بردن bordan: to Take Away | Farsi Grammar

بردن means “to take, carry, or lead away”: an agent causes a person or thing to move from the current reference point toward another place. It is the transitive caused-motion partner of رفتن “go.” Persian also uses the same simple verb for winning a game, prize, or argument, and embeds it in essential expressions such as لذت بردن از “enjoy” and پی بردن به “discover/realize.”

English “take” is much broader. Persian بردن is not automatically the right choice for “take medicine,” “take a photo,” or “take a shower”; those use their own lexical combinations. The stable core of بردن is caused motion away, with “win” as a conventional extension.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Romanization	Example
infinitive	بردن	bordan	to take away
past stem	برد	bord	بردم “I took”
present stem	بر	bar	می‌برم “I take”
past participle	برده	borde	برده‌اند “they have taken”
imperative	ببر / ببرید	bebar / bebarid	take it away
negative imperative	نبر / نبرید	nabar / nabarid	do not take it away

The spelling ببر contains imperative بـ plus present stem بر. It is pronounced bebar, not as one syllable and not like noun ببر babr “tiger.” The corresponding subjunctive carries personal endings: ببرم، ببری، ببرد. The colloquial برم “I go / that I go” belongs to رفتن, while ببرم “that I take [it]” retains both written b's.

این پوشه را به اتاق مدیر ببر.

in pushe râ be otâq-e modir bebar.

Take this folder to the manager's office. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

لطفا این لیوان‌ها را نبرید؛ هنوز لازمشان داریم.

lotfan in livân-hâ râ nabarid; hanuz lâzem-eshân dârim.

Please don't take these glasses away; we still need them. (polite/plural command)

Core paradigm

Person	Present	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌برم	بردم	برده‌ام	ببرم
you (sg.)	می‌بری	بردی	برده‌ای	ببری
he/she/it	می‌برد	برد	برده است	ببرد
we	می‌بریم	بردیم	برده‌ایم	ببریم
you (pl./polite)	می‌برید	بردید	برده‌اید	ببرید
they	می‌برند	بردند	برده‌اند	ببرند

Negative forms are نمی‌برم، نبردم، نبرده‌ام، نبرم. Unvowelled نبرد can be negative past nabord “he/she did not take” or noun nabard “battle.” Its vowels as well as sentence structure resolve the spelling ambiguity.

The third-singular present and past imperfective are likewise both written می‌برد. Present-stem بر plus ـد is read mi-barad “he/she takes,” while می‌ plus past stem برد is mi-bord “he/she was taking / used to take.”

ممکن است بچه‌ها را با ماشین ببریم.

momken ast bachche-hâ râ bâ mâshin bebarim.

We may take the children by car. (neutral standard; subjunctive after possibility)

مدارک را هنوز به سفارت نبرده‌ام.

madârek râ hanuz be sefârat naborde-am.

I still haven't taken the documents to the embassy. (neutral standard)

Caused motion and its complements

The direct object is the entity moved and normally takes را when specific. A goal uses به, پیش, or a spatial phrase; a source uses از. In verb-final Persian, all normally precede بردن.

پرستار بیمار را از بخش به آزمایشگاه برد.

parastâr bimâr râ az bakhsh be âzmâyeshgâh bord.

The nurse took the patient from the ward to the laboratory. (neutral standard)

بسته را مستقیم پیش نگهبان بردند.

baste râ mostaqim pish-e negahbân bordand.

They took the package straight to the guard. (neutral narrative)

This direction is deictic: it is organized around the speaker, listener, or current scene. بردن normally moves the object away from that center; آوردن moves it toward the relevant center. A speaker already waiting at the office therefore asks someone to “bring” the file there; a speaker at home asks someone to “take” it to the office. The actual route can be identical while the chosen viewpoint changes.

💡

Choose بردن by viewpoint, not by English wording. Motion away from the active “here” favors بردن; motion toward that center favors آوردن.

Winning

For a contest, match, prize, or bid, بردن means “win.” The won entity is the direct object: بازی را بردن، جایزه را بردن. For defeating an opponent, everyday Persian often says کسی را بردن or more explicitly کسی را شکست دادن; the latter avoids ambiguity with physically taking the person away.

تیم ما بازی آخر را دو بر یک برد.

tim-e mâ bâzi-ye âkhar râ do bar yek bord.

Our team won the last match two to one. (neutral sports register)

این فیلم جایزه‌ی بهترین فیلمنامه را برده است.

in film jâyeze-ye behtarin filmnâme râ borde ast.

This film has won the award for best screenplay. (neutral/formal)

English distinguishes “take” and “win” lexically; Persian lets the object select the interpretation. A suitcase makes caused motion salient; a match makes victory salient.

Compounds and governed prepositions

Expression	Meaning	Register/frame
لذت بردن از	to enjoy	neutral; از + source of enjoyment
پی بردن به	to find out, realize	neutral/formal; به + fact
نام بردن از	to mention by name	neutral/formal; از + person/thing
به سر بردن	to spend/pass time; reside	formal; often با/در + circumstance/place
زمان بردن	to take time	neutral; duration as complement
از یاد بردن	to forget	literary/formal; everyday speech prefers فراموش کردن

The preposition is part of the lexical frame. لذت بردن does not take a specific enjoyed object with را; it presents that thing as a source with از. Likewise, پی بردن reaches a realization with به.

از قدم زدن کنار رودخانه لذت بردیم.

az qadam zadan kenâr-e rudkhâne lezzat bordim.

We enjoyed walking beside the river. (neutral standard)

پلیس با بررسی تصاویر دوربین‌ها به اشتباه راننده پی برد.

polis bâ barrasi-ye tasâvir-e durbin-hâ be eshtebâh-e rânande pey bord.

By reviewing the camera footage, the police discovered the driver's mistake. (formal/news register)

تعمیر آسانسور دست‌کم دو روز زمان می‌برد.

ta'mir-e âsânsur dast-kam do ruz zamân mi-barad.

Repairing the elevator will take at least two days. (neutral standard)

💡

Store the whole expression, including its preposition: از چیزی لذت بردن and به چیزی پی بردن. English object structure does not predict these frames.

Tehran conversational forms

In everyday Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran), endings reduce: می‌برم، می‌بری، می‌بره، می‌بریم، می‌برین، می‌برن. The first-person spelling happens to match standard, but the pronunciation and the other persons reveal the register. Object clitics are very frequent: ببرش “take it/him/her,” بردمش “I took it/him/her.”

این ظرفو ببرش آشپزخونه، لطفا.

in zarfo bebar-esh âshpazkhune, lotfan.

Take this dish to the kitchen, please. (informal, regional: Tehran; clitic doubling)

The doubling in این ظرفو ببرش is conversational and discourse-driven. Careful standard uses این ظرف را به آشپزخانه ببر. Object clitics receive fuller treatment on Object Clitics on Verbs.

Common Mistakes

1. Using the past stem in the present

❌ هر روز بچه را مدرسه می‌بردم.

Incorrect for a current routine — می‌بردم is past continuous, ‘I used to take.’

✅ هر روز پسرم را به مدرسه می‌برم.

har ruz pesar-am râ be madrese mi-baram.

I take my son to school every day.

2. Omitting the caused-motion object

❌ خواهرم به فرودگاه برد.

Incorrect for the intended ‘my sister took me to the airport’ — nothing in this isolated sentence identifies me as the moved participant.

✅ خواهرم مرا تا فرودگاه برد.

khâhar-am marâ tâ forudgâh bord.

My sister took me as far as the airport.

3. Reversing a governed preposition

❌ از دلیل تأخیر پی بردیم.

Incorrect — پی بردن introduces the discovered fact with به.

✅ سرانجام به دلیل تأخیر پی بردیم.

saranjâm be dalil-e ta'khir pey bordim.

We finally discovered the reason for the delay.

4. Applying English “take” to every activity

❌ قبل از خواب یک دوش بردم.

Incorrect — Persian does not use بردن for ‘take a shower.’

✅ قبل از خواب دوش گرفتم.

qabl az khâb dush gereftam.

I took a shower before bed.

Key Takeaways

Learn بردن — برد — بر, with command ببر and negative نبر.
The verb moves a direct object away from the active reference point; source and goal are separate phrases.
With games and prizes, بردن means “win.”
Compounds govern their own prepositions: لذت بردن از، پی بردن به، نام بردن از.
Tehran speech reduces third and plural endings, but formal writing keeps می‌برد، می‌برند.

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