Nominalization instead of Subordination | Farsi Grammar

Formal Persian often expresses a relation between events without giving each event its own finite subordinate clause. Instead of پس از آنکه شورا طرح را تصویب کرد “after the council approved the plan,” a report may write پس از تصویب طرح از سوی شورا “after the plan's approval by the council.” The second version turns the approving event into a noun phrase.

This shift is called nominalization. It creates compact topics and stable technical labels, but it also removes some information that finite verbs express automatically: person, tense, mood, and often the identity of the agent. Advanced control means understanding both the compression and its cost.

Clause and noun phrase: the structural trade

Finite subordinate wording	Nominal wording	What changes
وقتی هزینه‌ها افزایش یافت	با افزایش هزینه‌ها	finite past and subject become an event noun
چون مدارک ارائه نشد	به‌دلیل ارائه نشدن مدارک	negative passive clause becomes a nominalized infinitive
پس از آنکه شورا طرح را تصویب کرد	پس از تصویب طرح از سوی شورا	agent moves to an optional formal phrase
اگر مقررات اجرا شود	در صورت اجرای مقررات	conditional force is supplied by a framing expression

چون هزینه‌های حمل‌ونقل افزایش یافت، شرکت قیمت‌ها را بازبینی کرد.

chun hazine-hâ-ye haml-o-naql afzâyesh yâft, sherkat qeymat-hâ râ bâzbini kard.

Because transportation costs increased, the company reviewed its prices. (plain formal; finite reason clause)

به‌دلیل افزایش هزینه‌های حمل‌ونقل، شرکت قیمت‌ها را بازبینی کرد.

be-dalil-e afzâyesh-e hazine-hâ-ye haml-o-naql, sherkat qeymat-hâ râ bâzbini kard.

Because of the increase in transportation costs, the company reviewed its prices. (formal; nominal reason phrase)

The truth conditions are close, but the information packaging differs. افزایش یافت asserts a past change as a clause. افزایش هزینه‌ها names an increase and relies on the matrix context to locate it in time.

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A nominalization is not a finite verb with its ending removed. Once an event becomes a noun, prepositions, ezâfe, possessive clitics, and light verbs—not verbal person endings—express its relations.

Three productive nominal resources

Persian uses several forms as event nouns:

lexical verbal nouns, often ending in ـش or borrowed as established nouns: افزایش، کاهش، بررسی، اجرا، تصویب، ارزیابی;
long infinitives used nominally: رفتن، رسیدن، ارائه کردن، ارائه نشدن;
nouns naming results or institutional acts: تصمیم، درخواست، اعتراض، تأیید.

These categories overlap semantically, but their collocations are lexical. Persian says اجرای طرح “implementation of the plan,” تصویب بودجه “approval of the budget,” and اعتراض کارکنان به تصمیم “the employees' objection to the decision.” English alone cannot predict every Persian preposition.

پس از تصویب بودجه، اجرای مرحله‌ی دوم پروژه آغاز شد.

pas az tasvib-e budje, ejrâ-ye marhale-ye dovvom-e porozhe âghâz shod.

After the budget was approved, implementation of the project's second phase began. (formal institutional prose)

ارائه نکردن رسید اصلی باعث تأخیر در بازپرداخت می‌شود.

erâ'e na-kardan-e resid-e asli bâ'es-e ta'khir dar bâz-pardâkht mi-shavad.

Not providing the original receipt causes a delay in reimbursement. (formal-neutral; negative nominalized infinitive)

The long infinitive can itself contain a compound predicate: ارائه نکردن is one action noun, and رسید اصلی is its understood object through ezâfe. Review the nominal behavior of this form on Nominalized Infinitives.

Ezâfe arguments do not carry case labels

A verbal noun may link an underlying participant by ezâfe: ورود قطار can be read as “the train's arrival,” while بررسی پرونده normally means “examination of the file.” The same surface relation can therefore correspond to the subject of an intransitive event or the object of a transitive one.

ورود ناگهانی خبرنگاران جلسه را متوقف کرد.

vorud-e nâgahâni-ye khabarnegârân jalse râ motavaqqef kard.

The journalists' sudden entry stopped the meeting. (formal-neutral; ezâfe dependent as entering participant)

بررسی پرونده‌های قدیمی چند هفته طول کشید.

barrasi-ye parvande-hâ-ye qadimi chand hafte tul keshid.

The review of the old files took several weeks. (formal-neutral; ezâfe dependent as reviewed material)

When both actor and affected participant matter, formal Persian can add از سوی or توسط for the actor:

بررسی پرونده‌ها از سوی دو کارشناس مستقل انجام شد.

barrasi-ye parvande-hâ az su-ye do kârshenâs-e mostaqel anjâm shod.

The files were reviewed by two independent experts. (formal/administrative)

This is accurate but dense. If the experts advance the argument, the finite active version is clearer:

دو کارشناس مستقل پرونده‌ها را بررسی کردند.

do kârshenâs-e mostaqel parvande-hâ râ barrasi kardand.

Two independent experts reviewed the files. (plain formal active)

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Ezâfe only links the event noun to a dependent; it does not announce “agent” or “patient.” Recover the role from the lexical event and context, then rewrite finitely if two readings remain plausible.

Restoring tense, modality, and negation

Nominalization suppresses finite morphology, so another expression must carry relations that still matter. پس از supplies temporal succession; در صورت supplies a condition; به‌دلیل supplies cause. Negation may appear as عدم before a formal event noun or as نـ inside a nominalized infinitive.

در صورت تأیید درخواست، مبلغ تا پایان هفته واریز می‌شود.

dar surat-e ta'yid-e darkhâst, mablagh tâ pâyân-e hafte vâriz mi-shavad.

If the application is approved, the amount will be deposited by the end of the week. (formal conditional nominalization)

اگر درخواست تأیید شود، مبلغ تا پایان هفته واریز می‌شود.

agar darkhâst ta'yid shavad, mablagh tâ pâyân-e hafte vâriz mi-shavad.

If the application is approved, the amount will be deposited by the end of the week. (neutral finite rewrite)

عدم اعلام تغییرات موجب سردرگمی کارکنان شد.

adam-e e'lâm-e taghyirât mujeb-e sardargomi-ye kârkonân shod.

The failure to announce the changes caused confusion among the staff. (formal/bureaucratic)

چون مدیران تغییرات را اعلام نکردند، کارکنان سردرگم شدند.

chun modirân taghyirât râ e'lâm na-kardand, kârkonân sardargom shodand.

Because the managers did not announce the changes, the staff became confused. (clear finite rewrite naming responsibility)

عدم is productive in formal and administrative writing but heavy in conversation. A finite negative clause usually sounds more direct and makes responsibility visible.

Passive light verbs add a second layer

A nominal event may become the nonverbal part of an institutional predicate: مورد بررسی قرار گرفتن، به اجرا درآمدن، انجام شدن. Only the final light verb carries tense and agreement.

درخواست افزایش بودجه پیش از پایان ماه مورد ارزیابی قرار خواهد گرفت.

darkhâst-e afzâyesh-e budje pish az pâyân-e mâh mowred-e arzyâbi qarâr khâhad gereft.

The request for a budget increase will be evaluated before the end of the month. (formal institutional prose)

This style makes the proposal and procedure prominent. It is not automatically better than کمیته در نشست بعدی پیشنهاد را بررسی خواهد کرد. The active version is preferable when the committee's responsibility is relevant. The lexical restrictions on these predicates are treated on Formal Nominalization plus Light Verb.

Formal density and the finite rewrite test

Nominalization helps when it packages information already established in the discourse. It becomes costly when several new events are nested before the main verb.

تصمیم هیئت درباره‌ی تعویق اجرای برنامه پس از بررسی پیامدهای مالی اعلام شد.

tasmim-e hey'at darbâre-ye ta'viq-e ejrâ-ye barnâme pas az barrasi-ye payâmad-hâ-ye mâli e'lâm shod.

The board's decision about postponing the program's implementation was announced after the financial consequences were reviewed. (dense formal prose)

هیئت پیامدهای مالی را بررسی کرد و سپس اعلام کرد که اجرای برنامه را به تعویق می‌اندازد.

hey'at payâmad-hâ-ye mâli râ barrasi kard va sepas e'lâm kard ke ejrâ-ye barnâme râ be ta'viq mi-andâzad.

The board examined the financial consequences and then announced that it would postpone implementing the program. (clearer finite revision)

The rewrite restores sequence, agency, and the future-relative-to-announcement interpretation. It is not merely stylistic simplification; it makes claims that the nominal version leaves to inference.

Register choice in interaction

— علت رد درخواست چه بود؟ — در نامه نوشته‌اند: «به‌دلیل ارائه نشدن مدرک اقامت.» یعنی چون مدرک اقامت را نفرستادی.

— ellat-e radd-e darkhâst che bud? — dar nâme neveshte-and: «be-dalil-e erâ'e na-shodan-e madrak-e eqâmat.» ya'ni chun madrak-e eqâmat râ na-ferestâdi.

— Why was the application rejected? — The letter says, ‘because the residence document was not submitted.’ In other words, because you didn't send it. (formal wording explained in neutral conversation)

Common Mistakes

1. Treating a verbal noun as finite

❌ شورا تصویب طرح دیروز.

Incorrect — تصویب is an event noun here and cannot carry the clause by itself.

✅ شورا طرح را دیروز تصویب کرد.

shurâ tarh râ diruz tasvib kard.

The council approved the plan yesterday.

2. Assuming ezâfe identifies the agent

❌ بررسی کارشناس همیشه یعنی کارشناس چیزی را بررسی کرده است.

Incorrect as a general claim — the phrase may also mean an examination of the expert.

✅ بررسی گزارش از سوی کارشناس دو ساعت طول کشید.

barrasi-ye gozâresh az su-ye kârshenâs do sâ'at tul keshid.

The expert's examination of the report took two hours. (roles explicitly distinguished)

3. Mixing two passive institutional frames

❌ گزارش مورد ارزیابی اجرا شد.

Incorrect — مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفتن and ارزیابی شدن have been blended.

✅ پیشنهاد در نشست صبح بررسی شد.

pishnehâd dar neshast-e sobh barrasi shod.

The proposal was examined at the morning meeting.

4. Hiding a necessary logical relation

❌ تصویب طرح بودجه پرداخت شد.

Incorrect — adjacent event nouns do not reveal whether approval is a cause, condition, or earlier event.

✅ پس از تصویب طرح، بودجه‌ی مرحله‌ی نخست پرداخت شد.

pas az tasvib-e tarh, budje-ye marhale-ye nokhost pardâkht shod.

After the plan was approved, the budget for the first phase was paid.

Key Takeaways

Nominalization turns an event into a noun phrase; it does not preserve finite person, tense, mood, or negation automatically.
Ezâfe links participants but does not label their semantic roles.
پس از، به‌دلیل، در صورت, and similar frames restore temporal, causal, and conditional relations.
Passive light-verb predicates suit institutional procedure, while finite active clauses make agency clearer.
Use density to package established information; restore subordinate clauses when the actor, chronology, or modal force is new or consequential.

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