ارزش داشتن means “to have value, be worth something, be worthwhile.” It covers both measurable value—این تابلو ده میلیون تومان ارزش دارد—and evaluation—این کتاب ارزش خواندن دارد “this book is worth reading.” The valued entity is the grammatical subject; داشتن carries agreement and tense.
The neutral present is stative and therefore lacks می: ارزش دارد, not ارزش میدارد. Persian also uses impersonal-looking میارزد “it is worth it,” from simple verb ارزیدن. The two overlap, but ارزش داشتن makes the value or worthwhile property more noun-like and readily accepts measures, degree expressions, and modifiers.
Principal parts and paradigm
| Form | Persian | Romanization | Use/register |
|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | ارزش داشتن | arzesh dâshtan | to have value / be worth |
| past base | ارزش داشت | arzesh dâsht | ارزش داشتیم |
| present base | ارزش دار | arzesh dâr | ارزش دارد |
| past participle | ارزش داشته | arzesh dâshte | ارزش داشته است |
| subjunctive | ارزش داشته باشد | arzesh dâshte bâshad | that it have value |
| imperative | — | — | no ordinary command meaning “be worth” |
| Person | Present | Simple past | Present perfect | Present subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | ارزش دارم | ارزش داشتم | ارزش داشتهام | ارزش داشته باشم |
| you (sg.) | ارزش داری | ارزش داشتی | ارزش داشتهای | ارزش داشته باشی |
| he/she/it | ارزش دارد | ارزش داشت | ارزش داشته است | ارزش داشته باشد |
| we | ارزش داریم | ارزش داشتیم | ارزش داشتهایم | ارزش داشته باشیم |
| you (pl./polite) | ارزش دارید | ارزش داشتید | ارزش داشتهاید | ارزش داشته باشید |
| they | ارزش دارند | ارزش داشتند | ارزش داشتهاند | ارزش داشته باشند |
Personal subjects are possible in evaluative statements—تو برای ما ارزش داری “you are valuable to us”—though things, actions, and experiences are more frequent subjects. Negatives are ارزش ندارم، ارزش نداشتم، ارزش نداشتهام، ارزش نداشته باشم. The periphrastic subjunctive and present without می follow داشتن dâshtan: to Have.
این نسخه با وجود نقصهایش هنوز ارزش زیادی دارد.
in noskhe bâ vojud-e naqs-hâ-yash hanuz arzesh-e ziyâdi dârad.
Despite its flaws, this edition is still very valuable. (formal-neutral)
شاید این مدرک در بازار کار ارزش چندانی نداشته باشد.
shâyad in madrak dar bâzâr-e kâr arzesh-e chandâni nadâshte bâshad.
This qualification may not have much value in the job market. (formal-neutral; subjunctive)
Monetary and measurable value
A price or value measure normally appears as an unmarked measure phrase before ارزش داشتن: صد هزار تومان ارزش دارد. It is not a direct object and takes no را. چقدر ارزش دارد؟ asks for value, while قیمتش چقدر است؟ asks specifically for price.
این فرش دستباف دستکم دویست میلیون تومان ارزش دارد.
in farsh-e dast-bâf dast-kam devist milyon tumân arzesh dârad.
This handmade carpet is worth at least two hundred million tomans. (formal-neutral valuation)
ارزش واقعی سهام در پایان سال چقدر بود؟
arzesh-e vâqe'i-ye sahâm dar pâyân-e sâl cheqadr bud?
What was the real value of the shares at the end of the year? (formal; noun and copula alternative)
ارزشمند بودن means “be valuable,” without specifying an exact amount. قیمت داشتن can mean “have a price,” sometimes implying that something is expensive, whereas ارزش داشتن also covers cultural, emotional, practical, and moral value.
Value relative to a participant or purpose
برای + person/group/purpose identifies who values the entity or what it is useful for: این نامه برای من ارزش دارد, این دادهها برای پژوهش ارزش دارند. The phrase does not make that participant the grammatical subject.
این عکس قدیمی برای خانوادهی ما ارزش عاطفی دارد.
in aks-e qadimi barâ-ye khânevâde-ye mâ arzesh-e âtefi dârad.
This old photograph has sentimental value for our family. (neutral standard)
این گزارش برای تصمیمگیری نهایی ارزش عملی کمی دارد.
in gozâresh barâ-ye tasmim-giri-ye nehâyi arzesh-e amali-ye kami dârad.
This report has little practical value for the final decision. (formal)
With people, برایم ارزش داری can express affection or respect, but برام عزیزی is warmer and more idiomatic in intimate everyday speech. Register and relationship matter; a literal calque of English “you are worth a lot to me” can sound transactional.
Worth doing: verbal-noun and finite patterns
Persian can place a long infinitive/verbal noun after ارزش: ارزش دیدن دارد، ارزش امتحان کردن دارد، ارزش دوباره خواندن دارد. This pattern evaluates the activity as worthwhile. The infinitive is noun-like and does not identify a new subject; the understood actor comes from context.
نمایشگاه کوچک است، اما ارزش دیدن دارد.
namâyeshgâh kuchek ast, ammâ arzesh-e didan dârad.
The exhibition is small, but it is worth seeing. (neutral standard)
این پیشنهاد ارزش دوباره بررسی کردن دارد.
in pishnehâd arzesh-e dobâre barrasi kardan dârad.
This proposal is worth reviewing again. (formal-neutral; verbal noun)
A finite alternative is ارزش دارد که... or, more naturally in many contexts, ارزش دارد... کنیم: ارزش دارد کمی صبر کنیم “it is worth waiting a little.” The following action is normally subjunctive because it is being recommended, not asserted as fact.
ارزش دارد یک بار دیگر با مشتری گفتوگو کنیم.
arzesh dârad yek bâr-e digar bâ moshtari goft-o-gu konim.
It is worth talking with the customer one more time. (formal-neutral; finite subjunctive)
The verbal-noun pattern is compact and entity-centered; the finite pattern makes the proposed actors visible. English worth doing does not require Persian to imitate an English gerund mechanically.
میارزد and related alternatives
ارزیدن has past stem ارزیدـ and present stem ارزـ. Its common third-person form میارزد means “it is worth it / it merits the cost or effort.” It is current in both speech and writing, especially with a following subjunctive: میارزد امتحان کنیم. Negative نمیارزد is a compact judgment that the return does not justify the cost.
راه دور است، ولی میارزد برای دیدن آبشار برویم.
râh dur ast, vali mi-arzad barâ-ye didan-e âbshâr be-ravim.
It is a long way, but it is worth going to see the waterfall. (neutral standard)
برای ده دقیقه صرفهجویی نمیارزد این همه خطر کنیم.
barâ-ye dah daqiqe sarfe-juyi nemi-arzad in hame khatar konim.
It isn't worth taking this much risk just to save ten minutes. (neutral standard)
ارزشمند بودن attributes value; ارزش داشتن states that value exists or measures it; میارزد delivers a cost–benefit judgment. These are tendencies, not rigidly separate dictionary meanings.
Tehran conversational forms
Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) uses ارزش داره / نداره and میارزه / نمیارزه. It may also use میصرفه / نمیصرفه for practical or financial “worth it,” a different predicate centered on advantage.
این رستوران یه کم دوره، ولی واقعا ارزش داره.
in restorân ye kam dure, vali vâqe'an arzesh dâre.
This restaurant is a little far away, but it's really worth it. (informal, regional: Tehran)
نمیارزه واسه این اختلاف کوچیک دعوا کنیم.
nemi-arze vâse-ye in ekhtelâf-e kuchik da'vâ konim.
It isn't worth arguing over this small disagreement. (informal, regional: Tehran)
Common Mistakes
1. Adding می to stative داشتن
❌ این نسخه ارزش زیادی میدارد.
Incorrect in neutral modern Persian — present ارزش داشتن uses دارد without می.
✅ این نسخه برای مجموعهداران ارزش زیادی دارد.
in noskhe barâ-ye majmu'e-dârân arzesh-e ziyâdi dârad.
This edition is highly valuable to collectors.
2. Marking the value measure as an object
❌ این تابلو ده میلیون تومان را ارزش دارد.
Incorrect — a value measure is not a direct object and takes no را.
✅ این تابلو حدود ده میلیون تومان ارزش دارد.
in tâblo hodud-e dah milyon tumân arzesh dârad.
This painting is worth about ten million tomans.
3. Using an indicative for a recommended action
❌ ارزش دارد این روش را امتحان میکنیم.
Incorrect — the unevaluated proposed action normally takes the subjunctive.
✅ ارزش دارد این روش تازه را امتحان کنیم.
arzesh dârad in ravesh-e tâze râ emtehân konim.
This new method is worth trying.
4. Mixing داشتن and ارزیدن
❌ این سفر میارزش دارد.
Incorrect hybrid — use either ارزش دارد or میارزد.
✅ این سفر طولانی است، اما میارزد.
in safar tulâni ast, ammâ mi-arzad.
The journey is long, but it is worth it.
Key Takeaways
- ارزش داشتن uses stative داشتن: ارزش دارد، داشت، داشته است، داشته باشد.
- Monetary value appears as an unmarked measure phrase, without را.
- برای identifies the evaluator or purpose: این یادگاری برایم ارزش دارد.
- Worthwhile activities appear as verbal nouns (ارزش دیدن دارد) or finite subjunctives (ارزش دارد برویم).
- میارزد / نمیارزد gives a compact current cost–benefit judgment; Tehran speech uses میارزه.
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