دادن dâdan: to Give | Farsi Grammar

دادن dâdan means “give,” but it also carries tense and agreement in many compounds: نشان دادن “show,” اجازه دادن “allow,” تغییر دادن “change something,” and ادامه دادن “continue.” Its past stem is داد and its present stem is ده. Standard می‌دهم is pronounced mi-daham; singular command بده is bede.

Literal giving has two core participants besides the giver: the thing transferred and the recipient. A specific transferred thing normally takes را, while the recipient takes به: کلید را به نازنین دادم. English can place a recipient directly after give; Persian does not copy that double-object order without a marker.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Reading	Use
infinitive	دادن	dâdan	dictionary form
past stem	داد	dâd-	دادم، می‌دادم
present stem	ده	dah-	می‌دهم، بدهد
past participle	داده	dâde	داده‌ام
imperative	بده؛ بدهید	bede; bedahid	singular; plural/polite
negative imperative	نده؛ ندهید	nade; nadahid	singular; plural/polite

The written present stem ده is pronounced dah- before standard endings: دهم، دهی، دهد. In بده and نده, final ه represents the final vowel e, not ah. This spelling-to-sound alternation is predictable inside the paradigm but still needs explicit practice.

High-value paradigm

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

Negation is نمی‌دهم، ندادم، نداده‌ام، ندهم. In many compound subjunctives and commands, affirmative بـ may be omitted: اجازه بدهید وارد شویم is ordinary, while اجازه دهید وارد شویم is more formal and uses the shorter stem form. The negative consistently has نـ: اجازه ندهید.

Giving a thing to someone

The neutral order is giver + theme را + به recipient + دادن, though Persian can scramble constituents for discourse purposes. The markers, not one rigid position, identify the roles.

کتاب راهنما را به همکار جدیدم دادم.

ketâb-e râhnamâ râ be hamkâr-e jadid-am dâdam.

I gave the guidebook to my new colleague. (neutral standard; specific theme and marked recipient)

در پایان کارگاه به هر شرکت‌کننده یک گواهی می‌دهند.

dar pâyân-e kârgâh be har sherkat-konande yek govâhi mi-dahand.

At the end of the workshop, they give each participant a certificate. (formal-neutral; indefinite theme without را)

لطفا این بسته را فقط به خود خانم رضایی بدهید.

lotfan in baste râ faqat be khod-e khânom-e rezâyi bedahid.

Please give this package only to Ms. Rezaei herself. (polite standard command)

A recipient can be pronominalized after به: به او دادم، بهش دادم. The latter uses an enclitic and is neutral in conversation; careful formal prose often prefers به او. A theme can also be an object clitic: دادمش “I gave it/him/her,” but when two third-person participants are involved, full forms prevent ambiguity.

رسید را به او دادم، اما نسخه‌ی خودم را نگه داشتم.

resid râ be u dâdam, ammâ noskhe-ye khod-am râ negah dâshtam.

I gave the receipt to him or her, but kept my own copy. (careful standard; explicit roles)

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English give Sara the key has two adjacent noun phrases. Persian instead distinguishes them morphologically: کلید را is the specific theme and به سارا is the recipient.

Causative and transitive compounds

In many compounds دادن introduces an external causer or agent. Compare intransitive تغییر کردن “change” with transitive تغییر دادن “change something,” and حرکت کردن “move” with حرکت دادن “move something.” The object belongs to the whole compound.

این تجربه نگاه من به آموزش را تغییر داد.

in tajrobe negâh-e man be âmuzesh râ taghyir dâd.

This experience changed my view of education. (neutral standard; transitive تغییر دادن)

صندلی را کمی جلوتر حرکت بده تا راه باز شود.

sandali râ kami jelow-tar harekat bede tâ râh bâz shavad.

Move the chair a little farther forward so the way opens up. (neutral singular command; causative حرکت دادن)

The pattern is productive but not unlimited. Persian says نشان دادن “show,” یاد دادن “teach,” خبر دادن “inform,” and اجازه دادن “allow”; other meanings select کردن، زدن، گرفتن, or another light verb. Learn each complete predicate.

استاد روش درست تلفظ واژه را به ما نشان داد.

ostâd ravesh-e dorost-e talaffoz-e vâzhe râ be mâ neshân dâd.

The teacher showed us the correct way to pronounce the word. (neutral standard; نشان دادن)

پدرم در کودکی به من شنا یاد داد.

pedar-am dar kudaki be man shenâ yâd dâd.

My father taught me to swim when I was a child. (neutral standard; یاد دادن)

For the broader architecture, see کردن as Do, Make, Cause, and Light Verb.

اجازه دادن and finite complements

به کسی اجازه دادن marks the permitted person with به. The permitted action is normally a finite subjunctive, optionally introduced by که in careful prose.

نگهبان به ما اجازه داد از ورودی اصلی وارد شویم.

negahbân be mâ ejâze dâd az vorudi-ye asli vâred shavim.

The guard allowed us to enter through the main entrance. (neutral standard; permitted person plus subjunctive action)

This frame is not a literal transfer of “permission” alone: its participant structure belongs to the compound اجازه دادن. English infinitival allowed us to enter should not trigger a Persian long infinitive.

Lexicalized meanings

Some compounds diverge sharply from English. امتحان دادن means “take/sit an exam” from the candidate's viewpoint; امتحان گرفتن means “give/administer an exam” from the examiner's viewpoint. سخنرانی کردن is “give a speech,” not mechanical سخنرانی دادن.

هفته‌ی آینده امتحان پایان‌ترم می‌دهم، برای همین هر شب درس می‌خوانم.

hafte-ye âyande emtehân-e pâyân-term mi-daham, barâ-ye hamin har shab dars mi-khânam.

I am taking the final exam next week, so I study every night. (neutral; امتحان دادن from the student's perspective)

Tehran speech

Everyday Tehran commonly has میدم، میدی، میده، میدیم، میدین، میدن (informal: Tehran). The standard consonant ه is absent from the spoken stem, and colloquial writing often reflects that reduction. Plural/polite command is commonly بدین.

— اون کتاب رو میدی به من؟ — آره، فقط فردا برش گردون.

— un ketâb ro midi be man? — âre, faqat fardâ bar-esh gardun.

— Will you give me that book? — Yeah, just bring it back tomorrow. (informal: Tehran)

آدرس رو برام بفرست؛ خودم به راننده نشون میدم.

âdres ro barâm be-ferest; khod-am be rânande neshun midam.

Send me the address; I'll show it to the driver myself. (informal: Tehran)

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Standard می‌دهم and Tehran میدم differ in both pronunciation and spelling convention. Keep a whole sentence within one register rather than adding standard endings to the reduced stem.

Common Mistakes

1. Using past stem داد in the present

❌ او هر هفته به ما تمرین می‌دادد.

Incorrect — present forms use stem ده; داد belongs to the past system.

✅ استاد هر هفته یک تمرین تازه به ما می‌دهد.

ostâd har hafte yek tamrin-e tâze be mâ mi-dahad.

The teacher gives us a new exercise every week.

2. Marking the recipient as a second direct object

❌ کلید را نازنین را دادم.

Incorrect — the recipient needs به, while را marks the specific theme.

✅ کلید یدکی را به نازنین دادم.

kelid-e yadaki râ be nâzanin dâdam.

I gave the spare key to Nazanin.

3. Using an infinitive after اجازه دادن

❌ به مهمان‌ها اجازه دادیم وارد شدن.

Incorrect — the permitted action appears as a finite subjunctive.

✅ به مهمان‌ها اجازه دادیم زودتر وارد سالن شوند.

be mehmân-hâ ejâze dâdim zud-tar vâred-e sâlon shavand.

We allowed the guests to enter the hall earlier.

4. Putting می‌ on the noun in a compound

❌ این خبر نظر من را می‌تغییر دهد.

Incorrect — aspect and person marking belong on دادن: تغییر می‌دهد.

✅ این اطلاعات تازه نتیجه‌ی بررسی را تغییر می‌دهد.

in ettelâ'ât-e tâze natije-ye barrasi râ taghyir mi-dahad.

This new information changes the outcome of the review.

5. Mixing reduced and standard endings

❌ شما جواب را فردا میدمید.

Incorrect — reduced میدم cannot take standard or invented plural marking.

✅ شما پاسخ نهایی را فردا می‌دهید.

shomâ pâsokh-e nehâyi râ fardâ mi-dahid.

You will give the final answer tomorrow. (standard polite/plural)

Key Takeaways

Memorize دادن — داد — ده — داده, with بده bede and negative نده nade.
An identified or discourse-specific transferred theme normally takes را; the recipient takes به.
Causative/transitive compounds such as تغییر دادن، حرکت دادن, and نشان دادن are lexical units whose object belongs to the whole predicate.
اجازه دادن selects a permitted person with به and a finite subjunctive action.
Tehran میدم، میده، میدن belongs to informal speech; standard writing uses می‌دهم، می‌دهد، می‌دهند.

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