خوردن khordan: to Eat or Hit | Farsi Grammar

خوردن khordan most often means “eat, consume,” but it also describes collision and serves as the verbal part of many undergoer predicates: ضربه خوردن “be struck,” شکست خوردن “be defeated,” فریب خوردن “be deceived,” and زمین خوردن “fall.” Its past stem is خورد and its present stem is خور.

The English gloss hit is especially dangerous. توپ به دیوار خورد means “the ball hit the wall,” with the moving thing as subject and the surface marked by به. Agentive “I hit the ball” normally uses زدن, not transitive خوردن.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Reading	Use
infinitive	خوردن	khordan	dictionary form
past stem	خورد	khord-	خوردم، می‌خوردم
present stem	خور	khor-	می‌خورم، بخورد
past participle	خورده	khorde	خورده‌ام
imperative	بخور؛ بخورید	bekhor; bekhorid	singular; plural/polite
negative imperative	نخور؛ نخورید	nakhor; nakhorid	singular; plural/polite

The present and past stems differ by final د, a much more transparent alternation than رفت/رو or دید/بین. Nevertheless, د must not leak into the present paradigm: standard present “he/she eats” is می‌خورد, where the final د is the third-person ending attached to stem خور, not part of past stem خورد plus another ending.

High-value paradigm

Person	Present indicative	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌خورم	خوردم	خورده‌ام	بخورم
you (sg.)	می‌خوری	خوردی	خورده‌ای	بخوری
he/she/it	می‌خورد	خورد	خورده است	بخورد
we	می‌خوریم	خوردیم	خورده‌ایم	بخوریم
you (pl./polite)	می‌خورید	خوردید	خورده‌اید	بخورید
they	می‌خورند	خوردند	خورده‌اند	بخورند

Negation is نمی‌خورم، نخوردم، نخورده‌ام، نخورم. The same forms serve literal eating and lexical compounds; only the whole predicate reveals the sense.

Eating and consuming

Literal خوردن is transitive when food, drink, or medicine is expressed. An identified or discourse-specific item normally takes را; indefinite, nonspecific food may remain unmarked. Persian also uses خوردن with liquids and medicine where English chooses drink or take.

صبح‌ها معمولا نان و پنیر می‌خورم.

sobh-hâ ma'mulan nân-o panir mi-khoram.

In the mornings I usually eat bread and cheese. (neutral standard; habitual present)

سوپ را تا سرد نشده بخور.

sup râ tâ sard na-shode bekhor.

Eat the soup before it gets cold. (informal singular command)

پزشک گفت این قرص را بعد از غذا بخورم.

pezeshk goft in qors râ ba'd az ghazâ bekhoram.

The doctor said I should take this pill after eating. (neutral; medicine uses خوردن)

از صبح چیزی نخورده‌ای؛ اول کمی میوه بخور.

az sobh chizi na-khorde-i; avval kami mive bekhor.

You haven't eaten anything since morning; have some fruit first. (neutral conversation)

Collision: subject plus به

In the collision sense, خوردن is normally intransitive. The moving entity is the subject, and the surface or other participant takes به.

توپ به شیشه خورد، اما شیشه نشکست.

tup be shishe khord, ammâ shishe na-shekast.

The ball hit the window, but the glass did not break. (neutral; intransitive collision)

هنگام بلند شدن سرم به لبه‌ی قفسه خورد.

hengâm-e boland shodan sar-am be labe-ye qafase khord.

As I stood up, my head hit the edge of the shelf. (neutral conversation)

The contrast with agentive زدن is about participant structure. توپ به شیشه خورد presents a collision; بچه توپ را به شیشه زد presents an agent who caused the ball to strike the glass.

💡

For “hit,” ask who controls the impact. Uncontrolled collision commonly uses X به Y خورد; a deliberate agent normally uses زدن.

Undergoer compounds and lexical passives

In compounds, خوردن often presents its subject as the participant affected by an event. Common pairings include:

Undergoer with خوردن	Agentive partner	Meaning
شکست خوردن	شکست دادن	be defeated / defeat
ضربه خوردن	ضربه زدن	be struck / strike
فریب خوردن	فریب دادن	be deceived / deceive
گول خوردن	گول زدن	be tricked / trick

These predicates are passive-like in meaning but lexical in formation. They are not built by applying productive passive شدن to an arbitrary noun. Their light verb, arguments, and idiomatic meaning must be learned together.

تیم ما در وقت اضافه گل خورد و بازی را باخت.

tim-e mâ dar vaqt-e ezâfe gol khord-o bâzi râ bâkht.

Our team conceded a goal in extra time and lost the match. (neutral sports register; lexical گل خوردن)

به پیام جعلی اعتماد کردم و بدجوری گول خوردم.

be peyâm-e ja'li e'temâd kardam-o badjuri gul khordam.

I trusted the fake message and got badly tricked. (neutral conversation; گول خوردن)

در جریان حمل‌ونقل، گوشه‌ی میز ضربه خورده است.

dar jarayân-e haml-o-naql, gushe-ye miz zarbe khorde ast.

The corner of the table has been struck during transport. (formal-neutral; result of ضربه خوردن)

For the grammatical difference between such stored predicates and productive passive شدن, see Lexical Passive-like Compounds with خوردن and دیدن.

Other frequent lexical uses

زمین خوردن means “fall down,” زنگ خوردن means “ring” for a telephone or bell, and به چشم خوردن means “catch the eye/be noticeable.” None should be translated word by word.

گوشی‌ام وسط جلسه زنگ خورد و همه برگشتند و نگاهم کردند.

gushi-am vasat-e jalase zang khord-o hame bar-gashtand-o negâh-am kardand.

My phone rang in the middle of the meeting, and everyone turned to look at me. (neutral conversation; زنگ خوردن)

Tehran speech

Everyday Tehran has می‌خورم، می‌خوری، می‌خوره، می‌خوریم، می‌خورین، می‌خورن (informal: Tehran). First singular is close to the standard spelling; third singular and plural show the register clearly.

— شام چی می‌خورین؟ — من آش می‌خورم، بچه‌ها کباب می‌خورن.

— shâm chi mi-khorin? — man âsh mi-khoram, bachche-hâ kabâb mi-khoran.

— What are you having for dinner? — I'm having ash, and the children are having kebab. (informal: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Adding the past-stem د before a present ending

❌ من هر روز صبحانه می‌خوردمم.

Incorrect — this adds a second ending to past imperfective می‌خوردم; present first singular is می‌خورم.

✅ من روزهای کاری ساعت هفت صبحانه می‌خورم.

man ruz-hâ-ye kâri sâ'at-e haft sobhâne mi-khoram.

On workdays I eat breakfast at seven.

2. Combining direct-object and collision marking

❌ من به توپ را خوردم.

Incorrect — agentive hitting uses زدن; collision خوردن does not take the struck item with both به and را.

✅ من توپ را محکم به دیوار زدم.

man tup râ mohkam be divâr zadam.

I hit the ball hard against the wall.

3. Adding productive passive شدن to an undergoer compound

❌ تیم ما شکست خورده شد.

Incorrect — شکست خوردن already forms the lexical undergoer predicate; it does not take another passive شد.

✅ تیم ما در مسابقه‌ی نیمه‌نهایی شکست خورد.

tim-e mâ dar mosâbeqe-ye nime-nehâyi shekast khord.

Our team was defeated in the semifinal.

4. Using the wrong light verb for defeat

❌ حریف در پایان بازی شکست کرد.

Incorrect — the defeated participant شکست می‌خورد; the winner حریف را شکست می‌دهد.

✅ حریف با وجود بازی خوب در ضربات پنالتی شکست خورد.

harif bâ vojud-e bâzi-ye khub dar zarabât-e penâlti shekast khord.

Despite playing well, the opponent lost in the penalty shootout.

5. Separating the standard prefix

❌ خواهرم گوشت نمی خورد.

Incorrect standard orthography — نمی‌ and خورد form one verb with a ZWNJ.

✅ خواهرم گوشت نمی‌خورد، ولی ماهی دوست دارد.

khâhar-am gusht nemi-khorad, vali mâhi dust dârad.

My sister does not eat meat, but she likes fish.

Key Takeaways

Memorize خوردن — خورد — خور — خورده, with imperative بخور and negative نخور.
Literal eating is transitive; Persian also uses خوردن for medicine and liquids.
Collision normally has moving subject + به + surface + خوردن; deliberate agentive hitting uses زدن.
شکست خوردن، ضربه خوردن، فریب خوردن, and گول خوردن are lexical undergoer predicates, not freely generated passives.
Tehran می‌خوره، می‌خورن is informal; standard prose uses می‌خورد، می‌خورند.

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