Passive Voice in Persian: How to Form It, Every Tense, and When Iranians Avoid It

To make the passive voice in Persian, take the past participle of a verb (past stem + -e) and add a conjugated form of شدن (shodan, to become). So نوشتن (neveshtan, to write) gives نامه نوشته شد (nâme neveshte shod, the letter was written). In everyday speech, though, Iranians often skip the passive and use an active “they” verb: می‌گن (migan, it is said).

Those two ideas are the whole topic in a nutshell: a simple formula that works in every tense, and a strong habit of avoiding it in conversation. Below you will find how to build the participle, a table of every passive tense with spoken forms, the negative, how to say “by someone” (agent words like توسط tavassot-e), what happens with compound verbs like انجام شد (anjâm shod, it was done), the active alternatives Iranians actually use, the passive of the news, and practice with answers.

The formula: past participle + shodan

English builds the passive with “be” + past participle (is written, was built). Persian uses the same idea, but its helper verb is شدن (shodan), which normally means “to become.” Literally, “the letter was written” is “the letter became written.”

1. Find the past stem by dropping -an from the infinitive: نوشتن (neveshtan) → نوشت (nevesht). If stems are new to you, read how to form the Persian past stem first.
2. Add -e (written ه) to get the past participle: نوشته (neveshte, written).
3. Conjugate شدن in the tense and person you need: نوشته شد (neveshte shod, was written), نوشته می‌شود (neveshte mishavad, is written).

The participle never changes. All the grammar, tense, person, negation, lives on شدن. That makes the Persian passive one of the friendlier parts of the verb system: if you can conjugate شدن, you can make the passive of almost any transitive verb. You can see every form of the helper on the shodan (to become) verb page.

Common past participles

Listen: ساخته شد Listen and فروخته شد Listen

Only transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) have a passive. Verbs like رفتن (raftan, to go) or آمدن (âmadan, to come) have no passive, exactly as in English.

Every tense of the Persian passive

Here is نوشتن in the third person singular, “it.” The middle column is formal and written Persian; the spoken column is how you will hear it in Tehran-style everyday speech. For the active forms behind each tense, see the guides to the Persian past tense and the Persian future tense.

Three things to notice:

• The future puts خواهد between the participle and the short stem شد: ساخته خواهد شد (sâkhte khâhad shod, will be built). In conversation people simply use the present: فردا فرستاده می‌شه (fardâ ferestâde mishe, it will be sent tomorrow).
• The subjunctive appears after باید (bâyad, must), شاید (shâyad, maybe) and similar words: این نامه باید امروز فرستاده شود (in nâme bâyad emruz ferestâde shavad, this letter must be sent today). In writing, the be- prefix is usually left off (شود); in speech it comes back (بشه). More on this mood in the present subjunctive lesson.
• The present form often means the future, just like the active present: جلسه فردا برگزار می‌شود (jalase fardâ bargozâr mishavad, the meeting will be held tomorrow).

Listen to the written and spoken present: نوشته می‌شود Listen and نوشته می‌شه Listen

All persons: “I was seen,” “I am invited”

Only the helper changes for person. Here is دیدن (to see) in the simple past and دعوت کردن (da’vat kardan, to invite) in the present, with spoken forms.

With plural subjects that are things, not people, Persian often uses a singular verb: این خانه‌ها پارسال ساخته شد and این خانه‌ها پارسال ساخته شدند (in khâne-hâ pârsâl sâkhte shod / shodand, these houses were built last year) are both heard. With people, use the plural: دانشجوها دعوت شدند (dâneshju-hâ da’vat shodand, the students were invited).

The negative and questions

The negative prefix na- (ne- before mi-) goes on the helper verb, never on the participle:

• نامه فرستاده نشد (nâme ferestâde nashod) The letter was not sent.
• اینجا سیگار کشیده نمی‌شود (injâ sigâr keshide nemishavad) Smoking is not done here. Spoken, people would rather say اینجا سیگار نمی‌کشن (injâ sigâr nemikeshan).
• هنوز تمام نشده (hanuz tamâm nashode) It hasn’t been finished yet.
• این پل ساخته نخواهد شد (in pol sâkhte nakhâhad shod) This bridge will not be built.

Questions need no change in word order. Raise your voice at the end, or in formal writing start with آیا (âyâ): آیا نامه فرستاده شد؟ (âyâ nâme ferestâde shod?) Was the letter sent? Listen: Listen

Compound verbs: kardan becomes shodan

Most Persian verbs are compound verbs: a noun or adjective plus a light verb such as کردن (kardan, to do) (see Persian infinitives: simple and compound verbs). Here the passive is even easier. You do not make a participle of کردن; you simply swap کردن for شدن.

So “the car was repaired” is ماشین تعمیر شد (mâshin ta’mir shod) Listen, not “ta’mir karde shod.” That form sounds wrong to Iranian ears.

Compounds with دادن (dâdan, to give) and other light verbs vary. انجام دادن has its own partner, انجام شدن: کار انجام شد (kâr anjâm shod, the work was done) Listen. Many others keep the participle داده and add شدن: نشان داده شد (neshân dâde shod, was shown), توضیح داده شد (towzih dâde shod, was explained), اجازه داده نشد (ejâze dâde nashod, permission was not given). When you learn a new compound verb, note its passive partner too.

Passive or “became”? Two meanings of shodan

شدن has two jobs, and learners sometimes mix them up:

• Adjective or noun + شدن = “become, get.” خسته شدم (khaste shodam) I got tired. هوا سرد شد (havâ sard shod) It got cold. This is not a passive; nobody did anything to you.
• Past participle + شدن = passive. دیده شدم (dide shodam) I was seen. Someone saw you.

The participle on its own also works as an adjective that describes a state: در بسته است (dar baste ast, the door is closed) describes how the door is now, while در بسته شد (dar baste shod, the door was closed) reports an event, and در بسته شده است (dar baste shode ast, the door has been closed) stresses that someone closed it. You see this adjective use in everyday words such as شکسته (shekaste, broken), پخته (pokhte, cooked) and ساخت ایران (sâkht-e irân, made in Iran) on product labels.

A trap: neveshte ast is not “is written”

Because English says “is written,” learners write نامه نوشته است for “the letter is written.” But that is the active present perfect: “(he) has written a letter.” The passive needs شده: نامه نوشته شده است (nâme neveshte shode ast), the letter has been written.

One idiomatic exception you will hear: when reading a sign, a label or a message, Iranians say روش نوشته (rush neveshte), “it says on it,” literally “on it, (it has) written.”

How Iranians avoid the passive

Here is the part most grammar pages skip. The شدن passive is correct and common in writing, but in conversation it often sounds stiff. Persian has three favorite ways around it.

1. The impersonal “they” verb

When the doer is unknown or unimportant, Persian uses an active verb in the third person plural with no subject, much like English “they say” or “they stole my bag.”

Listen: می‌گن Listen and کیفمو دزدیدن Listen

Notice the object marker را (spoken -o / -ro) in کیفم را: in the active version, the thing affected stays an object. Review it in the Persian object marker râ.

2. Verbs that are already intransitive

Many Persian verbs work both ways, like English “break” or “burn.” Instead of a passive, Persian just uses the intransitive verb:

• لیوان شکست (livân shekast) The glass broke. More natural than لیوان شکسته شد (the glass was broken), which suggests someone broke it.
• غذا سوخت (ghazâ sukht) The food burned.
• در باز شد (dar bâz shod) The door opened / was opened.

3. Different verbs for the same idea

“I was born” is not a passive in Persian at all: به دنیا آمدم (be donyâ âmadam, literally “I came into the world”) or the more formal متولد شدم (motevalled shodam). “Where were you born?” is کجا به دنیا آمدی؟ (kojâ be donyâ âmadi?).

Saying “by someone”: the agent

Most Persian passives leave the doer out; that is usually the point of using one. When you do need it, these are the words to know:

• این خانه توسط پدرم ساخته شد (in khâne tavassot-e pedaram sâkhte shod) This house was built by my father.
• تخت جمشید به دست اسکندر به آتش کشیده شد (takht-e jamshid be dast-e eskandar be âtash keshide shod) Persepolis was set on fire by Alexander.
• این نامه از طرف مدیر فرستاده شد (in nâme az taraf-e modir ferestâde shod) This letter was sent by the manager.

Listen: Listen

A style tip: many Persian editors and writing teachers dislike heavy use of توسط and would rewrite “the house was built by my father” as the plain active پدرم این خانه را ساخت (pedaram in khâne râ sâkht). If you know who did it, the active sentence is usually the better Persian. The agent phrase is most at home in formal and news writing.

The passive in news and formal Persian

Open any Persian news site and you will see passives in almost every headline. Learn these and news gets much easier to read:

News writing also uses a few formal substitutes:

• گردیدن (gardidan) instead of شدن: انجام گردید (anjâm gardid) means the same as انجام شد, was carried out. It is purely a register choice; never use it in conversation.
• صورت گرفت (surat gereft) and انجام گرفت (anjâm gereft): “took place, was done.”
• مورد … قرار گرفت (mowred-e … gharâr gereft): “was subjected to”: مورد استفاده قرار گرفت (mowred-e estefâde gharâr gereft) was used, مورد حمله قرار گرفت (mowred-e hamle gharâr gereft) was attacked.

Listen: Listen Listen

To practice with real texts at a learner level, try the short articles in Learn Persian Through News and underline every شد you find.

Spoken passive: mishe, shode, beshe

When Iranians do use the passive in speech, the helper takes its short spoken forms, covered with many other changes in spoken vs written Persian:

• می‌شود → می‌شه (mishe): این کلمه چطوری نوشته می‌شه؟ (in kalame chetori neveshte mishe?) How is this word written? Listen
• شده است → شده (shode): ماشینت تعمیر شده؟ (mâshinet ta’mir shode?) Has your car been fixed?
• شود → بشه (beshe): باید درست بشه (bâyad dorost beshe) It has to be fixed.

Be careful: می‌شه on its own also means “is it possible, can I”: می‌شه کمکم کنی؟ (mishe komakam koni?) Can you help me? Context, and whether a participle comes before it, tell you which meaning is meant.

Common mistakes with the Persian passive

• Using بودن (to be) as the helper. نوشته بود means “(he) had written,” an active past perfect. The passive helper is always شدن.
• Putting the negative on the participle. Say ساخته نشد, not “nasâkhte shod.”
• Making کردن compounds with کرده شد. Say تعمیر شد, دعوت شد.
• Passivizing intransitive verbs. “Was gone” or “was arrived” have no Persian passive.
• Overusing the passive in speech. If a sentence would sound fine with “they” in English, it will usually sound better with an active plural verb in Persian.
• Overusing توسط. If you name the doer, consider the active sentence instead.

To check the full conjugation of any helper or main verb, the Persian verb conjugator lists every tense. For a longer, step-by-step treatment of the passive alongside the other intermediate tenses, it is covered in Farsi Grammar in Use for intermediate students.

Want more grammar practice? Try the Persian grammar quiz.

Common questions

Does Persian have a passive voice?

Yes. Modern Persian forms it with the past participle of a transitive verb plus شدن: ساخته شد (sâkhte shod, was built). It is common in writing and news. In conversation Iranians often prefer an active verb with an unstated “they,” such as می‌گن (migan, they say).

How do you form the passive in Farsi?

Drop -an from the infinitive to get the past stem, add -e to make the participle, then conjugate شدن: خریدن → خریده → خریده شد (kharide shod, was bought). For کردن compound verbs, replace کردن with شدن: دعوت شد (da’vat shod, was invited).

How do you say “by” in a Persian passive sentence?

Use توسط (tavassot-e) in formal Persian, به دست (be dast-e) for important historical actions, and از طرف or از سوی (az taraf-e, az su-ye) for organizations and senders. Often the active sentence sounds more natural.

What is the difference between shod and shode?

شد (shod) is the simple past helper: نوشته شد, was written. شده (shode) is the participle of شدن, used in perfect tenses: نوشته شده (spoken) or نوشته شده است, has been written; نوشته شده بود, had been written.

Is “mishe” passive?

Only after a participle or compound-verb noun: نوشته می‌شه (neveshte mishe, it is written), تعمیر می‌شه (ta’mir mishe, it gets repaired). On its own, می‌شه usually means “is it possible, can I”: می‌شه بشینم؟ (mishe beshinam?) May I sit down?

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