Negation in Persian

What Negation Is in Persian

In this chapter you learn how to say “not” and “no” in very simple Persian sentences. You already know simple positive sentences with the verb “to be” and with other verbs. Now you will see how to turn them into negative sentences.

Persian uses little pieces at the beginning of verbs to show negation. You do not need an extra word like English “not.” Instead, you change the verb itself.

In this chapter we focus on:

1. Saying “no”
2. Negating the verb “to be” (present)
3. Negating other present verbs in a simple way
4. Saying “there is / there is not”

Later chapters will teach negation in other tenses and more complex structures. Here we stay with A1-level everyday basics.

Saying “No” in Persian

Persian has a short word for “no” that you can use alone, just like English “No.”

The word is:

نه
/na/
“No”

You can use it:
Alone, to answer a yes/no question.

Example:
Q: آیا ایرانی هستی؟
/âyâ irâni hasti?/
“Are you Iranian?”

A: نه.
/na./
“No.”

With a sentence after it.

Example:
نه، ایرانی نیستم.
/na, irâni nistam./
“No, I am not Iranian.”

You can also say “No, thanks”:

نه، ممنون.
/na, mamnun./
“No, thank you.”

Here, “نه /na/” is just the independent word for “no.” It is not attached to the verb.

Negating the Verb “to be” in the Present

You already know positive forms of “to be” like “I am,” “you are,” “he is.” In Persian these are small endings such as ام /am/, ای /i/, است /ast/, etc.

To make them negative, Persian usually uses special negative forms that you should simply memorize, because they are extremely common in daily speech.

The key negative verb for “to be” in the present is:

نیست
/nist/
“is not,” “there is not”

It comes from the positive stem “هست /hast/,” but for now just learn “هست /hast/ = is” and “نیست /nist/ = is not.”

Negative “to be” with pronouns

Here are very useful everyday sentences. For A1 level, these negative patterns are enough:

Positive:
من ایرانی هستم.
/man irâni hastam./
“I am Iranian.”

Negative:
من ایرانی نیستم.
/man irâni nistam./
“I am not Iranian.”

Positive:
او دانشجو است.
/u dâneshju ast./
“He/She is a student.”

Negative:
او دانشجو نیست.
/u dâneshju nist./
“He/She is not a student.”

Positive:
ما خسته هستیم.
/mâ khaste hastim./
“We are tired.”

Negative:
ما خسته نیستیم.
/mâ khaste nistim./
“We are not tired.”

Notice that in all these examples:

Positive: هستم, است, هستیم
Negative: نیستم, نیست, نیستیم

The word “نیست /nist/” changes slightly with endings, but at this level you can focus on two very common forms:

نیست
/nist/
“is not”

نیستم
/nistam/
“I am not”

Later, when you study the verb “to be” systematically, you will see the full table. For now, just pay attention to how “نیست /nist/” works in simple short sentences.

Word order with negation of “to be”

Word order in negative sentences with “to be” stays the same as in positive ones:

Subject + complement + negative “to be” verb

Example:
Subject: من /man/ “I”
Complement: دانشجو /dâneshju/ “student”
Verb: نیستم /nistam/ “am not”

من دانشجو نیستم.
/man dâneshju nistam./
“I am not a student.”

Compare:

من دانشجو هستم.
“I am a student.”

من دانشجو نیستم.
“I am not a student.”

The only change is the verb at the end.

Negating Other Present Verbs

Persian also uses the prefix “نـ /na-/ or /ne-/” in front of other verbs to show “do not” or “does not.”

At this A1 stage, you do not need to know all verb forms in detail. Instead, look at some very common and useful examples to see the pattern.

Pattern: Negative prefix + verb

We will not yet fully explain “می /mi-/” (the present marker) because that belongs to the later chapter “Present Tense (Simple Present).” For now, just learn whole phrases.

“I know” vs “I don’t know”

This is one of the most common sentences in any language. In Persian:

می‌دانم.
/midânam./
“I know.”

نمی‌دانم.
/nemidânam./
“I do not know.”

Here, the negative prefix “نـ /ne-/” comes before “می‌دانم /midânam/.”

Another simple example: “I want” vs “I don’t want”

Again, do not worry about all conjugations, just see the negation:

می‌خواهم.
/mikhâham./
“I want.”

نمی‌خواهم.
/nemikhâham./
“I do not want.”

So, the structure is the same:

Positive: می‌خواهم
Negative: نمی‌خواهم

In both “نمی‌دانم” and “نمی‌خواهم,” you see “نمیـ /nemi-/” as one block before the verb.

Short answers with a negated verb

You can also answer in a short way, with just the negated verb form.

Q: می‌فهمی؟
/mifahmi?/
“Do you understand?”

A: نه، نمی‌فهمم.
/na, nemifahmam./
“No, I do not understand.”

The “نه /na/” is “no,” and “نمی‌فهمم /nemifahmam/” is “I do not understand.”

At A1 level it is enough that you can recognize “نمیـ /nemi-/” as “do not / does not” in simple present sentences.

“There is not” in Persian

You will often want to say that something does not exist or is not present, for example “There is no water,” “There is not any bread,” “There is no problem.”

Persian uses the same verb “هست /hast/” and its negative “نیست /nist/” for this meaning.

Positive: “there is”

هست
/hast/
“There is,” “there exists,” “is”

Example:
آب هست.
/âb hast./
“There is water.”

نان هست.
/nân hast./
“There is bread.”

مشکل هست.
/moškel hast./
“There is a problem.”

Negative: “there is not”

نیست
/nist/
“There is not,” “there is no”

Example:
آب نیست.
/âb nist./
“There is no water.” or “There is not any water.”

نان نیست.
/nân nist./
“There is no bread.”

مشکل نیست.
/moškel nist./
“There is no problem.”

You can also add a subject or place:

اینجا آب نیست.
/injâ âb nist./
“There is no water here.”

کسی اینجا نیست.
/kasi injâ nist./
“There is nobody here.”

So, “نیست /nist/” is very flexible. It can mean both “is not” and “there is not,” depending on the sentence.

Saying “Not X, but Y” (very basic)

Sometimes you want to correct someone:

“Not Ali, Reza.”
“Not tea, coffee.”

In very simple Persian, you can use “نه /na/” in front of the word you want to negate.

Example:
نه، علی نه، رضا.
/na, ali na, rezâ./
“No, not Ali, Reza.”

Or you can say:

چای نه، قهوه.
/chây na, qahve./
“Not tea, coffee.”

At this level, it is enough to know that “نه /na/” can also stand directly before a word, not only before a full verb.

Practice Reading Simple Negative Sentences

Look at these pairs. Try to see the difference between positive and negative.

1. 
   Positive: من معلم هستم.
   /man mo’allem hastam./
   “I am a teacher.”

Negative: من معلم نیستم.
/man mo’allem nistam./
“I am not a teacher.”

2. 
   Positive: او اینجاست.
   /u injâst./
   “He/She is here.”

Negative: او اینجا نیست.
/u injâ nist./
“He/She is not here.”

3. 
   Positive: آب هست.
   /âb hast./
   “There is water.”

Negative: آب نیست.
/âb nist./
“There is no water.”

4. 
   Positive: می‌دانم.
   /midânam./
   “I know.”

Negative: نمی‌دانم.
/nemidânam./
“I do not know.”

5. 
   Positive: می‌خواهم.
   /mikhâham./
   “I want.”

Negative: نمی‌خواهم.
/nemikhâham./
“I do not want.”

Try to repeat the negative sentences several times, out loud, to feel the sound of “نـ /na- / ne-/” and “نیست /nist/.”

Summary of A1 Negation

At this beginner level, remember three very important tools:

1. The independent word “نه /na/” that means “no” or “not” in short answers.
2. The negative “to be” form “نیست /nist/” and forms like “نیستم /nistam/” at the end of the sentence.
3. The negative prefix “نـ /na-/ /ne-/” before present verbs, most often seen as “نمیـ /nemi-/” in common phrases, to mean “do not / does not.”

With just these, you can already say many useful negative sentences in simple everyday Persian.

Vocabulary from this chapter