Compound Verbs
Light verbs such as کَردَن/kærdæn "to do, to make" are often used with nouns to form what is called a compound verb, light verb construction, or complex predicate. For example, the word "صُحبَت/sohbæt"(Originally from Arabic) means "conversation", while "صُحبَت کَردَن/sohbæt kærdæn" means "to speak". One may add a light verb after a noun, adjective, preposition, or prepositional phrase to form a compound verb. Only the light verb (e.g. کَردَن/kærdæn) is conjugated; the word preceding it is not affected. For example: صُحبَت میکُنَم/sohbæt mikonæm ("I speak" or very near future "I will speak")
- دارَم صُحبَت میکُنَم/dāræm sohbæt mikonæm ("I am speaking")
- صُحبَت کَردهاَم/sohbæt kærde æm ("I have spoken")
- صُحبَت خواهَم کَرد/sohbæt khāhæm kærd ("I will speak")
As can be seen from the examples, the head word (in this case, صُحبَت/sohbæt) remains unchanged throughout the conjugation, and only the light verb کَردَن/kærdæn is conjugated. They may be compared to English verb particle constructions, such as hand down (leave as an inheritance) and set up (arrange), or German compound verbs, such as radfahren (to ride by bicycle) and zurückgehen (to go back) or in Spanish Poner la mesa (to set the table) or Faire attention (to pay attention) in French . In present progressive tense, the verb داشتن is used which means "to have" (I have=دارم). In future tense, the verb خواستن is respectively used which means "to want", just the same as the English cognate Will (خواهم). Some other Light verbs are: Dādæn (to give) as in Rokh Dādæn= to happen, Gereftæn (to take) as in Pā Gereftæn= to start to grow, Zædæn (to hit) as in Hærf Zædæn= to talk, to speak, Khordæn (to eat) as in Sogænd Khordan= to take a vow, Shodan (to become) as in Arām Shodan= to calm down, Budæn (to be) as in Amāde Budæn= to be ready etc.
Some other examples of compound verbs with کَردَن/kærdæn are:
- فِکر کَردَن/fekr kærdæn, "to think"
- فَراموش کَردَن/færāmush kærdæn, "to forget"
- گَریه کَردَن/gærye kærdæn, "to cry"
- تِلِفُن کَردَن/telefon kærdæn, "to call, to telephone"
- تَعمیر کَردَن/tæmir kærdæn, "to fix"
Other equivalents for فِکر کَردَن/fekr kærdæn and گَریه کَردَن/gerye kærdæn are پنداشتن/Pendāshtæn and گریستن/Geristæn that are normally used in literary context rather than daily conversations.
Read more about this topic: Persian Verbs
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