بودم، بودی، بود

Past Forms of Be

Level 2

Add ن in front for the negative: نبودم means I was not.

How It Works

Put بود and a person ending together to say was or were. Use it for a finished time: دیروز (yesterday), هفتهٔ گذشته (last week), سال گذشته (last year). Say it būdam, būdī, būd.

Person	Present	Past
من	استم	بودم
تو	استی	بودی
او	است	بود
ما	استیم	بودیم
شما	استید	بودید
آن‌ها	استند	بودند

The endings match the present forms, and the third person has no ending: او بود. The same endings close other simple past verbs, such as رفتم and رفتی.

A place or a state comes before it: در خانه بودم (I was at home), خسته بودم (I was tired).

To say was not, add ن to the front.

Was	Was not
بودم	نبودم
بودی	نبودی
بود	نبود

To ask where someone was, use کجا: تو دیروز کجا بودی؟

Examples (5)

دیروز من در مکتب بودم.
Yesterday I was at school.
بودم is I was.
تو دیروز کجا بودی؟
Where were you yesterday?
بودی goes with تو.
او در کابل بود.
She was in Kabul.
The third person has no ending.
ما در بازار بودیم.
We were at the market.
بودیم goes with ما.
آن‌ها در پغمان بودند.
They were in Paghman.
بودند goes with آن‌ها.

Common Mistakes

Using the present form with دیروز.
دیروز در خانه استم.
دیروز در خانه بودم.
Yesterday is over, so the verb needs the past form بودم.
Using بودید with تو.
تو کجا بودید؟
تو کجا بودی؟
تو goes with بودی. Use بودید with شما.

How It Connects

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

بودم، بودی، بودLevel 2Past Forms of Be

Learn This First

The past forms of be use the same people as the present forms.

استم، استی، است، استیم، استید، استندPresent Forms of Be
Know the present forms of be, since بودم، بودی and بود are the same idea in the past.
Level 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

The Past PerfectLevel 4

Words in This Pattern

بودن

Practice بودم، بودی، بود in Bubblegum

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