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 progressive. Regular verbs form the simple past end"-ed"; however there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms. For details see . Most verbs have a single form of the simple past, independent of the person or number of the subject (there is no addition of "-s" for the third person singular as in the simple present). However, the copula verb "be" has two past tense forms: "was" for the first and third persons singular, and "were" in other instances. The form "were" can also be used in place of "was" in conditional clauses and the like; for information