گذاشتن gozâshtan: to Put or Let | Farsi Grammar

گذاشتن has two central uses: “put/leave something somewhere” and “let/allow someone to do something.” Both involve control: an agent causes an object to occupy a place or permits an event to proceed. Persian then extends the verb through common compounds such as قرار گذاشتن “arrange,” وقت گذاشتن “devote time,” and تأثیر گذاشتن “affect.”

This high-frequency verb is difficult for a real reason: its past and present stems differ, standard spelling preserves ذ, and Tehran speech reduces the present stem to ذار. Learn گذاشت — گذار — بذار as related forms with distinct morphological and register roles.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Romanization	Use
infinitive	گذاشتن	gozâshtan	to put, leave, let
past stem	گذاشت	gozâsht	گذاشتم “I put”
present stem	گذار	gozâr	می‌گذارم “I put/let”
past participle	گذاشته	gozâshte	گذاشته‌ام “I have put”
imperative	بگذار / بگذارید	begozâr / begozârid	put / let
negative imperative	نگذار / نگذارید	nagozâr / nagozârid	do not put / do not let

The infinitive does not reveal present stem گذار by simple subtraction. The ر appears throughout the present system; the past system has شت. That alternation is lexical and must be memorized.

کلید را روی میز بگذار.

kelid râ ru-ye miz begozâr.

Put the key on the table. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

این کارتن‌ها را جلوی در نگذارید.

in kârton-hâ râ jelow-ye dar nagozârid.

Don't put these boxes in front of the door. (polite/plural standard)

Core paradigm

Person	Present	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌گذارم	گذاشتم	گذاشته‌ام	بگذارم
you (sg.)	می‌گذاری	گذاشتی	گذاشته‌ای	بگذاری
he/she/it	می‌گذارد	گذاشت	گذاشته است	بگذارد
we	می‌گذاریم	گذاشتیم	گذاشته‌ایم	بگذاریم
you (pl./polite)	می‌گذارید	گذاشتید	گذاشته‌اید	بگذارید
they	می‌گذارند	گذاشتند	گذاشته‌اند	بگذارند

Negatives are نمی‌گذارم، نگذاشتم، نگذاشته‌ام، نگذارم. In careful standard pronunciation, می‌گذارد has present stem gozâr; it is not read as though it contained past گذاشت.

معمولا دوچرخه‌ام را در حیاط می‌گذارم.

ma'mulâ docharkhe-am râ dar hayât mi-gozâram.

I usually leave my bicycle in the yard. (neutral standard)

ممکن است وسایل را اینجا بگذاریم؟

momken ast vasâyel râ injâ begozârim?

May we leave the equipment here? (polite neutral; subjunctive)

Placement: object, location, and resulting state

In the placement use, گذاشتن is transitive. The placed item is a direct object; a specific one normally takes را. The destination is often a spatial noun phrase without general goal به: روی میز گذاشتن، داخل کشو گذاشتن، کنار پنجره گذاشتن. See Movement versus Location: به and در for why the relational phrase itself supplies the endpoint.

غذا را داخل یخچال گذاشتم تا خراب نشود.

ghazâ râ dâkhel-e yakhchâl gozâshtam tâ kharâb nashavad.

I put the food in the refrigerator so it wouldn't spoil. (neutral standard)

گوشی‌ات را کنار تخت گذاشته‌ای.

gushi-at râ kenâr-e takht gozâshte-i.

You have left your phone beside the bed. (neutral standard)

An adjective can name the resulting state: در را باز گذاشتن “leave the door open,” چراغ را روشن گذاشتن “leave the light on.” Compare intransitive در باز ماند “the door remained open.” گذاشتن adds an agent who causes or deliberately permits that state, a central causative contrast discussed on Causative in ـاندن and ـانیدن.

پنجره را کمی باز گذاشتیم تا هوا عوض شود.

panjare râ kami bâz gozâshtim tâ havâ avaz shavad.

We left the window slightly open so the air could circulate. (neutral standard)

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With گذاشتن, the object is caused to occupy a place or state: چراغ را روشن گذاشتم. With ماندن, that same entity is the subject: چراغ روشن ماند.

Permission: “let someone do something”

In the permission use, a finite form of گذاشتن is followed by a clause whose verb is normally subjunctive. The person allowed is identified by an overt embedded subject or by the person ending on that subjunctive: بگذار علی حرف بزند “let Ali speak,” بگذار حرف بزنم “let me speak,” نمی‌گذارند وارد شویم “they do not let us enter.” Conversational Persian can additionally resume a third-person participant with a clitic, as in بگذارش برود “let him/her go.”

بگذار بچه‌ها خودشان انتخاب کنند.

begozâr bachche-hâ khod-eshân entekhâb konand.

Let the children choose for themselves. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

نگهبان نگذاشت بدون کارت وارد شویم.

negahbân nagozâsht bedun-e kârt vâred shavim.

The guard did not let us enter without a card. (neutral standard)

With a first-person embedded subject, English uses object “me,” but Persian usually lets the subjunctive ending carry the person: بگذار توضیح بدهم. Keep that ending distinct from an object clitic: بگذارم برود has first-singular ـم on گذاشتن and means “let me allow him/her to go,” whereas بگذارش برود has object ـش, “let him/her go.” بگذار بروم unambiguously means “let me go.”

یک دقیقه بگذار توضیح بدهم چه اتفاقی افتاد.

yek daqiqe begozâr towzih bedaham che ettefâqi oftâd.

Give me a minute to explain what happened. (neutral spoken standard)

The clause connection is often direct, without an equivalent of English “to.” The present subjunctive is explained on Present Subjunctive Formation.

High-frequency compounds

Expression	Meaning	Frame/register
قرار گذاشتن	to arrange; make an appointment	با person / برای time; neutral
وقت گذاشتن	to devote time	برای person/task; neutral
تأثیر گذاشتن	to affect, have an effect	بر/روی person/thing; neutral/formal
کنار گذاشتن	to set aside; abandon	direct object; neutral
جا گذاشتن	to leave behind accidentally	direct object; everyday neutral
نام گذاشتن	to name	نام X را Y گذاشتن; neutral

برای پنجشنبه با دندان‌پزشک قرار گذاشتم.

barâ-ye panjshanbe bâ dandân-pezeshk qarâr gozâshtam.

I made an appointment with the dentist for Thursday. (neutral standard)

کم‌خوابی روی تمرکز آدم تأثیر می‌گذارد.

kam-khâbi ru-ye tamarkoz-e âdam ta'sir mi-gozârad.

Lack of sleep affects a person's concentration. (neutral standard)

گذرنامه‌ام را در تاکسی جا گذاشته بودم.

gozarnâme-am râ dar tâksi jâ gozâshte budam.

I had left my passport in the taxi. (everyday neutral)

Compound meanings are not always predictable from physical placement. Learn the complete predicate and its governed preposition, especially تأثیر گذاشتن بر/روی and وقت گذاشتن برای.

Spelling: گذاشتن, گذشتن, and گزاردن

Three verbs sound similar but are not interchangeable:

Correct verb	Meaning	Present stem	Example
گذاشتن	put, let	گذار	می‌گذارد
گذشتن	pass, elapse, forgive	گذر	می‌گذرد
گزاردن	perform, render (in set formal compounds)	گزار	نماز می‌گزارد

The misspelling گزاشتن is never the standard spelling of “put.” Meaning, not sound alone, determines whether the word has ذ or ز.

Tehran conversational forms

In everyday Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran), present stem گذار reduces to ذار: می‌ذارم، می‌ذاری، می‌ذاره، می‌ذاریم، می‌ذارین، می‌ذارن. The command is بذار / بذارین, and negative نذار / نذارین. Past گذاشتم commonly sounds like gozâshtam with reduced endings but keeps the standard stem.

بذار اول قهوه‌مو تموم کنم، بعد میام.

bezâr avval qahve-mo tamum konam, ba'd mi-âm.

Let me finish my coffee first; then I'll come. (informal, regional: Tehran)

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بذار is correct conversational Persian, not careless standard spelling. Write بگذار in neutral prose and بذار only when the surrounding language is explicitly informal.

Common Mistakes

1. Misspelling the verb with ز

❌ کتاب را روی قفسه گزاشتم.

Incorrect — ‘put’ is always written گذاشتن with ذ.

✅ کتاب مرجع را روی قفسه‌ی بالا گذاشتم.

ketâb-e marja' râ ru-ye qafase-ye bâlâ gozâshtam.

I put the reference book on the top shelf.

2. Using the past stem in the present

❌ او همیشه گوشی‌اش را بی‌صدا می‌گذاشتد.

Incorrect — the present uses stem گذار plus third-singular ـد.

✅ او هنگام جلسه گوشی‌اش را روی بی‌صدا می‌گذارد.

u hengâm-e jalse gushi-ash râ ru-ye bi-sedâ mi-gozârad.

During meetings, she sets her phone to silent.

3. Making the placement destination a basic به phrase

❌ فنجان را به میز گذاشتم.

Incorrect — bare به میز means ‘to the table’ but does not express placement on its surface.

✅ فنجان چای را روی سینی گذاشتم.

fenjân-e chây râ ru-ye sini gozâshtam.

I put the cup of tea on the tray.

4. Using an indicative after permissive گذاشتن

❌ بگذار او خودش تصمیم می‌گیرد.

Incorrect for permission — the allowed event is normally subjunctive.

✅ بگذار او خودش درباره‌ی پیشنهاد تصمیم بگیرد.

begozâr u khod-ash darbâre-ye pishnehâd tasmim begirad.

Let her decide about the proposal herself.

Key Takeaways

Store گذاشتن — گذاشت — گذار, with standard command بگذار.
Placement takes a direct object and a spatial destination: کتاب را روی میز گذاشتم.
Permission uses a following subjunctive event: بگذار حرف بزنم.
Keep گذاشتن “put,” گذشتن “pass,” and گزاردن “perform/render” distinct in writing.
Tehran می‌ذارم / بذار is normal informal speech; standard prose uses می‌گذارم / بگذار.

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