As it was mentioned in the previous lesson, to talk about actions that had to happen in the past, no matter they actually did happen or not, the past imperfective is used.

Additionally, we already saw that the present subjunctive is used to express necessity.

However, using an impersonal construction is another common way to suggest necessity for cases when no specific subject is intended. That is done, strangely enough, using the third person singular form of the verb in the past simple tense.

It was seen in the present subjunctive lesson that the common way of expressing ability is to use the verb in present subjunctive tense preceded by a verb of the infinitive “توانستن” (to be able).

Here, both of the verbs (“توانستن” and the main verb) are being conjugated with regard to the subject. Alternatively (and with a slight change in meaning), it is possible to use the third person singular form of the verb “شدن” instead of the conjugated verb from the infinitive “توانستن”.

Again, there are times when no specific subject is intended in the sentence. In such a situation, the main verb comes in third person singular form and in the past tense.

The Persian impersonal pronoun “آدم” (literally meaning “human”) is used in place of any possible person, similar to the English pronoun “one” and the French pronoun “on”. Using this pronoun is very common in spoken language.