Compound Verbs

Level 2

Only the short verb takes می‌, نمی‌, the past and the endings: کار می‌کنم, کار نمی‌کنم, کار کردم.

How It Works

A compound verb has two parts. The first word carries the meaning, and the helper verb carries the tense and the person.

Compound verb	Meaning	I, present
کار کردن	to work	کار می‌کنم
کمک کردن	to help	کمک می‌کنم
گپ زدن	to talk	گپ می‌زنم
درس خواندن	to study	درس می‌خوانم
باز کردن	to open	باز می‌کنم
بازی کردن	to play	بازی می‌کنم

The first word never changes. Everything else happens on the helper verb: the past is کار کردم, گپ زدم, درس خواندم, and the negative is کار نمی‌کنم and گپ نزدم.

When you meet a new pair, learn its helper verb at the same time: کمک کردن, not کمک alone. Then the tense, the person and the negative all come from the rules you already know.

Examples (5)

من هر روز کار می‌کنم.
I work every day.
کار کردن is a compound verb, and می‌کنم carries the tense and person.
ما با هم گپ می‌زنیم.
We chat together.
The helper verb in گپ زدن is زدن.
فرید در مکتب درس می‌خواند.
Farid studies at school.
The helper verb in درس خواندن is خواندن.
شما به من کمک کردید.
You helped me.
The past ending ـید sits on کردید, and کمک stays the same.
مینا دروازه را باز کرد.
Mina opened the door.
باز is an adjective, and کرد is the helper verb.

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong helper verb.
من در دکان کار می‌زنم.
من در دکان کار می‌کنم.
کار goes with کردن. زدن belongs to other pairs, such as گپ زدن.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Compound VerbsLevel 2

Learn This First

A compound verb changes in the present and the past like other verbs.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

فکر می‌کنم کهSaying What You ThinkLevel 3

Words in This Pattern

کار کردنکمک کردنگپ زدندرس خواندنبازی کردنواز کردنکردنزدنخواندن

Practice Compound Verbs in Bubblegum

Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Dari lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.