Core Compounds with کردن | Farsi Grammar

کردن is Persian's most productive light verb. It combines with nouns, adjectives, and modern loanwords to create predicates such as کار کردن “work,” بررسی کردن “review,” تمیز کردن “clean,” and رزرو کردن “reserve.” In each one, کردن carries the verbal morphology, but the complete combination determines what the predicate means and which complements it allows.

Productive does not mean interchangeable with every English do or make. Persian says تصمیم گرفتن “decide,” گوش دادن “listen,” and عکس گرفتن “take a photo.” The partner must be conventional. The general architecture is introduced on Compound Verbs as Single Lexical Predicates.

Three central patterns

Compounds with کردن cluster around action, directed activity, and causation:

Pattern	Examples	Typical argument structure	Register
activity	کار کردن، ورزش کردن، استراحت کردن	often intransitive; optional setting or duration	neutral
action on something	بررسی کردن، تعمیر کردن، رزرو کردن	agent + object	neutral; some technical
caused state	تمیز کردن، گرم کردن، آماده کردن	causer + affected object	neutral

The boundaries are lexical rather than perfectly mechanical. تمرین کردن may be intransitive “practice” or take a direct object such as تلفظ را تمرین کردن. شروع کردن can take an object, while شروع شدن presents the event itself as beginning. Learn the whole predicate in a natural frame.

بعد از کار نیم ساعت ورزش می‌کنم.

ba'd az kâr nim sâ'at varzesh mi-konam.

After work, I exercise for half an hour. (neutral conversation; activity)

کارشناس قرارداد را بند به بند بررسی کرد.

kârshenâs qarârdâd râ band be band barrasi kard.

The specialist reviewed the contract clause by clause. (formal-neutral; transitive action)

پیش از آمدن مهمان‌ها اتاق را مرتب کردیم.

pish az âmadan-e mehmân-hâ otâq râ morattab kardim.

Before the guests arrived, we tidied the room. (neutral standard; caused state)

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Ask two questions when learning a کردن compound: “Is it established?” and “What frame does the whole predicate select?” Knowing that کردن is transitive in many uses does not answer either question by itself.

Transitivity belongs to the whole predicate

Many کردن compounds are transitive. A specific affected object normally takes را: فایل را دانلود کردم، اتاق را تمیز کردیم. The nonverbal element is not that object. In اتاق را تمیز کردم, تمیز is part of the predicate “clean”; اتاق را is the affected object.

لطفا این فرم را تا آخر امروز کامل کنید.

lotfan in form râ tâ âkhar-e emruz kâmel konid.

Please complete this form by the end of today. (polite neutral; specific object)

تعمیرکار ماشین لباس‌شویی را همان روز تعمیر کرد.

ta'mirkâr mâshin-e lebâs-shuyi râ hamân ruz ta'mir kard.

The repair technician fixed the washing machine that same day. (neutral standard)

Some compounds are normally intransitive: کار کردن، زندگی کردن، استراحت کردن. Adding an English object directly can be impossible or can require a different Persian frame. English “work this job,” for example, is not mechanically این شغل را کار کردن in ordinary Iranian Persian; one says در این شغل کار کردن “work in this job.”

خواهرم سه سال در یک آزمایشگاه کار کرد.

khâhar-am se sâl dar yek âzmâyeshgâh kâr kard.

My sister worked in a laboratory for three years. (neutral standard; intransitive with a setting phrase)

Causative کردن and inchoative شدن

With many adjectives and result expressions, کردن introduces an external causer, while شدن makes the changing participant the subject:

Caused change with کردن	Spontaneous/unprofiled change with شدن
پنجره را باز کردم — I opened the window	پنجره باز شد — the window opened
غذا را گرم کردم — I warmed the food	غذا گرم شد — the food got warm
کودک را آماده کردم — I got the child ready	کودک آماده شد — the child got ready

آفتاب اتاق را خیلی گرم کرد، پس پنجره را باز کردم.

âftâb otâq râ kheyli garm kard, pas panjare râ bâz kardam.

The sun made the room very warm, so I opened the window. (neutral standard; two causative compounds)

چای سرد شده بود؛ دوباره گرمش کردم.

chây sard shode bud; dobâre garm-ash kardam.

The tea had gone cold, so I warmed it again. (neutral conversation; شدن state change followed by causative کردن)

The pair is powerful but not universally productive. A dictionary may list only one member, or Persian may prefer a different verb. Do not create a کردن/شدن pair merely because English has a transitive/intransitive alternation.

Productivity and conventional limits

Modern Persian commonly recruits کردن for technical loans: اسکن کردن، آپلود کردن، زوم کردن. These are ordinary in technical and conversational contexts, though an official text may prefer an established Persian equivalent. Such productivity helps speakers name new actions quickly.

رسید را اسکن کردم و برای حسابدار فرستادم.

resid râ eskan kardam va barâ-ye hesâbdâr ferestâdam.

I scanned the receipt and sent it to the accountant. (neutral technical register)

می‌توانی نقشه را کمی زوم کنی؟

mi-tavâni naqshe râ kami zum koni?

Can you zoom in on the map a little? (neutral technical conversation)

Yet familiar meanings often have fixed partners: عکس گرفتن “take a photo,” زنگ زدن “call,” پیشنهاد دادن “suggest,” تصمیم گرفتن “decide.” Replacing these partners with کردن may sound nonnative or change the meaning. There is no purely logical rule that derives all combinations; high-frequency compounds must be memorized.

Complements and prepositions

The entire compound determines its preposition: به چیزی فکر کردن, به کسی کمک کردن, از کسی تشکر کردن, با کسی صحبت کردن. English prepositions are unreliable guides.

پیش از پاسخ دادن، کمی به پیشنهادت فکر می‌کنم.

pish az pâsokh dâdan, kami be pishnehâd-at fekr mi-konam.

Before answering, I'll think about your suggestion for a while. (neutral conversation; فکر کردن به)

از همه‌ی همکارانم برای کمکشان تشکر کردم.

az hame-ye hamkârân-am barâ-ye komak-eshân tashakkor kardam.

I thanked all my colleagues for their help. (neutral standard; تشکر کردن از)

Record the complement along with the lemma. کمک کردن به کسی is a more useful vocabulary entry than bare کمک کردن.

Standard and conversational forms

The compound's nonverbal element normally remains the same across registers. The light verb changes: standard بررسی می‌کند / می‌کنند corresponds to Tehran بررسی می‌کنه / می‌کنن (informal: Tehran). Technical loanwords themselves are not automatically informal, but spellings that imitate reduced speech should not enter formal prose.

— فردا چیکار می‌کنی؟ — اتاق رو مرتب می‌کنم و بعد استراحت می‌کنم.

— fardâ chikâr mi-koni? — otâq ro morattab mi-konam va ba'd esterâhat mi-konam.

— What are you doing tomorrow? — I'll tidy the room and then rest. (informal: Tehran)

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کردن is a productive grammatical resource, not a universal emergency verb. Conventional selection still wins: speakers accept new technical combinations readily but retain entrenched predicates such as تصمیم گرفتن.

Common Mistakes

1. Using کردن for every English verb

❌ دیروز از غروب عکس کردم.

Incorrect — Persian says عکس گرفتن for ‘take a photo.’

✅ دیروز از غروب چند عکس گرفتم.

diruz az ghorub chand aks gereftam.

Yesterday I took several photos of the sunset.

2. Treating the nominal partner as the direct object

❌ من بررسی را قرارداد کردم.

Incorrect — بررسی کردن is the predicate; قرارداد is its object.

✅ من نسخه‌ی تازه‌ی قرارداد را بررسی کردم.

man noskhe-ye tâze-ye qarârdâd râ barrasi kardam.

I reviewed the new version of the contract.

3. Omitting را from a specific affected object

❌ همان اتاقی که گفتی تمیز کردم.

Incorrect in the intended neutral reading — the identified room needs را.

✅ همان اتاقی را که گفتی تمیز کردم.

hamân otâqi râ ke gofti tamiz kardam.

I cleaned the very room you mentioned.

4. Using کردن when the subject undergoes the change

❌ هوا ناگهان سرد کرد.

Incorrect for an uncaused change — the weather becomes cold with سرد شدن.

✅ نیمه‌شب هوا به‌سرعت سرد شد.

nime-shab havâ be-sor'at sard shod.

At midnight, the weather quickly turned cold.

5. Guessing the wrong preposition

❌ باید درباره‌ی این مشکل به مدیر تشکر کنیم.

Incorrect — تشکر کردن selects از for the person thanked.

✅ باید از مدیر برای حل این مشکل تشکر کنیم.

bâyad az modir barâ-ye hall-e in moshkel tashakkor konim.

We should thank the manager for solving this problem.

Key Takeaways

کردن forms activities, actions on objects, and causative changes.
The whole predicate—not کردن alone—determines transitivity and complement choice.
X کردن / X شدن often contrasts causing a change with undergoing it, but not every expression forms a free pair.
New technical compounds are productive; entrenched everyday meanings still require their conventional light verb.
Store frames such as فکر کردن به and تشکر کردن از with the lemma.

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