To Have in Persian

In Brief

Persian uses داشتن (dāshtan, “to have”) for possession. Its present forms are دارم، داری، دارد، داریم، دارید، دارند; put نـ before the form to make it negative: ندارم means “I do not have.” Persian normally puts the thing possessed before the verb: من وقت دارم — “I have time.”

Overview

داشتن is the basic Persian verb for saying that somebody has, owns, or possesses something. You will also hear it in very common expressions about time, family, needs, rights, and physical features. Because it is useful in introductions, shopping, travel, and daily conversation, it is an essential A1 verb.

English uses one unchanged form in “I have,” “you have,” and “we have,” but Persian changes the verb ending to match the subject—the person or thing that “has.” This change is called conjugation (changing a verb to show who performs it). For example, دارم already tells the listener “I have,” while داریم tells them “we have.” A separate subject pronoun is therefore often unnecessary when the context is clear.

Persian also differs from English in its usual word order. English says subject–verb–object: “Sara has a car.” Persian normally places the verb last: سارا ماشین دارد, literally “Sara car has.” Learn each example with this verb-final rhythm rather than translating one word at a time.

How It Works

The present-tense forms

The infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb) is داشتن. Its present stem—the part used before present-tense endings—is دارـ. Add the personal endings shown below.

Person	Persian	Romanization	Meaning
first-person singular	(من) دارم	(man) dāram	I have
second-person singular	(تو) داری	(to) dāri	you have (singular, informal)
third-person singular	(او) دارد	(u) dārad	he/she has
first-person plural	(ما) داریم	(mā) dārim	we have
second-person plural	(شما) دارید	(shomā) dārid	you have (plural or polite)
third-person plural	(آن‌ها) دارند	(ānhā) dārand	they have

Persian does not distinguish “he” from “she” in the third person: او دارد can mean either “he has” or “she has.” شما and دارید are used both for more than one person and for polite singular “you.”

The pronouns are in parentheses because the verb ending often makes them optional:

• ماشین دارم. — I have a car.
• ماشین داریم. — We have a car.

Keep the pronoun when introducing a new subject, correcting someone, or making a contrast: من وقت دارم، ولی او وقت ندارد — “I have time, but he/she does not.”

Basic sentence order

The beginner pattern is:

subject + thing possessed + form of داشتن

Pattern	Persian	Natural English
subject + possession + verb	من یک خواهر دارم.	I have one sister.
named subject + possession + verb	رضا دوچرخه دارد.	Reza has a bicycle.
omitted subject + possession + verb	وقت داریم.	We have time.

The “thing possessed” is the object (the person or thing directly connected to the verb). It normally appears before داشتن. Adjectives and possessors stay with their noun: من یک ماشین قدیمی دارم — “I have an old car.”

Making a negative

Add the negative prefix نـ to the present form. The result is written as one word:

Affirmative	Negative	Meaning
دارم	ندارم	I do not have
داری	نداری	you do not have
دارد	ندارد	he/she does not have
داریم	نداریم	we do not have
دارید	ندارید	you do not have
دارند	ندارند	they do not have

The word order otherwise remains the same: ما وقت نداریم — “We do not have time.” Persian does not add an equivalent of English “do/does”: ندارد by itself supplies the meaning “does not have.”

Asking questions

In everyday Persian, a yes/no question can keep exactly the same word order as a statement. Your voice rises, and writing uses a question mark:

• تو ماشین داری؟ — Do you have a car?
• وقت دارید؟ — Do you have time?

The question word آیا can be placed at the beginning, especially in writing or more formal speech: آیا شما وقت دارید؟ It is correct, but ordinary conversation usually prefers the shorter وقت دارید؟

Question words remain in the position connected to their answer:

• چند تا خواهر داری؟ — How many sisters do you have?
• چه مشکلی دارید؟ — What problem do you have?
• چقدر وقت داریم؟ — How much time do we have?

Specific objects and را

Persian often marks a specific, identified direct object with را (rā). A direct object is the person or thing directly affected by the verb. Compare:

• یک کتاب دارم. — I have a book. (not yet identified)
• آن کتاب را دارم. — I have that book. (a particular book)

In colloquial speech, را is commonly pronounced رو (ro): اون کتاب رو دارم. At A1, the most useful rule is to include را when the object is clearly definite—“this,” “that,” or something already known—and not after a plain indefinite noun such as یک کتاب.

Examples in Context

Persian	Romanization	English	Note
من یک خواهر دارم.	Man yek khāhar dāram.	I have one sister.	Basic possession
تو ماشین داری؟	To māshin dāri?	Do you have a car?	Informal singular question
آن‌ها دو بچه دارند.	Ānhā do bache dārand.	They have two children.	Third-person plural
ما وقت نداریم.	Mā vaght nadārim.	We do not have time.	Negative form
سارا یک خانهٔ کوچک دارد.	Sārā yek khāne-ye kuchak dārad.	Sara has a small house.	The verb follows the whole noun phrase
امروز کلاس دارید؟	Emruz kelās dārid?	Do you have class today?	Polite or plural “you”
این اتاق دو پنجره دارد.	In otāgh do panjare dārad.	This room has two windows.	An inanimate subject can “have” something
من پول نقد ندارم.	Man pul-e naghd nadāram.	I do not have cash.	Everyday negative
چند تا برادر داری؟	Chand tā barādar dāri?	How many brothers do you have?	چند تا asks “how many”
او موهای بلند دارد.	U muhā-ye boland dārad.	He/She has long hair.	Physical description
این کتاب را دارم.	In ketāb rā dāram.	I have this book.	را marks a specific object
فردا وقت داری؟	Fardā vaght dāri?	Do you have time tomorrow?	Natural invitation opener
ما یک مشکل داریم.	Mā yek moshkel dārim.	We have a problem.	Common abstract possession
شما حق دارید سؤال کنید.	Shomā hagh dārid soāl konid.	You have the right to ask a question.	Common expression with حق داشتن

Common Mistakes

Using English word order

• Wrong: من دارم یک ماشین.
• Right: من یک ماشین دارم.
• Why: In a neutral Persian sentence, داشتن comes after the thing possessed. Do not place it immediately after the subject just because English places “have” there.

Adding a separate equivalent of “do” in questions

• Wrong: trying to insert another verb before داری to translate “Do you have...?” word for word
• Right: تو ماشین داری؟
• Why: English “do” is only a question helper here. Persian needs no helper; intonation or آیا marks the question.

Using the wrong personal ending

• Wrong: ما وقت دارم.
• Right: ما وقت داریم.
• Why: The verb must agree with the subject. ما (“we”) takes ـیم, producing داریم.

Writing the negative as two separate words

• Wrong: ن دارم
• Right: ندارم
• Why: The negative prefix نـ attaches directly to the verb form.

Treating دوست داشتن as literal possession

• Wrong interpretation: من قهوه دوست دارم = “I have a coffee friend.”
• Right interpretation: من قهوه دوست دارم = “I like coffee.”
• Why: دوست داشتن is a compound verb with the established meaning “to like” or “to love.” Its parts should not be translated separately in this use.

Using an informal form in a polite situation

• Too informal: تو وقت داری؟ to an unfamiliar customer or older stranger
• Polite: شما وقت دارید؟
• Why: تو / داری addresses one person informally. شما / دارید is the normal respectful choice and also addresses multiple people.

Usage Notes

Spoken and written forms

Careful written Persian uses the full forms in the conjugation table. Everyday Iranian Persian often shortens third-person forms:

Standard form	Common spoken form	Meaning
دارد	داره	he/she/it has
دارند	دارن	they have
ندارد	نداره	he/she/it does not have
ندارند	ندارن	they do not have

You may therefore hear ماشین داره؟ where a textbook writes ماشین دارد؟ Both belong to Persian, but use the full forms in formal writing. Spoken Persian also commonly uses اونا for standard آن‌ها (“they”) and اون for آن (“that”).

Having versus owning

داشتن covers more than legal ownership. It can describe relationships, features, schedules, experiences, and available resources:

• خواهر داشتن — to have a sister
• وقت داشتن — to have time
• کلاس داشتن — to have a class
• مشکل داشتن — to have a problem
• موهای بلند داشتن — to have long hair

For explicit ownership, Persian can also use مالِ (“belonging to”): این کتاب مال من است — “This book is mine.” That construction answers “Whose is it?”; من این کتاب را دارم simply says that I have the book.

Useful combinations

Several frequent ideas use داشتن as part of a larger expression. Learn the complete combination:

• دوست داشتن — to like, to love
• نیاز داشتن به — to need; literally, “to have need of”
• حق داشتن — to have the right; in context, also “to be right”
• امید داشتن — to have hope

The preposition matters in نیاز داشتن به: من به کمک نیاز دارم — “I need help.” This pattern is more advanced than simple possession, but it is common enough to recognize early.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following uses at A1, but they explain why داشتن appears in sentences where English does not use “have.”

داشتن as a progressive auxiliary

Persian can use a conjugated form of داشتن before a verb with می‌ـ to emphasize an action in progress:

• دارم کتاب می‌خوانم. — I am reading a book (right now).
• داشت باران می‌بارید. — It was raining.

Here دارم does not express possession. It acts as an auxiliary (a helping verb) in the present continuous. This is a separate A2 topic, and the second verb still carries a matching personal ending: داریم می‌رویم — “We are going.” In informal speech, this construction is especially frequent.

Possession without داشتن

Persian may express possession in other ways depending on the focus. The ezāfe construction—a linking sound, usually pronounced -e or -ye—connects a noun to its owner:

• کتابِ من — my book / the book of me
• ماشینِ سارا — Sara’s car

This names or identifies the possessed item. By contrast, من کتاب دارم makes a statement that I have a book. English learners often use “have” for both ideas, but Persian chooses the structure according to the message: use ezāfe inside a noun phrase (“my book”), and داشتن for the full statement (“I have a book”).

Persian also has attached possessive endings, as in کتابم (“my book”). These are useful later, but they do not replace داشتن in every sentence.

Tense stems

The present forms use دارـ, but the past stem is داشتـ: داشتم means “I had.” This stem change is normal for Persian verbs and is one reason to learn the infinitive داشتن together with its present stem دارـ. Past-tense conjugation is beyond the core of this article.

Practice Tips

1. Build a six-person chain. Choose one noun, such as کتاب, and say all six forms aloud: کتاب دارم، کتاب داری، کتاب دارد، کتاب داریم، کتاب دارید، کتاب دارند. Repeat with the negatives.
2. Turn statements into questions and answers. Start with وقت داری؟ and answer both ways: بله، وقت دارم / نه، وقت ندارم. This trains Persian question rhythm without adding an English-style helper verb.
3. Describe real life. Write five true sentences about family, belongings, time, classes, or features. Keep the verb last, then check that its ending matches the subject.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — learn من، تو، او، ما، شما، آن‌ها and the people represented by each verb ending.
• Next step: Present Continuous Tense — see how forms of داشتن can help express an action happening right now.