بودن
“بودن” (budan) — to be in Persian. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. The being verb of the past: dishab dar kafe budam — last night I was at the café. In the present it hides inside -am, -i, -ast. In a live sentence: “دیشب در کافه بودم.” — Last night I was at the café. Written with the characters ب, و, د, ن. One of 107 words in the set “verbs” in the Persian course.
In short
| Written in Persian | بودن |
| Read in Latin letters | budan |
| Translation | to be |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The being verb of the past: dishab dar kafe budam — last night I was at the café. In the present it hides inside -am, -i, -ast
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- دیشب در کافه بودم.dishâb dar kafe budam.Last night I was at the café.
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
- میخواهمmi-khâhamI wantThe present stem of khastan plus -am: one word says "I want". No pronoun needed — mikhaham already carries the I
- نوشیدنnâshidanto drinkThe dictionary form. Speech uses the stem nush — mi-nusham, I drink. From the same root as nushidani, any drinkable thing
- خوردنkhârdanto eatThe dictionary form, from the stem khor. It doubles as "to consume": sandal mikhore — it eats the wood, it corrodes
- دوست دارمduste dârâmI likeLiterally "I hold [you as] a friend": dus is friend, daram I hold. Love here is stated as friendship held in the hand
- رفتنrâftanto goThe dictionary form; the present stem is ro — miram, I go. Walking and riding are the same verb here
- داشتنdâshtanto haveHaving is holding: vaqt daram — I have time, literally "I hold time". No verb rises to say it twice
- زندگی کردنzendegi kânto liveLiterally "to do life": zendegi life + kardan to do. Living somewhere takes no preposition — dar Tehran zendegi mikonam
- کار کردنkâr kânto workTo do work — the compound that says half of everyday activity. Dar resturan kar mikonam: I work at a restaurant
- یاد گرفتنyâd gereftanto learnLiterally "to take into memory": yad memory + gereftan to take. Learning is taking, teaching is yad dadan — giving
- انتخاب کردنentekhâb kânto chooseEntekhab is choice — mive entekhab mikonam: I choose fruit. The verb of the market and of elections alike
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to be” in Persian?
The being verb of the past: dishab dar kafe budam — last night I was at the café. In the present it hides inside -am, -i, -ast
- How do you say “to live” in Persian?
Literally "to do life": zendegi life + kardan to do. Living somewhere takes no preposition — dar Tehran zendegi mikonam
- How do you say “to eat” in Persian?
The dictionary form, from the stem khor. It doubles as "to consume": sandal mikhore — it eats the wood, it corrodes
- How do you say “to choose” in Persian?
Entekhab is choice — mive entekhab mikonam: I choose fruit. The verb of the market and of elections alike
- How do you say “to have” in Persian?
Having is holding: vaqt daram — I have time, literally "I hold time". No verb rises to say it twice
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to be” in Persian?
«بودن», read “budan”. In a live sentence: “دیشب در کافه بودم.” — Last night I was at the café. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”; written with the characters ب, و, د, ن.
How is “بودن” written in Latin letters?
budan. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The being verb of the past: dishab dar kafe budam — last night I was at the café. In the present it hides inside -am, -i, -ast. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.