Name of Iran their country "Arya", "Iran", "Iranshahr", "Iranzamin" (Land of Iran), "Aryānām" (the equivalent of "Iran" in the proto-Iranian language) or its equivalents. The term "Arya" has been used by the Iranian people, as well as by the rulers and emperors of Iran, from the time of the Avesta. Evidently from the time of the Sassanids (226–651 CE) Iranians have called it "Iran", meaning "the land of Aryans" and "Iranshahr". In Middle Persian sources, the name "Arya" and "Iran" is used for the pre-Sassanid Iranian empires as well as the Sassanid empire. As an example, the use of the name "Iran" for
Simple past a past state: For action that was ongoing at the time referred to, the past progressive is generally used instead (e.g. "I was cooking"). The same can apply to states, if temporary (e.g. "the ball was lying on the sidewalk"), but some stative verbs do not generally use the progressive aspect at all – see – and in these cases the simple past is used even for a temporary state: However, with verbs of sensing, it is common in such circumstances to use "could see" in place of "saw", "could hear" in place of "heard", etc. For more on this,