خواستن khâstan: to Want | Farsi Grammar

خواستن khâstan means “want” and, in a more formal frame, “request.” It has past stem خواست but present stem خواه: می‌خواهم mi-khâham. The letters خواه preserve historical spelling, while ordinary Iranian pronunciation does not pronounce a separate v or w.

This verb also supplies the formal future auxiliary: lexical می‌خواهم بروم means “I want to go,” whereas خواهم رفت means “I will go.” The presence or absence of می‌, the complement form, and the register jointly distinguish desire from future time.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Reading	Use
infinitive	خواستن	khâstan	dictionary form
past stem	خواست	khâst-	خواستم، می‌خواستم
present stem	خواه	khâh-	می‌خواهم، بخواهد
past participle	خواسته	khâste	خواسته‌ام
imperative	بخواه؛ بخواهید	bekhâh; bekhâhid	possible but semantically restricted
negative imperative	نخواه؛ نخواهید	nakhâh; nakhâhid	marked; often replaced by a fuller warning

Commands meaning simply “want!” are pragmatically unusual because desire is not normally ordered. بخواه is natural in frames such as هرچه می‌خواهی بخواه “ask for whatever you want” or with the meaning “request.” The morphology is regular from خواه, but frequency is determined by meaning.

High-value lexical paradigm

Person	Present indicative	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌خواهم	خواستم	خواسته‌ام	بخواهم
you (sg.)	می‌خواهی	خواستی	خواسته‌ای	بخواهی
he/she/it	می‌خواهد	خواست	خواسته است	بخواهد
we	می‌خواهیم	خواستیم	خواسته‌ایم	بخواهیم
you (pl./polite)	می‌خواهید	خواستید	خواسته‌اید	بخواهید
they	می‌خواهند	خواستند	خواسته‌اند	بخواهند

Lexical negation is نمی‌خواهم، نخواستم، نخواسته‌ام، نخواهم. The last form is structurally ambiguous in isolation: نخواهم بروم has lexical/subjunctive “that I not want to go” only in an appropriate licensing environment, while نخواهم رفت is formal future “I will not go.” The following verb reveals the construction.

Wanting a thing

With a noun object, خواستن is transitive. An indefinite or nonspecific item often appears without را; an identified or discourse-specific item normally takes را.

برای صبحانه چای می‌خواهم، نه قهوه.

barâ-ye sobhâne chây mi-khâham, na qahve.

For breakfast I want tea, not coffee. (neutral standard; nonspecific object)

همان اتاق کنار حیاط را می‌خواهیم.

hamân otâq-e kenâr-e hayât râ mi-khâhim.

We want that room beside the courtyard. (neutral standard; identified object with را)

Polite service encounters often use past imperfective می‌خواستم to soften a current request, much like English I wanted to....

ببخشید، می‌خواستم یک بلیت برای شیراز بگیرم.

bebakhshid, mi-khâstam yek belit barâ-ye shirâz begiram.

Excuse me, I'd like to get a ticket to Shiraz. (polite neutral; past form softens a present request)

English learners should not interpret every past form as past-time desire. Here the tense creates interpersonal distance rather than moving the purchase into the past.

Wanting an action

For the same subject, خواستن normally takes a finite present subjunctive: می‌خواهم بروم. Persian does not use the long infinitive after personal خواستن as English uses to go.

می‌خواهم امسال زبان فارسی را جدی‌تر بخوانم.

mi-khâham emsâl zabân-e fârsi râ jeddi-tar bekhânam.

I want to study Persian more seriously this year. (neutral standard; same-subject subjunctive)

With a different embedded subject, state it explicitly; که is available and is especially useful in careful prose.

می‌خواهم که شما هم در تصمیم نهایی شریک باشید.

mi-khâham ke shomâ ham dar tasmim-e nehâyi sharik bâshid.

I want you to have a part in the final decision. (careful standard; different embedded subject)

The subjunctive appears because the desired event is not asserted as fact. This complement pattern is productive across tense: می‌خواست بیاید “he/she wanted to come,” خواسته‌ام بدانم “I have wanted to know.”

Requesting something from someone

Formal از کسی خواستن means “ask/request of someone.” The person requested from takes از, while the requested act appears as a subjunctive clause. This differs from simply wanting that person as an object.

از مسئول پذیرش خواستم رسید را دوباره برایم بفرستد.

az mas'ul-e paziresh khâstam resid râ dobâre barâ-yam be-ferestad.

I asked the receptionist to send me the receipt again. (formal-neutral request frame)

Future auxiliary

The formal future uses an inflected خواهـ without می‌, followed by the short infinitive or past stem: خواهم رفت، خواهی دید، خواهد گفت. Only خواهـ carries person; the final stem is invariant.

نتیجه‌ی درخواست تا پایان هفته اعلام خواهد شد.

natije-ye darkhâst tâ pâyân-e hafte e'lâm khâhad shod.

The outcome of the application will be announced by the end of the week. (formal written future passive)

This auxiliary is grammatical and current, but everyday speech normally uses a futurate present: فردا می‌روم rather than فردا خواهم رفت. Review the choice on Choosing the Future Construction.

💡

Use the complement as a diagnostic: می‌خواهم + subjunctive expresses desire; خواهـ + short past stem builds the formal future. A single translation with will or want hides the Persian structure.

Tehran speech

Everyday Tehran has می‌خوام، می‌خوای، می‌خواد، می‌خوایم، می‌خواین، می‌خوان (informal: Tehran). The vowel and endings contract, but the complement remains a colloquial subjunctive or finite clause. Standard and colloquial forms should not be mixed inside one paradigm.

— چی می‌خوای سفارش بدی؟ — فعلا فقط یه چای می‌خوام.

— chi mi-khây sefâresh bedi? — fe'lan faqat ye chây mi-khâm.

— What do you want to order? — For now I just want a tea. (informal: Tehran)

نمی‌خوام قولی بدم که نتونم بهش عمل کنم.

nemi-khâm qowli bedam ke na-tunam be-hesh amal konam.

I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. (informal: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Building the present from خواست

❌ او یک اتاق آرام می‌خواستد.

Incorrect — present forms use خواه; خواست belongs to the past system.

✅ او برای مطالعه یک اتاق آرام می‌خواهد.

u barâ-ye motâle'e yek otâq-e ârâm mi-khâhad.

He or she wants a quiet room for studying.

2. Using a long infinitive after lexical خواستن

❌ می‌خواهم فردا زودتر آمدن.

Incorrect — personal خواستن selects a finite subjunctive complement.

✅ می‌خواهم فردا پیش از ساعت هشت بیایم.

mi-khâham fardâ pish az sâ'at-e hasht biyâyam.

I want to come before eight tomorrow.

3. Mixing desire and future morphology

❌ من فردا می‌خواهم رفت.

Incorrect — desire needs بروم, while formal future needs خواهم رفت.

✅ من فردا برای ثبت‌نام خواهم رفت.

man fardâ barâ-ye sabt-nâm khâham raft.

I will go to register tomorrow. (formal future)

4. Mixing colloquial stem and standard ending

❌ شما می‌خوامید همین‌جا بمانید؟

Incorrect — می‌خوام cannot take the standard plural ending; choose one complete register.

✅ آیا می‌خواهید همین‌جا منتظر بمانید؟

âyâ mi-khâhid hamin-jâ montazer bemânid?

Would you like to wait here? (polite standard)

5. Separating the standard prefix

❌ من آن صندلی کنار پنجره را می خواهم.

Incorrect standard orthography — می‌ and خواهم require a ZWNJ.

✅ من صندلی کنار پنجره را می‌خواهم.

man sandali-ye kenâr-e panjare râ mi-khâham.

I want the seat beside the window.

Key Takeaways

Memorize خواستن — خواست — خواه — خواسته; ordinary pronunciation of خواه has no separate v sound.
Noun objects follow ordinary specificity marking; desired actions use a finite subjunctive.
از کسی خواستن means request something from someone.
Lexical می‌خواهم بروم expresses desire; formal خواهم رفت expresses future.
Tehran می‌خوام، می‌خواد، می‌خوان belongs to informal speech; edited prose uses the full standard paradigm.

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