باید

What it means

باید (bâyad) expresses necessity, obligation, and strong recommendation: must, should, have to. Unlike regular Persian verbs, باید does not change its form for person or number. You say باید بری (bâyad beri, you must go), باید برم (bâyad beram, I must go), and باید بره (bâyad bere, he/she must go), and in every case باید stays the same while only the verb that follows it conjugates. To negate necessity in spoken Persian, you use نباید (nabâyad, must not / should not) rather than adding نه to باید. Weaker obligation uses بهتره (behtare, it’s better to) or شاید (shâyad, maybe/perhaps) for softer suggestions.

How to use it

• باید بری دکتر (bâyad beri doktor) “You need to go to the doctor.”
• نباید اینو بخوری (nabâyad ino bekhori) “You shouldn’t eat this.”
• باید زودتر می‌اومدی (bâyad zudtar miyumadi) “You should have come earlier.”
• باید چیکار کنم؟ (bâyad chikâr konam?) “What do I have to do? / What should I do?”

Cultural note

باید shows up everywhere in daily Persian speech, from parental instructions to workplace directives to self-talk. One pattern worth noting is the past obligation باید + imperfect: باید می‌رفتم (bâyad miraftam) means “I should have gone,” expressing regret or a missed obligation. This structure lets Iranians talk about what ought to have happened without using a subjunctive or a separate auxiliary chain, and you will hear it constantly in everyday storytelling and complaints.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab