The imperfect in Dari expresses an action that has some duration or repetition.
The imperfect is formed by adding of the personal endings mentioned in the Past Tense Forms topic to the past stem (as in the preterit) and then adding the prefix می , which is pronounced mii and can be written separately or linked to the word:
1st pers. sing. می کردم میکردم "I was doing, used to do"
2nd pers. sing. می کردی میکردی "you were doing, used to do"
3rd pers. sing. می کرد میکرد "he (she) was doing, used to do"
1st pers. pl. می کردیم میکردیم "we were doing, used to do"
2nd pers. pl. می کردید میکردید"you were doing, used to do"
3rd pers. pl. می کردند میکردند "they were doing, used to do"
The imperfect is used in the sentences like the following:
"I used to study very well." من بسیار خوب درس می خواندم.
"He (she) came every day."او هر روز میامد.
"When we came they were working." ما که آمدیم آنها کار می کردند.
The negative is formed by adding the prefix نه "not" to the positive (the past stem with the prefix می). The prefix نه "not" links close to the word:
"He was not doing." او نمی کرد.
"You were not doing." شما نمی کردید.
"They didn't used to come to us." آنها پیش ما نمی آمدند.
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