B1.1 – Complex Sentences

Overview of Complex Sentences in Persian

At the intermediate level you move from simple SOV sentences to more complex structures. A complex sentence in Persian contains at least two parts: a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. In this chapter you will get an overview of how Persian typically joins clauses and how this affects word order and meaning. The specific types, such as present continuous, future expressions, compound verbs, relative clauses, and the object marker, are treated in their own sections. Here we focus on what all complex sentences have in common.

Persian complex sentences are often built around conjunctions and linking words. These words show the logical relationship between clauses, for example cause, contrast, time, or explanation. As you learn the structures in the following chapters you will repeatedly see the same connecting words.

Compare a simple clause and a more complex one.

او رفت.
u raft.
He / she went.

او رفت چون خسته بود.
u raft, chun khaste bud.
He / she went because he / she was tired.

In the complex sentence, each clause has its own verb at the end of the clause: رفت at the end of the main clause, بود at the end of the subordinate clause.

Main Clauses and Subordinate Clauses

A main clause can stand alone as a full sentence in Persian. A subordinate clause depends on another clause and is usually introduced by a conjunction or a relative word. In written Persian, commas are often used to separate clauses, but in informal writing they are sometimes omitted. Intonation in speech also marks the boundary between clauses.

Look at this example.

اگر وقت داشته باشم، می‌آیم.
agar vaqt dāshte bāsham, mi-āyam.
If I have time, I will come.

The clause اگر وقت داشته باشم cannot stand alone in normal speech because it expresses a condition that expects a result. The main information is in می‌آیم. Together, they form a complex sentence.

The order of main and subordinate clauses in Persian is flexible. Either part can come first.

اگر وقت داشته باشم، می‌آیم.
می‌آیم اگر وقت داشته باشم.

Both are possible and natural. Spoken Persian often prefers to put the subordinate clause first when it sets the context of time, condition, or reason.

Coordination and Subordination

Complex sentences use two main strategies to connect ideas: coordination and subordination.

Coordination joins clauses that are more or less equal in importance. In Persian, the typical coordinating conjunction is و “and,” but other words like ولی “but” and اما “but, however” are also common. Coordinated clauses can often be separated into two independent sentences without losing grammatical completeness.

Subordination joins a main clause and a clause that depends on it. Subordinate clauses answer questions like “why?”, “when?”, “if?”, or “which?”. In Persian, typical subordinating words include چون “because,” وقتی که “when,” اگر “if,” and که as a general linker in many kinds of subordinate clauses.

A coordinated sentence:

من رفتم و او ماند.
man raftam va u mānd.
I went and he / she stayed.

Here both parts are main clauses, joined by و.

A subordinated sentence:

ماندم چون خسته بودم.
māndam chun khaste budam.
I stayed because I was tired.

Here چون خسته بودم explains the reason for ماندن, so it is subordinate.

Both coordination and subordination belong to complex sentences in a broad sense. At this level you need to understand how they affect the position of the verb, the use of pronouns, and the clarity of time reference.

Common Logical Relations Between Clauses

Persian uses a set of conjunctions and particles to show different logical links. The same relation can sometimes be expressed with different words, and often more than one relation appears inside a single complex sentence. Here we outline the most frequent relations you will see across the B1 level.

Time

Time relations show when something happens relative to another action. Very often the time clause comes first, because it sets the background.

Example:

وقتی که او رسید، من داشتم شام می‌خوردم.
vaqti ke u resid, man dāshtam shām mi-khordam.
When he / she arrived, I was eating dinner.

The clause وقتی که او رسید tells you “when.” Note that each clause has its own verb at the end: رسید in the time clause, می‌خوردم in the main clause. That pattern is typical for complex sentences that express time.

Other frequent time linkers include تا وقتی که “until (the time that)” and بعد از این که “after (the fact that).” Their detailed use appears when you study present continuous and past narration, but you should already notice that they introduce subordinate clauses with their own verb.

Cause and Reason

To express cause and reason, Persian commonly uses چون and برای این که. These clauses also behave like subordinate clauses, and can come either before or after the main clause.

Example:

چون دیر شده بود، ما زود خوابیدیم.
chun dir shode bud, mā zud khābidim.
Because it had become late, we went to bed early.

Here چون دیر شده بود is the cause, and ما زود خوابیدیم is the result. Again, each clause keeps its own verb at the end, which is a central feature of Persian complex sentences.

If you reverse the order, you usually keep the same meaning, although the emphasis changes slightly.

ما زود خوابیدیم چون دیر شده بود.

The general pattern is similar when you express reasons for wishes, plans, and obligations later in the course. The reason clause is subordinate and anchored by a conjunction, the main clause carries the primary message.

Condition

Conditional meaning in Persian will be discussed more fully together with future expressions and the subjunctive later, but at this level you should recognize the basic shape of conditional complex sentences.

The common conjunction is اگر “if.”

Example:

اگر باران بیاید، در خانه می‌مانیم.
agar bārān biyāyad, dar khāne mi-mānim.
If it rains, we stay at home.

The “if” clause contains its own verb and usually comes at the beginning, but you can also place it after the main clause.

در خانه می‌مانیم اگر باران بیاید.

What matters for complex sentence structure is that both parts have their own verbs, and their relation is marked by a conjunction that introduces the subordinate clause.

Contrast and Concession

To show contrast, opposition, or concession, Persian often uses ولی, اما, and گرچه. These words create complex sentences where two clauses have different or opposite information.

Example:

هوا سرد بود، ولی او کت نپوشید.
havā sard bud, vali u kot na-pushid.
The weather was cold, but he / she did not wear a coat.

The relation between the clauses is not time or cause, but contrast. Both are grammatically independent clauses, connected by a coordinating word. This is still a kind of complex sentence, because the meaning of each clause depends on the other for full interpretation.

With گرچه the contrast becomes more concessive.

گرچه خسته بودم، کار کردم.
garche khaste budam, kār kardam.
Although I was tired, I worked.

The گرچه clause cannot normally stand alone as a full message. It expects a main clause that shows what happened despite that condition. So it behaves like a subordinate clause.

Purpose and Result

To talk about purpose and result you will later work with specific verb forms, but even now you can recognize the patterns of subordination with connectors like که “so that,” تا “so that, until,” and به همین دلیل که “for the reason that.”

Example of purpose:

آمدم که تو را ببینم.
āmadam ke to rā bebinam.
I came so that I see you / to see you.

Here آمدم is the main action, and که تو را ببینم is the purpose clause. The conjunction که introduces a subordinate clause with its own verb, ببینم.

Example of result:

آن‌قدر خسته بودم که بلافاصله خوابم برد.
ān-qadr khaste budam ke belā-fāsele khābam bord.
I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately.

The result clause follows که. This use of که is frequent in complex sentences that express cause and result, emotion and consequence, and degree and result.

The Role of "ke" (که) in Complex Sentences

At B1 level, که becomes one of the most common words you will see in written and spoken Persian. It is very flexible and appears in many types of complex sentences.

In relative clauses it links a noun and a clause that describes it. In complement clauses it links verbs of saying, thinking, and feeling with the content of what is said or thought. In result and purpose clauses it behaves like a general linker. All these specialized uses are covered in the chapter on relative clauses and later sections about reported speech and subjunctive. Here you just need to know one key principle.

Example:

فکر می‌کنم که او امروز بیاید.
fekr mi-konam ke u emruz biyāyad.
I think that he / she may come today.

The main clause is فکر می‌کنم, with its verb at the end of the main clause. The subordinate clause begins with که and ends with بیاید. The word که marks the start of the subordinate clause, not its end.

In speech, speakers sometimes drop که when the relation is obvious, but in careful speech and writing it is very common, especially after verbs of saying and thinking.

Pronouns and Reference in Complex Sentences

Complex sentences often contain more than one subject. Persian usually repeats pronouns or noun phrases to keep the reference clear, especially when the subjects of the two clauses are different. However, when the subject is the same and obvious from context, Persian may omit the explicit pronoun, because the verb ending often shows the person.

Different subjects:

من رفتم چون او منتظر بود.
man raftam chun u montazer bud.
I went because he / she was waiting.

Same subject, pronoun repeated:

من رفتم چون من خسته بودم.
man raftam chun man khaste budam.
I went because I was tired.

This is grammatically correct but sometimes sounds heavy.

Same subject, pronoun omitted in the subordinate clause:

من رفتم چون خسته بودم.
man raftam chun khaste budam.

Here the ending بودم already tells you that the subject “I” is understood. In more advanced complex sentences, especially with several clauses, you will need to rely on verb endings and context to follow who is doing what. At this B1 step, be aware that pronouns may be dropped in subordinate clauses when they would be redundant.

Word Order and Focus in Complex Sentences

Because Persian allows flexible order of constituents before the final verb, speakers can use word order to put focus on particular elements, especially in complex sentences. While the general rule is that the verb comes at the end of its clause, the order of subjects, objects, adverbs, and subordinate clauses before the verb can change the nuance.

Example:

چون خیلی خسته بودم، امشب به مهمانی نرفتم.
chun kheili khaste budam, emshab be mehmāni naraftham.
Because I was very tired, I did not go to the party tonight.

If you want to emphasize “tonight,” you could say:

امشب، چون خیلی خسته بودم، به مهمانی نرفتم.

The position of the subordinate clause and the adverb changes the emphasis, but the verbs بودم and نرفتم stay at the end of their clauses. Later, when you study “Emphasis and Word Order” in B2, you will see more complex patterns. At B1, your main goal is to keep verbs at the end of each clause and to recognize that elements before the verb can be rearranged for focus.

Combining Several Clauses

At this level you begin to meet sentences that contain more than two clauses. They may mix coordination and subordination. For example, a sentence can have two main clauses joined by و, and one of those main clauses may itself contain a subordinate clause.

Example:

وقتی که او رسید، من شام می‌خوردم و خواهرم تلویزیون تماشا می‌کرد.
vaqti ke u resid, man shām mi-khordam va khāharam televizion tamāshā mi-kard.
When he / she arrived, I was eating dinner and my sister was watching TV.

Here the time clause وقتی که او رسید applies to both main clauses that follow. The first main clause has the verb می‌خوردم at the end, the second coordinated main clause has the verb می‌کرد at the end. The connecting word و coordinates these two main clauses.

Complex sentences of this type are common in storytelling, description of routines, and explanation of reasons. As you progress through B1, you will learn to build and understand longer chains of clauses, but the basic principles remain the same.

Summary of Core Patterns

At this stage your main task is to recognize and control a few central patterns of Persian complex sentences.

There is always a main clause. Subordinate clauses are marked by conjunctions or relative words such as چون, اگر, وقتی که, گرچه, and especially که. Each clause, whether main or subordinate, keeps its verb at the end. The order of clauses is relatively flexible, but context-setting clauses of time, condition, and reason often come first. Coordination with و, ولی, and اما links clauses of equal weight, while subordination shows dependence, such as time, cause, or condition.

As you study the following B1 chapters on present continuous, future expressions, compound verbs, relative clauses, and the object marker, you will see how these elements appear again and again inside complex sentences. The more you read and listen, the more natural these patterns will feel.

Vocabulary Table for This Section