The Verb "to be"

Understanding "to be" in Persian

In Persian, the idea of "to be" is very important for making the simplest sentences, such as "I am Ali" or "This is a book." Persian uses special verb endings for "to be" in the present tense. In this chapter, you will learn these endings and how to use them in easy sentences.

Remember that Persian usually follows the Subject Object Verb order, but here we focus only on the verb "to be" itself, not on full sentence structure.

Personal endings of "to be" in the present

In English, we say "I am," "you are," "he is," and so on. In Persian, we use short endings that attach to the last word in the sentence. These endings show the subject, so you do not always need to say the pronoun.

Here are the personal pronouns and the corresponding present tense endings of "to be" in Persian, in informal spoken style and in formal style. First, the pronouns:

man من = I
to تو = you (singular, informal)
u او = he / she
mâ ما = we
shomâ شما = you (singular polite or plural)
ânhâ آنها = they

Now, the present tense of "to be." Think of it as the Persian version of "am / is / are."

Informal spoken endings:

man ... hastam من ... هستم = I am
to ... hasti تو ... هستی = you are (informal)
u ... hast او ... هست = he / she is
mâ ... hastim ما ... هستیم = we are
shomâ ... hastid شما ... هستید = you are (plural / polite)
ânhâ ... hastand آنها ... هستند = they are

In spoken everyday Persian, people often shorten these forms, especially in the first and second person. This is extremely common, so you will hear it all the time.

Short spoken forms: am, i, e, im, id, and

The verb "to be" in Persian has even shorter informal spoken forms. They attach directly to the word before them. These short forms are:

am ام = I am
i ای = you are (informal, singular)
e است / ـه = he / she / it is
im ایم = we are
id اید = you are (plural / polite)
an اند = they are

You will usually see these written attached to the word, for example:

man Irâni-am من ایرانی‌ام = I am Iranian
to dust-i تو دوستی = you are a friend
in ketâb-e این کتابه = this is a book (very informal)
mâ dust-im ما دوستیم = we are friends

These short endings are very important in real spoken Persian. The longer forms with "hast" are often used in more formal or careful speech, and the short forms are used in everyday talk.

Saying "I am...", "you are...", "he / she is..."

Here are some simple examples with "to be," combining vocabulary that is common at this level. We will use both full and short forms so you can compare. The meaning is the same, but the feeling is slightly different: full forms sound more formal or written, and short forms sound more natural in speech.

"I am Ali."

man Ali hastam
من علی هستم

Short spoken form:

man Ali-am
من علی‌ام

"You are Sara." (informal)

to Sârâ hasti
تو سارا هستی

Short spoken form:

to Sârâ-i
تو سارایی

"He is Reza."

u Rezâ hast
او رضا هست

Short spoken form, very common:

u Rezâ-e
او رضائه

Note that for "he / she / it is," in speech people use "e" attached to the last word.

Using "to be" with nationality and job

Very early in Persian you can say who you are, where you are from, and what your job is, using the verb "to be."

"I am Iranian."

man Irâni hastam
من ایرانی هستم

Spoken:

man Irâni-am
من ایرانی‌ام

"You are a student." (informal)

to dâneshju hasti
تو دانشجو هستی

Spoken:

to dâneshju-i
تو دانشجویی

"He is a teacher."

u mo'allem hast
او معلم هست

Spoken:

u mo'allem-e
او معلمه

"We are friends."

mâ dust hastim
ما دوست هستیم

More natural spoken:

mâ dust-im
ما دوستیم

"You are teachers." (polite or plural)

shomâ mo'allem hastid
شما معلم هستید

Spoken:

shomâ mo'allem-id
شما معلمید

"They are students."

ânhâ dâneshju hastand
آنها دانشجو هستند

Spoken:

ânhâ dâneshju-an
آنها دانشجو‌ان

Saying "this is..." and "that is..."

In another chapter you will learn about demonstratives like "this" and "that" in detail, but already now you can combine them with "to be" to make simple identification sentences.

"This is Ali."

in Ali hast
این علی هست

Spoken:

in Ali-e
این علیِ

"That is a book."

ân ketâb hast
آن کتاب هست

Spoken:

ân ketâb-e
آن کتابه

In actual spoken Persian, the "h" of "hast" is often not pronounced and the short "e" ending is used instead to sound natural and fluent.

Leaving out the pronoun

Because the verb ending shows who the subject is, you do not always need to say the pronoun. The context usually makes it clear.

For example:

Irâni-am
ایرانی‌ام

means "I am Iranian" even without "man."

dâneshju-im
دانشجوییم

means "We are students" even without "mâ."

If context is clear, native speakers prefer these shorter forms in everyday speech.

Very short answers with "to be"

In everyday conversation, people often answer with just the verb ending plus "na" for "no" or "bale" for "yes." You will see negation and yes/no questions in later chapters, but here is a taste to show how "to be" works in very short answers.

"Are you Ali?"
"Yes, I am."

Bale, Ali-am.
بله، علی‌ام.

"Are you a student?"
"No, I am not." (structure will be learned later, but the "am" part is the same ending)

Here, "-am" still expresses "I am."

Summary of the present forms of "to be"

Here is a simple view of all the common present forms of "to be."

Full forms:

man ... hastam = I am
to ... hasti = you are (informal, singular)
u ... hast = he / she is
mâ ... hastim = we are
shomâ ... hastid = you are (plural / polite)
ânhâ ... hastand = they are

Short spoken endings:

...-am = I am
...-i = you are (informal, singular)
...-e = he / she / it is
...-im = we are
...-id = you are (plural / polite)
...-an = they are

You will practice these forms in many different sentence types later, including questions and negatives. For now, focus on recognizing and using these endings correctly with simple information about names, nationalities, and jobs.

Vocabulary list for this section