2.5 Grammar: Personal Pronoun with Verb “to be”
In this session:
- You will learn how to greet others with simple words and phrases.
- You will practice saying the simple greeting words in both short and long forms.
Verb “to be ” Conjugation Table:
| Plural pronoun verb “to be” and matching verb ending | Singular pronoun verb “to be” and matching verb ending | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Persian | English | Persian | |
| 1st person | we are | هست + یم | I am | هست + م |
| 2nd person | you are | هست +ید | you are | هست + ی |
| 3rd person | They are | هست + ند | She, He, It is | هست |
Notes
In Persian language the verb ending agrees with the subject in person and number!
Dialogue 1 (Long form) Nice to meet you! خُوش وَقتَم
| English | فارسی |
|---|---|
| Sara: hello! I’m Sara. What is your name?
Kamran: hello! I am Kamran. Sara: Nice to meet you! Kamran: Me too! |
سارا : سلام.من سارا هَستَم. اسم تو چیست؟ .کامران : سَلام. من كامران هستم !سارا: خوش وَقَتَم. کامران: مَن هَم هَمینطور |
Activity:
Read the above conversation and practice repeating it with your partner.
Practice 1, dialogue 1
Dialogue 2 (Short form)Nice to meet you! خُوش وَقتَم
| English | Persian -فارسی |
|---|---|
| Sara: hello! I’m Sara. What is your name?
Kamran: hello! I am Kamran. Sara: Nice to meet you! Kamran: Me too! |
سارا : سلام.من ساراَم. اسمت چیه؟ .کامران : سَلام. من كامران اَم !سارا: خوش وَقَتَم کامران: مَنَم هَمینطور |
Read the above conversation and practice repeating it with your partner.
Practice 2, Dialogue 2
Take a look at above dialogues and see if you can figure out any difference?
Verb “to be” Short and Long forms
Here is the table for simple present tense verb “to be” ;
List of Personal pronouns with the forms of verb “to be.”
| Plural | singular | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | ما _____ هستیم | من _____ هستم |
| Second Person | شما ______ هستید | تو ______هستی |
| Third Person | آنها _______ هستند | او ________هست |
In Persian, verb “to be” is the only verb that has both long and short forms.
Here is a table of pronouns, with their short and long forms of the irregular verb “to be”:
| They are | You are | We are | He/she is | You are | I am | Long form “to be” |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| آنها هَستند | شُما هَستید | ما هَستیم | او هَست | تو هَستی | مَن هَستَم | |
| They are | You are | We are | she/he/it is | You are( singular) | I am | Short form “to be” |
| آنهاست | شمایید /شما ایید | ماییم /ما ایم | اوست /اوه | تویی / تو ایی | مَنَم /
من ام |
|
| they’re | you’re | We’re | she/he/it’s | you’re | I’m |
Note: In Persian, 3rd person singular ( اَست) in short form changes to vowel /e/ ( ه )
|
Grammar 4: کامرانه= کامران +ه ( ه = است SHORT FORM) چیه = چی + ه |
Verb “to be” بودن
Exercises Grammar
Key takeaway
- The irregular verb “to be” has 2 forms: Long and short.
- In Persian, the verb ending agrees with the subject in Person and number.
- If the short form of “to be” is connected to the words ending in vowels ( o/u/i ), an A ( آ ) will be inserted in between.
!سپاس
