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Compound Verbs
Compound verbs are verbs that are made of a non-verbal part (such as a noun, an adjective, or a preposition) and a simple verb. A compound verb may sometimes give a meaning distant from the original meaning of the two parts. It was mentioned earlier that the number of simple verbs used in today’s Persian is something less than 250. All other verbs are compound verbs made up of a few of these simple verbs and different nouns and prepositions. Here are some examples of common compound verbs.
غریبه با ناراحتی من را نگاه کرد.
تفنگش را دید و آن را برداشت.
مینا و خواهرش با هم حرف می‌زنند.
از روی صندلی بلند شدم.
دیروز آمدند و همه‌ی پول‌ها را پس گرفتند.
مهاجران به شهر بر می‌گردند.
The stranger looked at me unhappily.
He/She saw his/her gun and picked it up.
Mina and her sister talk with each other.
I got up from the chair.
They came yesterday and took back all the money.
The emigrants return to the city.
As it can be seen, when the non-verbal part is a preposition, the verb may look very well like a simple verb (As in the second example above). One thing that distinguishes compound verbs is that when conjugated in the present tense, “می” comes in between the two parts of the compound verb (the last example).
Most compound verbs are made using the verb “کردن” (to do, to make).
فکر کردن
کمک کردن
صحبت کردن
صدا کردن
صبر کردن
To think.
To help.
To talk.
To call.
To wait.
When there is an object, the object can be attached to the non-verbal part of the compound verb as an enclitic personal pronoun. The first two of the following examples are made using the first two examples from the previous list.
غریبه با ناراحتی نگاهم کرد.
تفنگ را دید و برش داشت.
دوستت دارم.
پرتم کرد توی آب.
The stranger looked at me unhappily.
He/She saw the gun and picked it up.
I love you.
He/She threw me into the water.
A list of the most common Persian compound verbs is available here. It is highly recommended to go through them at least once before moving on to the rest of the grammar lessons.