تغییر دادن taghyir dâdan: to Change Something | Farsi Grammar

تغییر دادن means “to change something”: its subject causes an object to become different. It is the transitive member of a productive causative contrast: مدیر برنامه را تغییر داد “the manager changed the plan,” but برنامه تغییر کرد “the plan changed.” The affected participant is an object only in the first sentence.

This predicate is common in neutral speech and especially frequent in formal, technical, and institutional writing. Its nonverbal element تغییر supplies the change meaning; دادن supplies tense, agreement, negation, and mood. English uses change both transitively and intransitively without changing form, so learners must actively choose the Persian light verb.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Romanization	Use
infinitive	تغییر دادن	taghyir dâdan	to change something
past base	تغییر داد	taghyir dâd	تغییر دادم
present base	تغییر ده	taghyir dah	تغییر می‌دهم
past participle	تغییر داده	taghyir dâde	تغییر داده‌اند
imperative	تغییر بده / تغییر بدهید	taghyir bede / taghyir bedahid	change it
negative imperative	تغییر نده / تغییر ندهید	taghyir nade / taghyir nadahid	do not change it

These are current (neutral standard) forms. Written present stem ده is pronounced dah- before an ending, while singular command بده is bede. The noun and light verb remain separate words: تغییر داد, not a ZWNJ-bound compound.

رمز حساب را هر چند ماه یک بار تغییر بده.

ramz-e hesâb râ har chand mâh yek bâr taghyir bede.

Change the account password every few months. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

بدون هماهنگی با تیم، ترتیب مرحله‌ها را تغییر ندهید.

bedun-e hamâhangi bâ tim, tartib-e marhale-hâ râ taghyir nadahid.

Do not change the order of the stages without coordinating with the team. (polite/plural standard)

Core paradigm

Person	Present	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	تغییر می‌دهم	تغییر دادم	تغییر داده‌ام	تغییر بدهم
you (sg.)	تغییر می‌دهی	تغییر دادی	تغییر داده‌ای	تغییر بدهی
he/she/it	تغییر می‌دهد	تغییر داد	تغییر داده است	تغییر بدهد
we	تغییر می‌دهیم	تغییر دادیم	تغییر داده‌ایم	تغییر بدهیم
you (pl./polite)	تغییر می‌دهید	تغییر دادید	تغییر داده‌اید	تغییر بدهید
they	تغییر می‌دهند	تغییر دادند	تغییر داده‌اند	تغییر بدهند

Negatives are تغییر نمی‌دهم، تغییر ندادم، تغییر نداده‌ام، تغییر ندهم. The affirmative subjunctive and imperative retain بـ on دادن: تغییر بدهد، تغییر بده. The pronunciation alternation is reviewed on دادن dâdan: to Give.

ممکن است این تصمیم مسیر پژوهش را تغییر بدهد.

momken ast in tasmim masir-e pazhuhesh râ taghyir bedahad.

This decision may change the course of the research. (academic; subjunctive)

در نسخه‌ی تازه چند بخش اصلی را تغییر داده‌ایم.

dar noskhe-ye tâze chand bakhsh-e asli râ taghyir dâde-im.

We have changed several main sections in the new version. (formal-neutral)

Causative transitivity and object marking

The subject of تغییر دادن is the causer; the object is what undergoes change. A specific or discourse-identified object normally takes را. An indefinite object may be bare: چند بند تغییر دادند “they changed several clauses.” An event can also cause the change without intending it: باران مسیر مسابقه را تغییر داد.

باران شدید مسیر مسابقه را تغییر داد.

bârân-e shadid masir-e mosâbeqe râ taghyir dâd.

Heavy rain changed the course of the race. (neutral standard; nonhuman causer)

کمیته سه بند از آیین‌نامه را تغییر داد.

komite se band az âyin-nâme râ taghyir dâd.

The committee changed three clauses of the regulations. (formal/institutional)

An object clitic can attach to تغییر: تغییرش دادم “I changed it.” Because the same ending can be possessive—تغییرش “his/her/its change”—a full object is clearer when context does not identify the referent.

طرح اولیه عملی نبود، برای همین تغییرش دادیم.

tarh-e avvaliyye amali nabud, barâ-ye hamin taghyir-ash dâdim.

The original plan was not practical, so we changed it. (neutral conversation; object clitic)

💡

Use the causative test: if the subject makes another participant different, choose تغییر دادن and make that participant its object. If the subject itself undergoes change, choose an intransitive partner.

Source and goal of a change

Persian can state both endpoints with از ... به .... The affected item remains the direct object: زمان را از دوشنبه به سه‌شنبه تغییر دادند. For a category or status, به alone may identify the new value.

زمان جلسه را از دوشنبه به چهارشنبه تغییر دادند.

zamân-e jalse râ az doshanbe be chahârshanbe taghyir dâdand.

They changed the meeting from Monday to Wednesday. (neutral standard)

کاربری این ساختمان را از اداری به فرهنگی تغییر داده‌اند.

kârbari-ye in sâkhtemân râ az edâri be farhangi taghyir dâde-and.

They have changed this building's use from administrative to cultural. (formal/administrative)

English often says “change X into Y.” Persian does not normally copy into with a spatial compound preposition here; endpoint به does the work.

تغییر کردن and تغییر یافتن

تغییر کردن is intransitive and current across neutral registers: the changing entity is its subject. تغییر یافتن has essentially the same intransitive valency but is more characteristic of formal, academic, and administrative prose. Neither takes the changing entity with را.

Predicate	Valency	Typical register
چیزی را تغییر دادن	causer + affected object	neutral to formal
چیزی تغییر کردن	changing subject	neutral
چیزی تغییر یافتن	changing subject	formal/academic
چیزی را عوض کردن	causer + affected object	everyday neutral

بعد از گفت‌وگو نظر هر دو طرف تغییر کرد.

ba'd az goft-o-gu nazar-e har do taraf taghyir kard.

After the discussion, both sides' views changed. (neutral standard; intransitive)

در دهه‌ی گذشته الگوی مصرف انرژی تغییر یافته است.

dar dahe-ye gozashte olgu-ye masraf-e enerzhi taghyir yâfte ast.

Over the past decade, the pattern of energy consumption has changed. (academic/formal)

These contrasts are part of the wider system described on Transitive and Intransitive Pairs.

💡

Formal تغییر یافتن does not mean “find a change.” Here یافتن forms a lexical intransitive predicate meaning “undergo/come to have,” and the changed entity is the subject.

Register and Tehran speech

For abstract, technical, and institutional objects, تغییر دادن is unmarked and often preferable to عوض کردن. With clothes, seats, batteries, or everyday replacements, عوض کردن is usually more idiomatic. Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) reduces دادن: تغییر میدم، میدی، میده، میدیم، میدین، میدن.

این تنظیم رو الان تغییر نمیدم؛ اول یه نسخه‌ی پشتیبان می‌گیرم.

in tanzim ro alân taghyir nemidam; avval ye noskhe-ye poshtibân mi-giram.

I'm not changing this setting now; first I'll make a backup. (informal, regional: Tehran)

لباست خیس شده؛ برو عوضش کن.

lebâs-at khis shode; boro avaz-ash kon.

Your clothes are wet; go change them. (informal, regional: Tehran; idiomatic عوض کردن)

Common Mistakes

1. Using دادن when the subject undergoes the change

❌ برنامه‌ی سفر ناگهان تغییر داد.

Incorrect — the plan itself changed, so the predicate must be intransitive.

✅ برنامه‌ی سفر ناگهان تغییر کرد.

barnâme-ye safar nâgahân taghyir kard.

The travel plan suddenly changed.

2. Giving intransitive تغییر کردن a direct object

❌ مدیر زمان جلسه را تغییر کرد.

Incorrect — a causer changing an object requires تغییر دادن.

✅ مدیر زمان جلسه را تغییر داد.

modir zamân-e jalse râ taghyir dâd.

The manager changed the meeting time.

3. Putting morphology on تغییر

❌ این قانون رفتار بازار را می‌تغییر دهد.

Incorrect — می‌ and agreement belong on دادن.

✅ این قانون رفتار بازار را تغییر می‌دهد.

in qânun raftâr-e bâzâr râ taghyir mi-dahad.

This law changes market behavior.

4. Joining the two members

❌ مسیر را تغییر‌دادیم.

Incorrect standard spacing — تغییر and دادن remain separate words.

✅ مسیر بازگشت را به‌دلیل ترافیک تغییر دادیم.

masir-e bâzgasht râ be-dalil-e terâfik taghyir dâdim.

We changed the return route because of traffic.

Key Takeaways

تغییر دادن is transitive and causative: its subject causes a را-marked object to become different.
تغییر کردن is the neutral intransitive partner; تغییر یافتن is a formal intransitive alternative.
Source and goal use از ... به ..., while the affected participant remains the direct object.
Only دادن carries tense, agreement, negation, and mood.
Use عوض کردن freely for many everyday replacements; abstract and institutional change favors تغییر دادن.

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