Grammar and Sentence Structure
Grammar and sentence structure is the highest-weight area: parts of speech, verb conjugation, tense, agreement and syntax, tested through fill-ins, sentence correction and short composition.
Word order
Persian is Subject–Object–Verb: من کتاب را خواندم 'I read the book'. The verb carries person and number, so subject pronouns are frequently dropped.
The verb system
Two stems only: past (رفت‑) and present (رو‑). Endings: ‑م، ‑ی، ‑د، ‑یم، ‑ید، ‑ند.
- Past simple: رفتم
- Past continuous: میرفتم
- Present (habitual): میروم
- Present perfect: رفتهام
- Future: خواهم رفت
Nouns, ezafe, را
- Plurals: ‑ها (general), ‑ان (animate), Arabic ‑ات (کلمات)
- Ezafe links noun to adjective or possessor: کتابِ نو، خانهٔ پدر
- را marks a definite direct object: کتاب را دیدم; omit it when the object is indefinite: کتاب میخرم
Agreement
Verb agrees with the subject; with an inanimate plural subject the verb may stay singular: کتابها روی میز است.
Worked example
من دیروز به مدرسه رفتم. Subject + time + prepositional phrase + past stem رفت + ending ‑م gives 'I went to school yesterday'. Change the subject to ما and the ending becomes ‑یم (رفتیم); move the time to tomorrow and the future form خواهیم رفت is needed. Reason: tense lives in the stem and its prefix, person lives in the ending.
Traps that cost marks
Omitting را with a definite object; writing می separate from the verb; mixing stems, e.g. using میرفتم for a present action instead of میروم.