The subjunctive tense has to do with elements of doubt, tentativeness, uncertainty, and vagueness. These characteristics make the subjunctive tense stand in contrast with such tenses as the indicative or the imperative. We will first begin with the general present subjunctive, and continue with past and perfect forms.

Unlike Persian, French, and some other languages, in English this tense is less productive. In English the subjunctive verb form can be very difficult to detect because it is spelled like other tenses of the verb. It may be found in hypothetical constructions such as “if he were here” as opposed to “if he was here,” in such expressiona as “So be it!”, and in certain clauses introduced by ‘that,’ as in, “I suggest that she go to see a dentist.”

Compare the following English sentences:

To understand the subjunctive in Persian, English is of little help. In addition to the orthography, there are syntactic and grammatical differences between the two languages. For instance, the English past subjunctive, “I should have gone” corresponds with the Persian perfect subjunctive; and, therefore, it is difficult for an English speaker to recognize the difference between, باید می رفتم bāyad mi raftam ‘I had to go’ and باید می رفتم bāyad mi raftam ‘I should have gone,’ by just reading or listening to the Persian phrase باید می رفتم.

Compare the following sentences with their English translations:

[tag resources presentsub_01]باید پنچره را می بستی[/tag]
bāyad panjare rā mi basti
“You should have closed the window.”
English past subjunctive (perfect in form) Persian past subjunctive

[tag resources presentsub_02]باید پنچره را بسته باشی[/tag]
bāyad panjare rā mi basti
“You must have closed the window.”
English past subjunctive (perfect in form) Persian perfect subjunctive

In Persian a verb in the subjunctive has a particular form and—once you have learned the construction—it is easy to recognize. The basic features for the subjunctive are as follows:

With the exception of the jussive and optative moods, in Persian, a verb in the subjunctive form is always a complement to a main verb in the sentence or clause. That is to say, it always falls secondary and complementary to a primary verb in the indicative mood.

The subjunctive of simple verbs is constructed by the addition of a [bé-] prefix to the present stem, and the addition of the personal endings:

خریدن xaridan ‘to buy’ → present stem – خر- -xar- → present subjunctive بخرم bexaram ‘(I) buy;’ as in باید بخرم bāyad bexaram ‘I must buy.’

In behavior, this [bé-] prefix functions exactly as the [bé-] prefix as seen in Imperatives. It also follows the same euphonic rules.

There are two distinct differences between the construction of the subjunctive and the imperative:

Unlike the imperative, subjunctive applies to all six persons, while the imperative only applies to the second person singular and plural.

In the imperative, the second person singular does not take any ending while in subjunctive it takes the regular second person ending ـی [-i] ([-yi] after vowels):

The negative is constructed by replacing the [bé-] prefix with [ná-]:

بروم béravam > نروم náravam, بگویی béguyi > نگویی náguyi, بخواهی béxāhi > نخواهی náxāhi, etc.

As mentioned in Imperatives, the two verbs بودن budan ‘to be’ and داشتن dāštan ‘to have’ are irregular in Persian, and in most phonetic contexts they behave differently than other verbs:

The subjunctive of budan takes the different verbal stem باش, whose historical infinitival form (that is, * باشیدن bāšidan) is obsolete and does not exist in New Persian any more. In the subjunctive this verb never takes the [be-] prefix:

Example:

[tag resources presentsub_17]باید آنجا باشم[/tag]
bāyad ānjā bāšam
“I must/have to be there.”

[tag resources presentsub_18] !بهتر است در همین اتاق باشی تا من برگردم[/tag]
behtar ast dar hamin otāq bāši tā man bar gardam!
“You’d better stay in this (very) room, until I return!”

The subjunctive of the verb داشتن dāštan ‘to have’ is constructed with the past participle of this verb and the subjunctive of budan, that is, bāšam, bāši, bāšad, bāšim, bāšid, bāšand:

[tag resources presentsub_19]می خواهی این را داشته باشی؟[/tag]
mi xāhi in rā dāšte bāši?
“Do you want/would you like to have this?”

[tag resources presentsub_20]ما باید این مسأله را در نظرداشته باشیم[/tag]
mā bāyad in mas’ale rā dar nazar dāšte bāšim
“We must bear this in mind.”

The two verbs باید bāyad ‘must, have to’ and شاید šāyad ‘perhaps, maybe’ are frozen in the third-person singular, similar to the English “it is necessary,” in “it is necessary that I go there.” They are referred to as “impersonal” verbs, because they can be applied to any of the six persons in the table; as in, in English I must go, you must go, he must go, etc., باید برود، باید بروی، باید بروم, etc.

Originally باید and شاید are the third singular present tense of the now obsolete infinitives بایستن ‘to be imperative’ and شایستن ‘to be appropriate.’ But in Modern Persian باید simply means ‘must, should, it is necessary, etc.’ and شاید means ‘perhaps, maybe, it is possible, etc.’

An alternative form of باید is بایست bāyest. Technically, this form is the past stem as well as the third singular in the past (that is, بایستن > بایستـ); however, in Modern Persian it is used alternatively as a substitute for باید; as in, باید بروم bāyad beravam ‘I have to go, must go, etc.’ = بایست بروم.

Both باید and بایست may be prefixed with می as می باید and می بایست. In Modern Persian, all four forms are the same; that is to say:[tag resources presentsub_21]باید = بایست = می باید = می بایست[/tag]

To assume that باید بروم means ‘I have to go’ and بایست بروم means ‘I had to go’ is erroneous and based on analogy.

Another form of بایست as بایستی and alternatively as می بایستی is also used.

As a rule Subjunctive is always the anterior verb, dependant on a main verb in the sentence, which also sets the tense (past and perfect subjunctive are discussed in other sections):

[tag resources presentsub_22]مصمّم است که بیاید[/tag]
mosammam ast ke biyāyad
“He is determined to come.”

[tag resources presentsub_23]مصمّم شده است که بیاید[/tag]
mosammam šode bud (ke) biyāyad
“He has been determined to come.”

The subjunctive is used in the following situations:

When the object of a clause or sentence is indefinite. Compare and contrast the following pairs:

[tag resources presentsub_24]به دنبال معلّمی می گردم که فرانسه بداند[/tag]
be donbāl-e mo’allemi mi gardam ke farānse bedānad
“I am looking for a teacher who would know French.”

[tag resources presentsub_25]به دنبال معلّمی می گردم که فرانسه می داند[/tag]
be donbāl-e mo’allemi mi gardam ke farānse mi dānad
“I am looking for the teacher who knows French.”

[tag resources presentsub_26]به دنبال کسی می گردم که رانندگی بلد باشد[/tag]
be donbāl-e kasi mi gardam ke rānandegi bedānad
“I am looking for someone who would know how to drive.”

[tag resources presentsub_27]به دنبال آن کسی می گردم که رانندگی بلد است[/tag]
be donbāl-e ān kasi mi gardam ke rānandegi mi dānad
“I am looking for the person who knows how to drive.”

With relative pronouns and conjunctions, such as هروقت harvaqt ‘whenever,’ هرجا / هرکجا harjā/harkojā ‘wherever,’ هرکس / هرکه / هرکی (colloquial) hark as/harke/harki ‘whoever,’ هرچه / هرچی (colloquial) hace/harci ‘whatever,’ and هرچند harcand ‘however much, however many’ (always followed by a counting word, otherwise it means “although”). As definite, these words respectively mean, ‘when, every time that,’ ‘everywhere,’ ‘everybody who, everyone who,’ ‘everything that.’ Compare and contrast the following pairs:

[tag resources presentsub_28]هروقت بیاید، خوب است[/tag]
harvaqt biyāyad xub ast
“Whenever he may come it is fine.”

[tag resources presentsub_29]هروقت می آید خیلی می ماند[/tag]
harvaqt mi āyad, xeyli mi mānad
“Every time she/he comes, she/he stays for a long time.”

[tag resources presentsub_30]هرجا / هرکجا برویم بهتر از اینجا است[/tag]
harjā/harkojā beravim behtar az injā ast
“Wherever we may go it is better than here.”

[tag resources presentsub_31]هرجا / هرکجا می رویم یک چیز قشنگ می بینیم[/tag]
harjā/harkojā mi ravim yek ciz-e qašang mi binim
“Wherever we go we see something beautiful.”

[tag resources presentsub_32]هرکه/هرکی/ هرکس را ببینم، به او می گویم[/tag]
harke/harki/harkas rā bebinam, be u mi guyam
“Whomever I may see, I shall tell him/her.”

[tag resources presentsub_33]هرکه/هرکی/ هرکس را می بینم، به او می گویم[/tag]
harke/harki/harkas rā mi binam, be u mi guyam
“I say it to whomever I see.”

[tag resources presentsub_34]هرچه بگویم برای خود تو است[/tag]
harce beguyam barā-ye xod-e to ast
“Whatever I may say, it is for your own sake/good.”

[tag resources presentsub_35]هرچه می گویم برای خود تو است[/tag]
harce mi guyam barā-ye xod-e to ast
“Everything I say is for your own sake/good.”

[tag resources presentsub_36]هرچند جلد کتاب بخواهد به او می دهم[/tag]
harcand jeld ketāb bexāhad, be u mi daham
“However many books he/she may want, I shall give them to him/her.”

[tag resources presentsub_37]هرچند جلد کتاب می خواهد به او می دهم[/tag]
harcand jeld ketāb mi xāhad, be u mi daham
“However many books he/she wants, I give them to him/her.”

Compare the functions of هرچند in the above sentences with the following sentence:

[tag resources presentsub_38]هرچند فرانسه قشنگ است، امَّا ایتالیا قشنگ تر است[/tag]
harcand farānse qašang ast, ammā itāliyā qašang tar ast
“Although France is beautiful, Italy is more beautiful.”

With کسی که kasi ke ‘whosoever’. Compare and contrast the following pair:

[tag resources presentsub_39]کسی که چیزی بخواهد، برایش زحمت می کشد[/tag]
kasi ke cizi bexāhad, barāyaš zahmat mi kašad
“If someone/whosoever wants something, he/she would work hard for it.”

[tag resources presentsub_40]کسی که چیزی می خواهد، برایش زحمت می کشد[/tag]
kasi ke cizi mi xāhad, barāyaš zahmat mi kašad
“He/she who wants something, would work hard for it.”

In descriptive clause with مثل…ـی که mesl-e …i ke ‘like …that…’. As we can see, in this case the noun is in indefinite:

[tag resources presentsub_41]مثل کسی که خواب باشد، اصلاً تکان نمی خور[/tag]د
mesl-e kasi ke xāb bāšad, aslant takān nami xord
“Llike someone who is asleep, he did not move at all.”

[tag resources presentsub_42]مثل کسی که چیزی بخواهد، به من نگاه می کرد[/tag]
mesl-e kasi ke cizi bexāhad, be man negāh mi kard
“(just) Like someone who wants something, he was looking at me.”

With the comparative of the “too…to” kind:

[tag resources presentsub_43]او قوی تر از آن است که بازی را ببازد[/tag]
u qavi tar az ān ast ke bāzi rā bebāzad
“She/he is too strong to lose the game.”

[tag resources presentsub_44]تو باهوش تر از آن هستی که به این حرف ها گوش بدهی[/tag]
to bāhuš tar az ān hasti ke be in harf hā guš bedahi
“You are too intelligent to listen to these sayings.”

The formula is, complement adjective + az ān + copula + ke…

As the complement of any positive or negative expression. Compare the following pairs:

[tag resources presentsub_45]کسی را دیدم که پول را به او بدهم[/tag]
kasi rā didam ke pul rā be u bedaham
“I did see someone to give him/her the money.”

[tag resources presentsub_46]هیچکس را ندیدم که پول را به او بدهم[/tag]
hickas rā nadidam ke pul rā be u bedaham
“I did not see anybody so I would give him/her the money.”

[tag resources presentsub_47]قرار بود (که) او به اینجا بیاید[/tag]
qarār bud (ke) u be injā biyāyad
“She/he was supposed to come here.”

[tag resources presentsub_48]قرار نبود (که) او به اینجا بیاید[/tag]
qarār nabud (ke) u be injā biyāyad
“She/he was not supposed to come here.”

[tag resources presentsub_49]در اینجا چیزی هست که او بخواهد[/tag]
dar injā cizi hast ke u bexāhad
“There must be something here that would interest him/her,” literally, “There is something here that she/he would want.”

[tag resources presentsub_50]در اینجا چیزی نیست که او بخواهد[/tag]
dar injā cizi nist ke u bexāhad
“There is nothing here that she/he might possibly want.”

One of the instances in which the subjunctive tense is used may be compared with the English infinitival clause (that is, the to-infinitive), as in “I have to go;” for example, باید بروم! bāyad beravam ‘I have to go, I must go.’

The verb شدن šodan ‘to become’ has an impersonal form az می شود mi šavad (frozen in the third person singular), which may be compared with the English “it is/is it possible.” Within a regular syntax it calls for the subjunctive. Compare the following sentences with شدن with the English translations:

[tag resources presentsub_51]می شود من هم بیایم؟[/tag]
mi šavad man ham biyāyam?
“Could I come too? is it possible that I come too?”

[tag resources presentsub_52]از آنجا می شد آن را ببینیم[/tag]
az ānjā mi šod ānjā rā bebinim
“From where we were it was possible to see it.” (literally, “Trom there it was possible for us to see it.”)

[tag resources presentsub_53]می شود بچّه را هم بیاوریم؟[/tag]
mi šavad bacce rā ham biyāvarim?
“Could we bring the child too?”

A different historical construction exists in Persian in which a gerund is used instead of the subjunctive. In New Persian this gerund has lost its [-an] suffix:

[tag resources presentsub_54]می شود این را خورد؟[/tag]
mi šavad in rā xord?
“Is it possible to eat this;” that is, “may I eat this;” from the classical می شود این را خوردن.
باید این کار را کرد bāyad in kār rā kard ‘It is advisable to do this.”

There are a number of conjunctions which call for the subjunctive in adverbial clauses, as in when a conjunction of purpose is either present or inherent within the context. In this case the subjunctive is invariably in the present tense, regardless of the tense of the main verb:

Simple Past:

Present Perfect:

Past Perfect:

Past Progressive:

With the formal future (خواهم آمد) the conjunction is always present:

Future:

[tag resources presentsub_67]خواهم آمد که شما را ببینم[/tag]
xāham āmad ke šomā rā bebinam
“I shall come to see you.”

[tag resources presentsub_68]خواهم آمد تا شما را ببینم[/tag]
xāham āmad tā šomā rā bebinam
“I shall come to see you.”

In the present tense, it follows the conjunctions of exception, condition, concession, provision, etc. In the past tense the syntax changes. Compare and contrast the following pairs:
Present:

[tag resources presentsub_69]اگر هم بمیرم بازهم می روم[/tag]
agar ham bemiram bāz ham mi ravam
“Even though I may die, I am still going.”

Past:

[tag resources presentsub_70]اگر هم می مردم بازهم می رفتم[/tag]
agar ham mi mordam bāz ham mi raftam
“Even though I would have died, I would have gone.”

Present:

[tag resources presentsub_71]به شرطی که تو بگویی من می آیم[/tag]
be šarti ke to beguyi man mi āyam
“I would come only if you say so.”

Past:

[tag resources presentsub_72]به شرطی که تو می گفتی من می آمدم[/tag]
be šarti ke to mi gofti man mi āmadam
“Only if you had told me I would have come.”

Present:

[tag resources presentsub_73]مگر این که خودش نخواهد، وگرنه من می آیم[/tag]
magar in ke xodaš naxāhad, vagarna man mi āyam
“Unless he (himself) doesn’t want it, otherwise I shall come.”

Past:

[tag resources presentsub_74]مگر این که خودش نمی خواست، وگرنه من می آمدم[/tag]
magar in ke xodaš nami xāst, vagarna man mi āmadam
“Unless he (himself) didn’t want it, otherwise I would come.”

With temporal conjunctions:

From the prepositions Arabic قبل qabl and Persian پیش piš ‘before’ are derived the conjunctions قبل از این که qabl az in ke and پیش از این که piš az in ke ‘before.’ These conjunctions are both followed by the present subjunctive, regardless of the tense of the main verb:

[tag resources presentsub_75]پیش از این که / قبل از این که برسید، آنجا را تمیز می کنم[/tag]
qabl az in ke/piš az in ke berasid, ānjā rā tamiz mi konam
“I shall clean that place before you arrive.”

[tag resources presentsub_76]پیش از این که / قبل از این که برسید، آنجا را تمیز کرده بودند[/tag]
qabl az in ke/piš az in ke berasid, ānjā rā tamiz karde budand
“They had cleaned that place before you arrived.”

Another conjunction is تا tā, which has many different meanings according to its syntactic role, as follows: ‘until’, ‘so long as’, ‘as soon as’, ‘by the time that’, all of which is followed by a negative present subjunctive:

Until, so long as…

[tag resources presentsub_77]تا تو حرکت نکنی او تکان نمی خورد[/tag]
tā to harekat nakoni, u takān nami xorad
“He/she won’t move until you set out.”

[tag resources presentsub_78]تا دَرسَت را نخوانی نمی توانی تلویزیون تماشا کنی[/tag]
tā darsat rā naxāni, nami tavāni television tamāšā koni
“You cannot watch the TV until you have done with your studies.”

[tag resources presentsub_79]نشسته ام تا تو بیایی[/tag]
nešaste am tā to biyāyi
“I am sitting here waiting for you to show up.”

[tag resources presentsub_80]من اینجا خوابیده ام تا آن ها برسند[/tag]
man injā xābide am tā ān hā berasand
“I am lying down/sleeping here until they arrive.”

By the time

[tag resources presentsub_81]تا شما به خانه برسید مهمان ها رفته اند[/tag]
tā šomā berasid mehmān hā rafte
and “By the time you get home, the guests will have gone.”

[tag resources presentsub_82]تا او را ببینیم دو هفته گذشته است[/tag]
tā u rā bebinim, do hafte gozašte ast
“By the time we see him/her, two week will (already) have passed.”

So long as

[tag resources presentsub_83]تا تو حرکت نکنی او تکان نمی خورد[/tag]
tā to harekat nakoni, u takān nami xorad
“He/she won’t move until you set out.”

As soon as

[tag resources presentsub_84]تا برسید به راه می افتیم[/tag]
tā berasid be rāh mi oftim
“As soon as you arrive we shall set out.”

[tag resources presentsub_85]تا بیایند خبر را به آن ها می دهم[/tag]
tā biyāyand xabar rā be ān hā mi daham
“As soon as they arrive I shall give them the news.”

Although as a rule subjunctive is always dependant on another main verb in the sentence, there are specific instances in which it is used independently, as follows:

When it is used as a jussive:

[tag resources presentsub_86]!برویم[/tag]
beravim!
“Let’s go!”

[tag resources presentsub_87] !بگذار باشد[/tag]
bogzār bāšad
“Let it be!”

In the optative mood (mostly governed by “may” in English):

[tag resources presentsub_88] !خدا بیامرزدش[/tag]
xodā biyāmorzadaš
“May God have mercy on his soul.”

[tag resources presentsub_89]!خدا نکند[/tag]
xodā nakonad
“God forbid.”

As the deliberative interrogative, which in English is governed by “should” and “shall”:

[tag resources presentsub_90]چه کنم؟[/tag]
ce konam
“What should I do?”

[tag resources presentsub_91]برویم؟[/tag]
beravim?
“Shall we go?”

[tag resources presentsub_92]چه بگویم؟[/tag]
ce beguyam?
“What should I say? what can I say?”

The subjunctive “باشد!”, that is, the third person singular subjunctive of the verb بودن budan ‘to be,’ is also used as a term of agreement, and equates to the English formula as “Alright! O.K.!, Fine!, So be it!”:

[tag resources presentsub_93] !امشب به خانهٔ ما بیا[/tag]
emšab be xāne-ye mā biyā
“Come to our house tonight!”

[tag resources presentsub_94]!باشد[/tag]
bāsad
“Alright!”

[tag resources presentsub_95]!اگر خدا این طور می خواهد، خوب، باشد[/tag]
agar xodā in towr mi xāhad, xob, bāšad
“If it is God’s desire, then so be it!”

Since in Persian the present tense also governs the future tense, a particular present subjunctive construction expresses constraint, necessity, obligation, etc. in the future tense. It may be compared with the English, “…going to have to….” The most frequently used modal verb in this kind of construction is باید. In addition to باید, such obligatory full verbs as مجبور بودن majbur budan and ناچار بودن nācār budan ‘to have to, to be obligated to, to be constrained to.’ Just like its English counterpart, it expresses uncertainty about the result of ones action. That is to say, when one says, “I am going to have to call them…,” the ultimate connotation is that he or she does not know what the result of that call would be.

Example:

[tag resources presentsub_96]باید به آن ها تلفن بزنم[/tag]
bāyad be ān hā telefon bezanam
“I have to call them, I am going to have to call them.”

[tag resources presentsub_97]مجبورم به آن ها تلفن بزنم[/tag]
majburam be ān hā telefon bezanam
“I am obligated to call them, I have to call them, I am going to have to call them.”

[tag resources presentsub_98]ناچارم به آن ها تلفن بزنم[/tag]
nācāram be ān hā telefon bezanam
“I am obligated to call them, I have to call them, I am going to have to call them.”