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Stem Changes in Colloquial Persian
The stems of many verbs have a different, shorter, form in colloquial Persian. This is particularly true of present stems. The colloquial forms of past stems are usually predictable, using the general pronunciation shift rules which will be mentioned later in this tutorial.
Among the 65 common verbs that are listed here, 13 have different present stems in colloquial Persian. Here are some examples of these verbs and how they are used in sentences.
رفتن
گفتن
دادن
آوردن
شدن
خواستن
رو
گو
ده
آور
شو
خواه
ر
گ
د
آر
ش
خوا
to go
to say
to give
to bring
to become
to want
فردا می‌روم.
فردا می‌رم.
دارد برای بچّه‌ها غذا می‌آورد.
داره برای بچّه‌ها غذا می‌آره.
قول می‌دهم برگردم.
قول می‌دم برگردم.
دارد به ما دستور می‌دهد.
داره به ما دستور می‌ده.
می‌خواهم فوتبالیست بشوم.
می‌خوام فوتبالیست بشم.
چرا چیزی نمی‌گویی؟
چرا چیزی نمی‌گی؟
I will go tomorrow.
 
He/She is bringing food for the children.
 
I promise to come back.
 
He/she is ordering us.
 
I want to become a football player.
 
Why don’t you say anything?
 
As the examples demonstrate, in many cases, the colloquial present stem is a single consonant letter. In conjugating these verbs, however, singular imperatives are an exception. The original formal form of the present stems of the verbs are used for singular imperatives. Therefore, when ordering someone “to say” something in colloquial Persian, you don’t say “بگ”; you rather say “بگو”.
برو بیرون.
برو بیرون.
بگو.
بگو.
باز شو!
باز شو!
Go out.
 
Say.
 
Open up!
 
The suffixes used for conjugation all start with vowels. Thus, when a verb stem ends in a vowel, repair strategies are needed. Two such cases are introduced below.
Verb Infinitive:
آمدن
Present Stem (formal):
آ
Present Stem (colloquial):
آ
می‌آیم
می‌آیی
می‌آید
می‌آییم
می‌آیید
می‌آیند
می‌آم
می‌آی
می‌آد
می‌آیم
می‌آین
می‌آن
I come
You come
He/She comes
We come
You (pl.) come
They come
Verb Infinitive:
خواستن
Present Stem (formal):
خواه
Present Stem (colloquial):
خوا
می‌خواهم
می‌خواهی
می‌خواهد
می‌خواهیم
می‌خواهید
می‌خواهند
می‌خوام
می‌خوای
می‌خواد
می‌خوایم
می‌خواین
می‌خوان
I want
You want
He/She wants
We want
You (pl.) want
They want
The present simple “to be”
Look at the conjugation of the verb “to be” in the present simple.
Verb Infinitive:
بودن
Present Stem (formal):
باش
Present Stem (colloquial):
باش
م
ی
است
یم
ید
ند
م
ی
ه
یم
ین
ن
I am
You are
He/She is
We are
You (pl.) are
They are
اینجا تهران است.
اینجا تهرانه.
این پول مال من است.
این پول مال منه.
بچّه‌ها مریضند.
بچّه‌ها مریضن.
من خسته‌ام.
من خسته‌م.
اینجا همه دروغگویند.
اینجا همه دروغگوئن.
This (lit. Here) is Tehran.
 
This money is mine.
 
The children are sick.
 
I am tired.
 
Here, everyone is a liar. (lit. everyone are liar)
Even the third person singular form of the present simple “to be” (“است” meaning “is”) sometimes undergoes a change when the previous letter is a vowel. Different cases are covered in the following example set.
علی تنهاست.
علی تنهاس.
اتاق خالیست.
اتاق خالیه.
حمید دروغگوست.
حمید دروغگوئه.
مادربزرگ خسته است.
مادربزرگ خسته‌س.
Ali is alone.
 
The room is empty.
 
Hamid is [a] liar.
 
Grandmother is tired.
A special case
The conjugation of the verb “ایستادن” (“to stand”) in colloquial Persian is an exception.
می‌ایستم
می‌ایستی
می‌ایستد
می‌ایستیم
می‌ایستید
می‌ایستند
وای می‌سّم
وای می‌سّی
وای می‌سّه
وای می‌سّیم
وای می‌سّین
وای می‌سّن
I stand
You stand
He/She stands
We stand
You (pl.) stand
They stand
The colloquial form of “ایستادن” is a compound verb whose non-verbal part has become almost meaningless. Unfortunately, for this verb, the present simple is not the only tense that is difficult to learn. Here is its conjugation in the past simple tense.
ایستادم
ایستادی
ایستاد
ایستادیم
ایستادید
ایستادند
وایسادم
وایسادی
وایساد
وایسادیم
وایسادین
وایسادن
I stood
You stood
He/She stood
We stood
You (pl.) stood
They stood
This might look easier, but you should keep in mind that it is still a compound verb. Therefore, to obtain its negative form, you should put the prefix “نـ” before the verbal part, not the whole thing.
کسی منتظر من نایستاد.
کسی منتظر من وای نسّاد.
Nobody stood waiting for me.