Back
Intermediate

Infinitive & Stems

Two stems drive conjugation

Infinitives end in -tan or -dan

The dictionary form of a verb.

💬 Examples
رفتن
raftan
to go
📝 Infinitive ends in -tan
خوردن
xordan
to eat
📝 Infinitive ends in -dan
Every verb has a present stem and a past stem

Two stems drive all conjugation.

📊 Stems
Infinitive Present stem Past stem
رفتن raftan (go) رو rav رفت raft
خوردن xordan (eat) خور xor خورد xord
دیدن didan (see) بین bin دید did
کردن kardan (do) کن kon کرد kard
💬 Examples
رفتن → رو / رفت
raftan → rav / raft
to go → present 'rav', past 'raft'
📝 Present stems are often irregular
خوردن → خور / خورد
xordan → xor / xord
to eat → 'xor' / 'xord'
📝 Past stem = infinitive minus -an
The past stem is regular; the present stem often isn't

Past stem = infinitive − -an.

💬 Examples
گفتن → گفت
goftan → goft
to say → past stem 'goft'
📝 Regular past stem
دیدن → بین
didan → bin
to see → present stem 'bin'
📝 Irregular present stem