Infinitives and Past Stems

Level 2

رفتن becomes رفت, and دیدن becomes دید. These are past stems, not present stems.

How It Works

InfinitivePast stem
رفتنرفت
دیدندید
کردنکرد
خواندنخواند

In written رفتن, remove only ن to get رفت. Do not remove تن as a whole: that would lose ت, which belongs to this past stem. The infinitive’s final /a/ is usually unwritten, so the sound-based and letter-based descriptions need to remain distinct.

For compound verbs, retain the nonverbal part: کمک کردن gives کمک کرد. Inflection attaches to the light verb; the full phrase still carries the compound meaning.

The resulting past stem can be used in the simple past with person endings. Third-person singular has no added person ending, so رفت can also be a complete past verb when the subject is clear.

Do not apply this operation to recover a present stem. رفتن has present stem رو, while دیدن has بین. Store and learn both stems with the verb.

Examples (4)

  1. رفتن → رفت

    to go → past stem raft

    The written ت remains part of the past stem.

  2. دیدن → دید

    to see → past stem did

    Remove final ن; do not derive present بین this way.

  3. کردن → کرد

    to do → past stem kard

    The past stem keeps د.

  4. کمک کردن → کمک کرد

    to help → past-stem compound komak kard

    Keep the nonverbal part when identifying the compound’s past stem.

How It Connects

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

Infinitives and Past StemsLevel 2

Learn This First

Remove the infinitive’s final written ن to obtain its past stem, and learn the present stem separately.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.