گفتن

گفتن is Persian’s verb for “to say.” Its colloquial conjugation می‌گم / می‌گی / می‌گه is one of the most-used verb sequences in spoken Persian.

What it actually means

گفتن means “to say” in Persian. It is the basic, most-used verb of speech, covering everything from quoting someone to expressing an opinion. The verb is irregular: past stem گفت (goft-), present stem گو (gu-), but the colloquial present forms drop the long ū to give می‌گم (mīgam, I say), می‌گی (mīgī), می‌گه (mīge). The phrase “می‌گه که…” (mīge ke, “he/she says that…”) is the standard quotative pattern in spoken Persian, equivalent to English “he says that.” The verb also produces compound expressions: راست گفتن (rāst goftan, to tell the truth, “to say straight”), دروغ گفتن (dorūgh goftan, to lie, “to say a lie”), شعر گفتن (she’r goftan, to compose poetry, literally “to say poetry”).

How to say it

Past stem گفت (goft-) is invariant: گفتم (goftam, I said), گفتی (goftī), گفت (goft, he/she said). Persian poetry uses the verb in fixed expressions: شاعر گفت (shāer goft, “the poet said”) opens countless quotations. Modern conversational Persian relies on می‌گم as much as English relies on “I say” or “I’m saying.” The phrase “هر چی گفتم” (har chī goftam, “everything I said”) is a common conversational hinge.

In a sentence

Cultural note

گفتن is a deep native Persian verb, traceable to Old Persian *gauda- via Middle Persian “guftan” (“to say, to tell”). The same root reaches back further into Proto-Indo-European territory, related to roots meaning “to call” or “to invoke.” Persian’s heavy use of compound verbs gives گفتن a long shadow: شعر گفتن (to compose poetry, literally “to say poetry”) is the standard way Persian describes the act of writing verse, reflecting an oral-tradition model where poetry was spoken before it was written. Hafez and Rumi did not “write” their poems in modern terms; they “said” them. The verb’s spoken form می‌گه functions as a quotative marker in modern colloquial Persian: “می‌گه که خوبه” (he says that it’s good) is the standard way to relay another person’s statement, where English would use “he said” or “he’s saying.”

Related

You will use this verb constantly alongside کردن (to do), بودن (to be), and داشتن (to have). For practice on Persian’s compound verbs, see our guide to Persian compound nouns.