Free Relatives with هر | Farsi Grammar

Persian combines universal هر with a human, thing, or place expression to form free-relative expressions: هر کس (که) “whoever,” هرچه (که) “whatever,” and هرجا (که) “wherever.” هرچه and هرجا are compact fused forms; هر کس retains the light human noun کس, but none has a contentful head such as کتاب in کتابی که خریدم “the book that I bought.” The entire expression fills a noun-phrase or adverbial role in the larger clause.

The core forms

Form	Domain	Possible English values	Example role
هر کس (که)	people	whoever; everyone who	subject or object
هرچه (که)	things/content	whatever; everything that	usually a noun-phrase role
هرجا (که)	places	wherever; everywhere that	locative role
هر جایی که	places	any place that; wherever	expanded headed variant

هر کس زودتر رسید، چراغ‌های سالن را روشن کند.

har kas zud-tar resid, cherâgh-hâ-ye sâlon râ rowshan konad.

Whoever arrives first should turn on the hall lights. (neutral; human free relative as subject)

هرچه برای سفر لازم داری از کمد بردار.

har-che barâ-ye safar lâzem dâri az komod bar-dâr.

Take whatever you need for the trip from the cupboard. (neutral; thing free relative as object)

هرجا اینترنت باشد می‌توانم کار کنم.

har-jâ internet bâshad mi-tavânam kâr konam.

I can work wherever there is internet access. (neutral; locative free relative)

The English translation changes with context because هر contributes universal or free-choice force, while the following clause restricts the relevant set.

Generic and universal readings

In a general rule, هر کس که P means “every person who P.” The statement distributes over all members who satisfy the relative clause.

هر کسی که در این ساختمان کار می‌کند کارت ورود دارد.

har kasi ke dar in sâkhtemân kâr mi-konad kârt-e vorud dârad.

Everyone who works in this building has an entry card. (neutral; generic universal)

هرچه در این پوشه است باید بایگانی شود.

har-che dar in pushe ast bâyad bâyegâni shavad.

Everything in this folder must be archived. (formal-neutral; maximal/exhaustive reading)

The first quantifies over people one by one. The second denotes the maximal collection of things satisfying “is in this folder.” English distinguishes everyone who from whatever/everything that lexically; Persian lets context select the most natural translation.

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Test whether the expression supplies its own referent. کتابی که... has the head “book”; هرچه... itself means “whatever/everything that...” and needs no following noun.

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Decide را from the free relative’s role in the matrix clause, not from its position inside the embedded clause: mark a delimited matrix object, but do not add a second را after the relative clause.

Free choice

With an imperative, permission, possibility, or preference predicate, the same forms often mean “any ... you choose.” No single member is selected in advance.

هر کسی را که خواستی به جشن دعوت کن.

har kasi râ ke khâsti be jashn da'vat kon.

Invite whoever you like to the celebration. (neutral; free-choice human expression as a را-marked matrix object)

هر جایی که راحت‌تری بنشین.

har jâ-yi ke râhat-tari be-neshin.

Sit wherever you feel more comfortable. (neutral conversation; free-choice place)

می‌توانی هرچه می‌خواهی بپرسی.

mi-tavâni har-che mi-khâhi be-porsi.

You can ask whatever you want. (neutral; permission licenses free choice)

The relative clause restricts the choice—people you want, places where you are comfortable—but does not identify one option. This is why imperatives and modals strongly favor the free-choice reading.

Optional که and spelling

که is common after expanded forms such as هر کسی که and هر جایی که. It can be omitted after the compact forms, especially هرچه and هرجا: هرچه خواستی, هرجا رفتی. Omission is neutral, not sloppy.

هر کس که این فرم را امضا می‌کند باید کارت شناسایی نشان بدهد.

har kas ke in form râ emzâ mi-konad bâyad kârt-e shenâsâyi neshân be-dahad.

Everyone who signs this form must show identification. (formal-neutral; overt که)

هرجا رفتی آدرس محل اقامتت را برایم بفرست.

har-jâ rafti âdres-e mahal-e eqâmat-at râ barâ-yam be-ferest.

Wherever you go, send me the address where you’re staying. (neutral; که omitted after هرجا)

Standard house spelling joins هرچه and هرجا, but writes هر کس separately. هر که “whoever” is compact and established in proverbs and literature (literary/archaic-leaning); it is not the everyday default for new conversational sentences.

Object marking with را

The whole free relative can be the object of the matrix verb. Human هر کس readily takes را, placed before که, when the matrix instruction targets whichever selected person: هر کسی را که خواستی دعوت کن.

هرچه often appears without را in unrestricted free-choice commands: هرچه می‌خواهی بردار. When the expression is interpreted as a delimited, exhaustive object, را is possible and commonly followed by که.

هرچه را که روی فهرست بود برای مشتری فرستادیم.

har-che râ ke ru-ye fehrest bud barâ-ye moshtari ferestâdim.

We sent the customer everything that was on the list. (formal-neutral; delimited exhaustive object with را)

An expanded headed alternative is هر چیزی را که روی فهرست بود. This makes the nominal structure explicit. Do not add a second را after the relative clause; the marker before که already marks the complete free-relative object in the matrix clause. See Differential Object Marking with را.

Event-specific “all that” readings

Free relatives can refer to the complete content of a particular past event, not only generic or open choices.

هرچه در جلسه گفتی یادداشت کردم.

har-che dar jalase gofti yâddâsht kardam.

I wrote down everything you said in the meeting. (neutral; event-specific exhaustive reading)

— برای سفر چی بردارم؟ — هرچی فکر می‌کنی لازم می‌شه بردار.

— barâ-ye safar chi bar-dâram? — har-chi fekr mi-koni lâzem mi-she bar-dâr.

— What should I take for the trip? — Take whatever you think you’ll need. (informal, regional: Tehran; colloquial هرچی)

Colloquial هرچی represents the ordinary Tehran pronunciation of هرچه and is appropriate in deliberately informal target text. Edited prose uses هرچه.

Do not confuse free-relative هرچه with the correlative degree pattern هرچه بیشتر ... بیشتر “the more ..., the more ...”; that construction relates two scales and has its own syntax.

Common Mistakes

1. Adding a noun after compact هرچه

❌ هرچه چیزی می‌خواهی بردار.

Incorrect — هرچه already supplies the thing-domain head; use هرچه or expanded هر چیزی که.

✅ هر چیزی که برای نقاشی لازم داری بردار.

har chizi ke barâ-ye naqqâshi lâzem dâri bar-dâr.

Take anything you need for painting.

2. Doubling را around the relative clause

❌ هر کس را که دیدی را دعوت کن.

Incorrect — one matrix را before که is sufficient.

✅ هر کس را که در راه دیدی دعوت کن.

har kas râ ke dar râh didi da'vat kon.

Invite whoever you see on the way.

3. Detaching هر from کس

❌ کس که هر زودتر برسد برنده است.

Incorrect order — universal هر immediately precedes کس.

✅ هر کس که زودتر پاسخ بدهد برنده است.

har kas ke zud-tar pâsokh be-dahad barande ast.

Whoever answers first is the winner.

4. Writing colloquial هرچی in formal prose

⚠️ متقاضی باید هرچی لازم است ارائه دهد.

motaqâzi bâyad har-chi lâzem ast erâ'e dahad.

Structurally clear, but هرچی is colloquial and clashes with formal administrative prose.

✅ متقاضی باید هرچه لازم است ارائه دهد.

motaqâzi bâyad har-che lâzem ast erâ'e dahad.

The applicant must provide whatever is required. (formal)

Key Takeaways

هر کس، هرچه، هرجا form free relatives without a separate lexical head.
Context yields generic “everyone/everything,” free-choice “whoever/whatever,” or event-specific exhaustive readings.
که is common but often optional after compact forms.
Human and delimited matrix objects can take را before که; unrestricted هرچه often remains unmarked.
Use standard هرچه/هرجا in edited prose and colloquial هرچی only in informal dialogue.

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