می‌ + Past Stem

Past Habits and Ongoing Situations

Level 3

می‌رفتم can mean I used to go or I was going. The sentence tells you which past situation is intended.

How It Works

Describe a past routine. هر روز به مدرسه می‌رفتم means “I used to go to school every day.” The time phrase gives a repeated-event reading. The stem رفت and ending ـم keep the past and first-person information.

Describe background. وقتی سارا آمد، کتاب می‌خواندم means “When Sara came, I was reading a book.” The reading was underway around another past event. The simple past آمد supplies that other event.

می‌رفتم differs from رفتم. The simple past can present a completed event, while the می‌ past presents its repetition or its ongoing/background character. Neither form alone states all the event’s circumstances.

Negation becomes نمی‌ with the same past stem: نمی‌رفتم. Do not use a present stem such as رو merely because the prefix also occurs in the ordinary present.

Some verbs describe an established state with a participle rather than a default “was -ing” form. Learn the actual construction and let the verb’s meaning guide the English reading.

Examples (4)

  1. هر روز به مدرسه می‌رفتم.

    I used to go to school every day.

    هر روز gives a repeated past routine.

  2. وقتی سارا آمد، کتاب می‌خواندم.

    When Sara came, I was reading a book.

    The reading supplies ongoing background for the arrival.

  3. آن روزها اینجا کار می‌کردم.

    I used to work here in those days.

    The time phrase anchors a past situation.

  4. آن روزها قهوه نمی‌نوشیدم.

    I did not drink coffee in those days.

    The negative form retains the past stem نوشید.

How It Connects

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

می‌ + Past StemLevel 3Past Habits and Ongoing Situations

Learn This First

Use می‌ with the past stem for repeated or background past situations, and choose the reading from the full context.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.