Past Negation and Questions

Using Negation in the Simple Past

In this chapter you learn how to say what did not happen in the simple past and how to ask questions about past events. You already know the basic simple past from the previous chapter, so here we only focus on negation and questions.

Review: Shape of the Simple Past

You have learned that a regular simple past verb in Persian has three parts: the past stem, the personal ending, and, sometimes, the infinitive marker in the dictionary form.

For example, from the infinitive رفتن "to go" you get the past stem رفت and then add endings.

من رفتم
" I went"

تو رفتی
" You went" (singular, informal)

او رفت
" He / She went"

ما رفتیم
" We went"

شما رفتید
" You went" (plural or formal)

آنها رفتند
" They went"

You will see the same endings inside negative forms and questions.

Negating Verbs in the Simple Past

To negate a simple past verb in Persian, you put the negative prefix "نـ" directly before the verb form. The endings stay exactly the same.

Here are full paradigms with two common verbs:

Verb رفتن "to go," past stem رفت:

من نرفتم
" I did not go"

تو نرفتی
" You did not go"

او نرفت
" He / She did not go"

ما نرفتیم
" We did not go"

شما نرفتید
" You did not go"

آنها نرفتند
" They did not go"

Verb خوردن "to eat," past stem خورد:

من نخوردم
" I did not eat"

تو نخوردی
" You did not eat"

او نخورد
" He / She did not eat"

ما نخوردیم
" We did not eat"

شما نخوردید
" You did not eat"

آنها نخوردند
" They did not eat"

Notice that the prefix "نـ" is attached to the beginning of the verb. In handwriting you usually do not put a space between "ن" and the verb in past tense.

Meaning of Past Negation

The negative simple past expresses that an action did not happen in the past. In English this often corresponds to "did not" or "never" in a neutral way, without special emphasis.

او نرفت مدرسه.
" He did not go to school."

ما دیشب تلویزیون نگاه نکردیم.
" We did not watch TV last night."

من صبحانه نخوردم.
" I did not eat breakfast."

Sometimes in English you might translate it with "never" if the context is a specific time frame.

او دیروز من را ندید.
" He did not see me yesterday." or "He never saw me yesterday."

Be careful. To say a general "never" like "I have never been to Iran" is a different grammar and belongs to a later level. Here we talk only about one finished time in the past.

Negation with Object Marker "را"

You have already seen the object marker "را" with objects. In negative past sentences it keeps its place after the object. The negative prefix still comes directly before the verb.

من کتاب را نخریدم.
" I did not buy the book."

او فیلم را ندید.
" He / She did not see the movie."

ما غذا را نپختیم.
" We did not cook the food."

So the pattern is:

subject + object + را + نـ + past verb

Yes / No Questions in the Simple Past

To make a yes / no question in the simple past, you usually keep the same word order and simply use a rising intonation. In writing, the question mark shows that it is a question.

Statement:
تو رفتی مدرسه.
" You went to school."

Question:
تو رفتی مدرسه؟
" Did you go to school?"

Statement:
شما فیلم دیدید.
" You saw the movie."

Question:
شما فیلم دیدید؟
" Did you see the movie?"

In spoken Persian, the intonation on the verb or at the end of the sentence goes up for questions.

Using "آیا" in Written and Formal Persian

In more formal or written Persian, or when you want to be very clear that it is a question, you can put the question particle "آیا" at the beginning of the sentence.

Examples:

آیا تو رفتی مدرسه؟
" Did you go to school?"

آیا شما فیلم دیدید؟
" Did you see the movie?"

آیا او آمد؟
" Did he / she come?"

In everyday informal speech, many speakers omit "آیا" and just use the rising intonation.

Yes / No Questions with Negation

You can also ask yes / no questions about something that did not happen, or you think maybe did not happen. In this case you keep the negative prefix and still use normal question intonation or "آیا".

Statement:
تو نرفتی مدرسه.
" You did not go to school."

Question:
تو نرفتی مدرسه؟
" You did not go to school?" or "Did you not go to school?"

با مادرت حرف نزدی؟
" You did not talk with your mother?" or "Did you not talk with your mother?"

In formal style with "آیا":

آیا تو نرفتی مدرسه؟
" Did you not go to school?"

آیا شما شام نخور دید؟
" Did you not eat dinner?"

Note that in Persian it is common to ask a negative question when you are a bit surprised, or when you expect the answer "yes." The meaning can be similar to English "Didn't you go?" with some emotional color. The tone of voice is important and is learned best from listening.

Short Answers to Past Questions

To answer yes / no questions in the past, you can use short answers with "بله" or "نه," or with "آره" or "نه" in informal speech. Then you can repeat the verb, often in a reduced way.

Formal / neutral:

بله، رفتم.
" Yes, I went."

نه، نرفتم.
" No, I did not go."

بله، دیدیم.
" Yes, we saw (it)."

نه، ندیدیم.
" No, we did not see (it)."

Informal:

آره، رفتم.
" Yeah, I went."

نه، نرفتم.
" No, I did not go."

آره، خوردیم.
" Yeah, we ate."

نه، نخوردیم.
" No, we did not eat."

Often in natural conversation the subject pronoun is dropped, because the verb ending already shows who did the action.

Wh‑Questions in the Simple Past

To ask about specific information in the past, such as "where," "when," "what," "who," or "why," you use question words. The tense stays the same simple past that you already know.

The most common question words for this level are:

کِی
" When"

کجا
" Where"

چی / چه
" What"

چرا
" Why"

کی
" Who" (as subject, "who did?")

Persian word order is flexible with question words, but a very common pattern is to put the question word near the beginning of the sentence, before the verb phrase.

Examples in the simple past:

کِی رفتی ایران؟
" When did you go to Iran?"

کجا رفتید؟
" Where did you go?"

چی خریدی؟
" What did you buy?"

چرا دیر آمدی؟
" Why did you come late?"

کی زنگ زد؟
" Who called?"

In spoken Persian the question word "چی" is very common instead of "چه" for "what."

Wh‑Questions with Negation

You can also combine question words with a negative past verb. The negative prefix still comes before the verb.

چرا نرفتی مدرسه؟
" Why did you not go to school?"

چی نخریدی؟
" What did you not buy?"

کجا نرفتید؟
" Where did you not go?"

تو کی را ندیدی؟
" Whom did you not see?"

Here we have both a question word and the object marker "را" with "کی."

Word Order and Intonation in Past Questions

Basic word order in Persian, even in questions, is usually Subject Object Verb. With question words, Persian does not need auxiliary verbs like "did." You can think of this template:

[Question word] + [subject] + [object] + [را] + [نـ] + [past verb] + ؟

For example:

چرا تو کتاب را نخریدی؟
Question word: چرا
Subject: تو
Object: کتاب
Object marker: را
Negation: نـ
Verb: خریدی

"Why did you not buy the book?"

In everyday speech, speakers often move the question word closer to the focus of the sentence, but at this level you can safely follow the simple template.

Intonation in wh‑questions still goes up at the end in Persian, but the rise is usually less strong than in yes / no questions. Listening practice will help you feel the pattern.

Practice Sentences to Notice Patterns

Here are some short pairs of sentences. The first is a statement, the second is a question or negative form. Read them slowly and try to see the structure.

او دیروز خانه بود.
" He / She was at home yesterday."

او دیروز خانه نبود؟
" Was he / she not at home yesterday?"

شما دیروز کار کردید.
" You worked yesterday."

شما دیروز کار نکردید؟
" Did you not work yesterday?"

آنها فیلم دیدند.
" They saw the movie."

آنها فیلم ندیدند؟
" They did not see the movie?"

کِی آمدی؟
" When did you come?"

چرا نیامدی؟
" Why did you not come?"

Notice that for the verb بودن "to be" in past tense, negation is also with "نـ":

بود → نبود
" was" → "was not"

بودم → نبودم
" I was" → "I was not"

This follows the same rule as other verbs.

Summary of Key Patterns

You now have the basic tools to talk about what did not happen in the past, and to ask about past actions.

With these structures you can already have simple conversations about yesterday, last week, and things that did or did not happen.

Vocabulary List for This Section