نـ + Past Stem

Negating the Simple Past

Level 2

رفتم becomes نرفتم, I did not go. Keep the past stem and person ending, while learning the attested spelling before vowel-initial stems.

How It Works

Negate the same event. رفتم means “I went,” and نرفتم means “I did not go.” The subject stays first singular because ـم remains. نرفت means “that person did not go”; no extra third-person ending is added.

For a compound, put the prefix on its verbal element: کمک کردم → کمک نکردم. The negative form still belongs to the complete compound predicate.

Learn actual vowel-initial forms. آمد becomes نیامد, آورد becomes نیاورد, and افتاد becomes نیفتاد. These spellings show why simply placing an isolated ن before every printed stem is not enough.

نـ in these written forms is pronounced with an unwritten vowel. Do not assume the printed prefix is a consonant cluster or try to infer all missing vowels from its letters alone.

Distinguish نرفتم from نمی‌رفتم. The first is simple-past negation. The second contains می‌ and commonly describes a past habit or background situation, such as “I did not use to go.”

Examples (4)

  1. دیروز نرفتم.

    I did not go yesterday.

    The negative prefix precedes رفت; first-singular ـم remains.

  2. سارا نیامد.

    Sara did not come.

    آمد has the attested negative form نیامد.

  3. کتاب را نیاوردم.

    I did not bring the book.

    آورد combines with negation as نیاورد before the first-person ending.

  4. به سارا کمک نکردم.

    I did not help Sara.

    The negative prefix goes on the compound’s light verb.

How It Connects

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

نـ + Past StemLevel 2Negating the Simple Past

Learn This First

Put نـ before a simple-past stem, preserve its person ending, and learn the known negative spelling of vowel-initial verbs.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.