week, the final [-d] is dropped (for example, [tag resources diglossia13030]رفتند[/tag]raftand ‘they went’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13031]رفتن[/tag]raftan), then, since without the final [-d] the second person plural would be the same as the second person singular, and also on analogy with the third person plural, an [-n] is added to the end of the second person plural. However, as is always the case, the conservative [-id] form is always an option:

[tag resources diglossia13032]خواستن[/tag] xāstan ‘to want’:

In the Tehrani dialect, the third person singular takes an [-eš] ending in the present and past; for example, mixādeš ‘he/she/it wants’, [tag resources diglossia13040]خواستش[/tag] xāsteš‘he/she/it wanted’.

In the present tense, most verbs stay consistent; however, there are verbs which change. Always consider the following:

First of all, the [mi-] prefix is retained.

Any medial [-va-], [-ya-], [-ha-] cluster is dropped; for example:

[tag resources diglossia13041]می روم[/tag] miravam becomes [tag resources diglossia13042]می رم[/tag]miram
‘I go’

[tag resources diglossia13043]می شوم[/tag]mišavam becomes [tag resources diglossia13044]می شم[/tag]mišam
‘I become’

[tag resources diglossia13045]می آید[/tag]miāyad becomes [tag resources diglossia13046]می یاد[/tag]miyād
‘he/she comes’

[tag resources diglossia13047]می خواهم[/tag]mixāham becomes [tag resources diglossia13048]می خوام[/tag]mixām
‘I want’

In polysyllabic verbal stems normally the vowel of the first syllable of the verbal stem is dropped:

In the case of می گو (mi)gu– (from [tag resources diglossia13061]گفتن[/tag]goftan ‘to say’) three stages occur: (1), the vowel of the verbal stem is dropped (that is, mi-gu– becomes mi-g-), (2) the euphonic [ی] is dropped (as is normal, cf. [tag resources diglossia13062] می آیم [/tag] miāyam ‘I come’ becomes [tag resources diglossia13063]می یام[/tag]miyām), (3) the personal enclitics are added, as follows:

With stems ending in consonants, the endings are as follows:

[tag resources diglossia13071]رفتن[/tag]raftan ‘to go’:

With stems ending in [ا- ] [-ā] (including the verb ‘to come,’ whose stem is –ā– on its own), the endings are as follows:

[tag resources diglossia13079] خواستن[/tag] xāstan ‘to want’:

[tag resources diglossia13087]آمدن[/tag] āmadan ‘to come’:

In Persian the Present and past progressive govern both progressive and habitual tenses; for example, miravam is both ‘I go’ and ‘I am going’; [tag resources diglossia13096]می رفتم[/tag] miraftam ‘I was going’ and ‘I used to go’. In addition, the present tense governs the future tense “I shall go”, as well.In colloquial Persian the verbs governing the present and past tenses are only habitual and&#151otherwise&#151the progressive is always accompanied (preceded) by the auxiliary verb [tag resources diglossia13097]داشتن[/tag]dāštan ‘to have’, which is conjugated along with the main verb. That is to say, [tag resources diglossia13098]می رم[/tag] miram only means ‘I go’; and “I am going” would be [tag resources diglossia13099]دارم می رم[/tag] dāram miram. In the past tense, [tag resources diglossia13100]می رفتم[/tag] miraftam means ‘I used to go’; and “I was going” is [tag resources diglossia13101]داشتم می رفتم[/tag] dāštam miraftam. As can be seen, the conjugation of this auxiliary verb corresponds with the conjugation of the primary verb:

Present progressive with the auxiliary verb داشتن dāštan:

Past progressive with the auxiliary verb داشتن dāštan:

In the Subjunctive mood: The preposition بر [bar] ‘on, above, upon’ (not to be confused with the prefix bar– ‘re-’, as in برگشتن bargaštan) has a colloquial variation as ور [var]. In close compounds with this preposition, the main verb never takes the [bé-] prefix of the subjunctive; for example, the colloquial [tag resources diglossia13117]ورداشتن[/tag]vardāštan (from the verb [tag resources diglossia13118]برداشتن[/tag]bardāštan ‘to pick up’) becomes [tag resources diglossia13120]وردارم[/tag]vardāram, etc.; never وربدارم varbédāram, etc. (Conservative speakers, however, retain the [bar-] form.) With compounds including the verbs کردن kardan and [tag resources diglossia13121]شدن[/tag] šodan the usage of the subjunctive prefix [bé-] is optional; for example, [tag resources diglossia13122]خراب کنم[/tag] xarāb konam, [tag resources diglossia13123]خراب بکنم[/tag] xarāb bokonam; [tag resources diglossia13124]خوشحال شه[/tag]xošhāl še, [tag resources diglossia13125]خوشحال بشه[/tag] xošhāl beše, etc. (For the phonetic mutations of the subjunctive prefix [bé-], see Subjunctive.)

In the present perfect the participial ending [-e] is assimilated into the initial vowel of the copulative enclitics (that is, –am, –yi, [ast], –yim, –yid, –and); and the stress of the participial ending moves to the personal ending. Therefore, instead of [tag resources diglossia13126]رفته ام[/tag] rafte͡am ‘I have gone’, etc., we get [tag resources diglossia13127]رفتم[/tag]rafta^|m, etc. In the case of the third person singular, است ast is entirely dropped; for example, رفته rafte^| ‘he/she/it has/is gone’. Note that in colloquial Persian the only difference between this tense and the simple past tense is in the placement of the stress: in the past absolute, it is on the last syllable of the stem; in the present perfect, it is on the personal endings; that is, past absolute [tag resources diglossia13128]رفتم[/tag] ra^|ftam ‘I went’ ~ present perfect [tag resources diglossia13129]رفتم[/tag] rafta^|m ‘I have gone’”:

The direct object marker: In the Persic dialects (that is, from Persia Proper) sometimes a terminal [-ā] is phonetically mutated as [-o] (especially after the liquids, that is, /l/ and /r/); for example, Shirazi and Kazeruni [tag resources diglossia13137]کجو[/tag] kojo for Standard Persian [tag resources diglossia13138]کجا[/tag] kojā ‘where?’; Shir., Kaz. [tag resources diglossia13139]بالو[/tag] bālo ~ Standard Persian [tag resources diglossia13140]بالا[/tag] bālā ‘up, above, over’; Shir., Kaz. [tag resources diglossia13141]حالو[/tag] hālo ~ Standard Persian [tag resources diglossia13142]حالا[/tag] hālā ‘now’; Shir., Kaz. [tag resources diglossia13143]کالو[/tag] kālo ~ Standard Persian [tag resources diglossia13144]کلا[/tag] kolā (not directly from کلاه kolāh) ‘hat, cap’; Shir., Kaz. [tag resources diglossia13145]چرو[/tag]cero ~ Standard Persian [tag resources diglossia13146]چرا[/tag] cerā ‘why?’. Under the influence of the Persic dialects, the Standard Persian direct object marker را rā is normalized as رو ro in spoken Persian. Secondarily, the [-r-] is variably (but more dominantly) dropped after consonants, and the remaining –o is attached directly to the noun (i.e., the object of the sentence). That is to say, there are two variations as رو ro and –o; for example, [tag resources diglossia13147]کتاب رو به من بده[/tag] ketāb ro be man béede or [tag resources diglossia13148]کتابُ به من بده[/tag] ketāb-o be man béede ‘give me the book’. (Therefore, with consonants the choice is that of the speaker, as in [tag resources diglossia13149]سوسن رو دیدم[/tag]susan ro didam or [tag resources diglossia13150]سوسنُ دیدم[/tag]susan-o didam ‘I saw Susan’.

In nouns with a terminal vowel /a/, /u/, and /e/ (= the silent /h/), the ro is always used; for example, [tag resources diglossia13151]بچّه ها رو بیار[/tag] bacce hā ro biyār ‘bring the children’ [tag resources diglossia13152]گیسو رو دیدی؟[/tag] gisu ro didi? ‘did you see Gisu?’.

In the case of the final /e/ (that is, the silent /h/), which is the development of an earlier /a/, this /a/ may be reintroduced (especially in Tehrani dialect); for example, [tag resources diglossia13153]بچّه[/tag] bacce ‘child’, but [tag resources diglossia13154]بچّه (ه)ا رو بیار[/tag] bacc-a ro biyār ‘bring the child’, [tag resources diglossia13155]خونه[/tag] xune ‘house, home’ but [tag resources diglossia13156]خونه رو خریدند[/tag]xun-a ro xaridand ‘they bought the house’.

With a final /i/, the speaker has the option of using ro or just –o; for example, [tag resources diglossia13157]صندلی رو تکون نده[/tag] sandali ro tekun nade or [tag resources diglossia13158]صندلیُ تکون نده[/tag] sandali-o tekun nade ‘don’t move/jerk/rock the chair’.

Sometimes the /o/ is centralized and gets very close to a very weak (almost voiceless) /e/; for instance, [tag resources diglossia13159]کتابُ بیار[/tag] ketābo biyār may be inflected as [tag resources diglossia13160]کتاب بیار[/tag] ketāb^&#601 biyār.

The adverb ham ‘also, too’ is always contracted with the direct object marker. In this process, first of all, the adverb loses its initial /h/. Then, the direct object marker /-o/ is either weakened, or, secondarily, assimilated into the following /a/ of [-am] (the remainder of ham after the disappearance of its initial /h/) as /-o͡am/, /-&#601͡am/ (with a glide) or /-&#216am/; for example, [tag resources diglossia13161]اونم دیدم[/tag] uno͡am didam, [tag resources diglossia13162]اونم دیدم[/tag] un&#601͡am didam, and , particularly, [tag resources diglossia13163]اونم دیدم[/tag] unam didam from [tag resources diglossia13164]اون رو هم دیدم[/tag] un ro ham didam ‘I saw him/her/that, too’.

In an emphatic construction, the direct object marker may be used as a dative marker; for example: [tag resources diglossia13165]فردا رو خیلی کار دارم[/tag] fardā ro kheyli kār dāram ‘tomorrow (particularly) I am going to have a whole lot to do’. [tag resources diglossia13166]امشب رو پهلوی ما بمان[/tag] emšab ro pahlu(-ye) mā bemun or [tag resources diglossia13167]امشبُ پهلوی ما بمان[/tag] emšab-o pahlu(-ye) mā bemun ‘tonight (i.e., this one night) stay with us’. [tag resources diglossia13168] ترونُ نرفتم[/tag] te:run-o (te:run ro) na^|rafta_|m ‘Tehran? I haven’t been there!’ (that is to say, “if it is Tehran that concerns you, I have never been/gone there”)

In spoken Persian a [tag resources diglossia13169]که [/tag] ke is used which is not a relative pronoun; nor is it a conjunction. It is used for emphasis. In certain cases it syntactically functions as the English “though” in the following sentence: that one is good, though!See how many ways the following sentences can be translated in English:

[tag resources diglossia13170]!اون یکی که خوبه[/tag]
un yeki ke xube!
‘but that one is good’
‘that one is good, though!’
‘(but) that one is good, regardless…’
‘well, at least that one is good’
‘no matter what, that one is good’
etc.

[tag resources diglossia13171]!من که نمیدونم[/tag]
man ke nemi dunam
‘don’t ask me’
‘I don’t know anything’
‘beats me!’
‘I don’t care!’
‘that’s none of my business!’
‘I give up!’
‘I don’t give a…’
‘now I’m confused!’
‘leave me alone!’
etc.

[tag resources diglossia13172]!من که همین جا می نشینم تا بیایی[/tag]
man ke hamin jā mi nešīnam, tā biyāyi
‘as for me, I just sit here till you show up’
‘you know what? I’m just gonna’ sit here, till you show up!’