Common Verbs in Daily Life

What Makes a Verb “Common” in Daily Persian?

At A2 level you already know some basic verbs like “to be” and perhaps a few daily actions. In this chapter we focus on very frequent verbs that you need every day when you speak Persian in simple conversations. We will not study their full conjugation here, because that belongs to the chapter about the Present Tense. Instead, we will meet them in their basic dictionary form and in very common ready‑made phrases in the present.

Persian verbs are usually shown in dictionaries in the infinitive form, which ends in ـن /‑an or ـن /‑tan in script, for example رفتن / raftan “to go”. You will see each verb both in infinitive and in one or two very common present‑tense sentences that you can start using immediately.

Everyday Action Verbs

In daily life you describe simple actions like going, coming, eating, drinking, sleeping. These verbs appear in almost every conversation.

“To go” and “to come”

The pair “go / come” is extremely frequent.

The infinitives are:

رفتن / raftan / “to go”
آمدن / âmadan / “to come”

Typical sentences:

من می‌رَم.
man miram.
“I go.” or “I am going.”

تو می‌آی؟
to miâi?
“Do you come?” or “Are you coming?”

Here you see the میـ / mi‑ prefix of the present tense, but detailed rules for this belong to the Present Tense chapter. For now, memorize these phrases as units.

You will use رفتن / raftan constantly for going to work, home, school:

من می‌رم خونه.
man miram xune.
“I am going home.”

“To eat” and “to drink”

These are essential for talking about food and daily routine.

خوردن / xordan / “to eat, to drink (in some expressions)”
نوشیدن / nušidan / “to drink” (more formal, less common in speech)

In conversation, خوردن / xordan is the main verb you need.

من ناهار می‌خورَم.
man nahâr mixoram.
“I eat lunch.” or “I am eating lunch.”

تو چای می‌خوری؟
to čâi mixori?
“Do you drink tea?”

For “drink water” and “drink tea” you will very often hear خوردن / xordan:

من آب می‌خورَم.
man âb mixoram.
“I drink water.”

“To sleep” and “to wake up”

خوابیدن / xâbidan / “to sleep”
بیدار شدن / bidâr šodan / “to wake up, to get up”

Note that بیدار شدن / bidâr šodan is a compound verb: “to become awake”.

من می‌خوابَم.
man mixâbam.
“I sleep.” or “I am going to sleep.”

من ساعت هفت بیدار می‌شَم.
man sâʿat haft bidâr mišam.
“I wake up at seven o’clock.”

You use these for describing daily schedule.

“To do” and “to make”

کردن / kardan / “to do, to make”

This is one of the most important verbs in Persian, like English “do” plus “make”. It appears in many compound verbs and fixed phrases.

من کار می‌کنَم.
man kâr mikonam.
“I work.” (literally “I do work.”)

تو چی کار می‌کنی؟
to či kâr mikoni?
“What do you do?” (also used as “What are you doing?”)

You will meet many combinations with کردن / kardan in later chapters. For now, remember its basic meaning “to do”.

“To see” and “to look”

دیدن / didan / “to see”
نگاه کردن / negâh kardan / “to look, to watch”

من تو رو می‌بینَم.
man to ro mibinam.
“I see you.”

تلویزیون نگاه می‌کنَم.
televizion negâh mikonam.
“I watch TV.”

Here نگاه کردن / negâh kardan is again a compound verb: “to do a look”.

“To speak” and “to say”

These verbs are basic for communication.

حرف زدن / harf zadan / “to talk”
صحبت کردن / sohbat kardan / “to speak” (more formal)
گفتن / goftan / “to say, to tell”

من فارسی حرف می‌زنَم.
man fârsi harf mizanam.
“I speak Persian.”

با مامانَم صحبت می‌کنَم.
bâ mâmânam sohbat mikonam.
“I speak with my mom.”

او می‌گه سلام.
u migé salâm.
“He/She says ‘hello’.”

At this level it is enough to recognize that all three involve speaking and that گفتن / goftan usually has some content after it, like “He says that …”.

“To understand” and “to know”

فهمیدن / fahmidan / “to understand”
دانستن / dânestan / “to know (a fact)”
بلد بودن / balad budan / “to know (a skill, language)”

من نمی‌فهمَم.
man nemifahmam.
“I do not understand.”

من نمی‌دونَم.
man nemidunam.
“I do not know.”

من فارسی بلدَم.
man fârsi baladam.
“I know Persian.” (literally “I am skilled in Persian.”)

Here you already see negation with نـ / na‑, ne‑, but full rules for negation belong to another chapter. Remember these whole sentences as survival phrases.

Daily Life and Routine Verbs

These verbs help you describe your day: working, studying, living somewhere, liking things.

“To live”, “to work”, “to study”

زندگی کردن / zendegi kardan / “to live”
کار کردن / kâr kardan / “to work”
درس خواندن / dars xândan / “to study, to read (for study)”

من در تهران زندگی می‌کنَم.
man dar tehrân zendegi mikonam.
“I live in Tehran.”

من توی یک شرکت کار می‌کنَم.
man tu‑ye yek šerkat kâr mikonam.
“I work in a company.”

من فارسی درس می‌خونَم.
man fârsi dars mixunam.
“I study Persian.”

Notice that کار کردن / kâr kardan, زندگی کردن / zendegi kardan, and درس خواندن / dars xândan are all compound verbs. You will see this pattern again and again.

“To like”, “to want”, “to be able”

دوست داشتن / dust dâštan / “to like, to love”
خواستن / xâstan / “to want”
توانستن / tavânestan / “to be able (can)”

من چای دوست دارَم.
man čâi dust dâram.
“I like tea.”

من می‌خوام چای.
man mixâm čâi.
“I want tea.”

من می‌تونَم فارسی حرف بزنَم.
man mitunam fârsi harf bezanam.
“I can speak Persian.”

The detailed patterns of these verbs in different tenses and persons will come later. At this stage, memorize the very common “I like …”, “I want …”, “I can …” patterns.

“To have” and “to give”

داشتن / dâštan / “to have”
دادن / dâdan / “to give”

من یک ماشین دارَم.
man yek mâšin dâram.
“I have a car.”

تو برادر داری؟
to barâdar dâri?
“Do you have a brother?”

به من زنگ می‌ده.
be man zang mide.
“He/She calls me.” (literally “gives a call to me.”)

In many daily phrases, دادن / dâdan appears in compound forms like زنگ زدن / zang zadan or تلفن کردن / telefon kardan “to call”. You will meet more of these later.

Motion and Everyday Activities

There are many important movement and small daily action verbs you will hear all the time.

“To come back”, “to enter”, “to leave”

برگشتن / bargashtan / “to return, to come back, to go back”
آمدن داخل / âmadan dâxel “to come in” (literally “to come inside”)
رفتن بیرون / raftan birun “to go out”

من ساعت پنج برمی‌گردَم خونه.
man sâʿat pandj barmigardam xune.
“I come back home at five.”

بیا تو.
biyâ tu.
“Come in.”

می‌رم بیرون.
miram birun.
“I am going out.”

These combine our basic verbs آمدن / âmadan and رفتن / raftan with prepositions like تو / tu “in” and بیرون / birun “out”.

“To open” and “to close”

باز کردن / bâz kardan / “to open”
بستن / bastan / “to close”

در رو باز می‌کنَم.
dar ro bâz mikonam.
“I open the door.”

پنجره رو می‌بندَم.
panjare ro mibandam.
“I close the window.”

Again, باز کردن / bâz kardan is a compound verb. بستن / bastan is a simple verb.

“To take”, “to bring”, “to put”

گرفتن / gereftan / “to take”
آوردن / âvardan / “to bring”
گذاشتن / gozâštan / “to put”

کتاب رو می‌گیرَم.
ketâb ro migiram.
“I take the book.”

آب میارَم.
âb miâram.
“I bring water.”

کتاب رو روی میز می‌ذارَم.
ketâb ro ru‑ye miz mizâram.
“I put the book on the table.”

These verbs help you describe simple physical actions. You will also meet them in many idiomatic expressions.

Communication and Social Verbs

To interact with people, you need verbs for asking, answering, helping, calling, waiting.

“To ask” and “to answer”

پرسیدن / porsidan / “to ask (a question)”
سؤال کردن / soʾâl kardan / “to ask a question” (compound)
جواب دادن / javâb dâdan / “to answer”

من یک سؤال می‌پرسَم.
man yek soʾâl miporsam.
“I ask a question.”

لطفاً جواب بدین.
lotfan javâb bedin.
“Please answer.”

In everyday speech both پرسیدن / porsidan and سؤال کردن / soʾâl kardan are used with very similar meaning.

“To help”, “to wait”, “to call”

کمک کردن / komak kardan / “to help”
صبر کردن / sabr kardan / “to wait”
زنگ زدن / zang zadan / “to call (on the phone), to ring”

به تو کمک می‌کنَم.
be to komak mikonam.
“I help you.”

یک لحظه صبر کن.
yek lahze sabr kon.
“Wait a moment.”

به مامانَم زنگ می‌زنَم.
be mâmânam zang mizanam.
“I call my mom.”

These verbs appear very often in service situations, on the phone, or in polite requests.

Using Common Verbs in Simple Sentences

At A2 you already know simple Subject Object Verb (SOV) order. These common verbs fit directly into that pattern.

Basic pattern with direct object:

Subject + Object + Verb

من کتاب می‌خونَم.
man ketâb mixunam.
“I read a book.”

تو آب می‌خوری.
to âb mixori.
“You drink water.”

In conversation, the subject pronoun can be dropped when it is clear from the verb ending, but at this level it is helpful to keep it so you remember the person.

You can also connect these verbs with basic time expressions that you already know or will learn in the Time Expressions chapter:

امروز کار می‌کنَم.
emruz kâr mikonam.
“Today I work.”

هر روز ورزش می‌کنَم.
har ruz varzeš mikonam.
“Every day I exercise.”

We will not study adverbs of frequency in detail here, but you can begin to recognize them with these common verbs.

Memorizing Common Verb Phrases

Instead of memorizing long conjugation tables now, it is more practical at A2 to remember high‑frequency short sentences as ready tools. Focus especially on verbs that express:

Your routine:
من کار می‌کنَم. / “I work.”
من درس می‌خونَم. / “I study.”

Your abilities and likes:
من می‌تونَم فارسی حرف بزنَم. / “I can speak Persian.”
من قهوه دوست دارَم. / “I like coffee.”

Your needs and wants:
من آب می‌خوام. / “I want water.”
من استراحت می‌خوام. / “I want rest.” (using استراحت کردن / esterâhat kardan “to rest”)

Your understanding:
می‌فهمَم. / “I understand.”
نمی‌فهمَم. / “I do not understand.”

If you can say these quickly and comfortably, you already control a large part of daily Persian communication.

Vocabulary List for This Section