رسیدن residan: to Arrive or Reach | Farsi Grammar

رسیدن covers a family of meanings organized around an endpoint: a traveler arrives at a place, a hand reaches an object, a process reaches a level, a message reaches its recipient, or a quantity proves sufficient for a group. English divides these among “arrive,” “reach,” “get to,” and “be enough”; Persian keeps the endpoint in view and uses one intransitive verb.

Because رسیدن is intransitive, the arriving or reaching entity is its subject. When an agent delivers or gets someone or something to the endpoint, Persian uses causative رساندن.

Principal parts

Form	Persian	Romanization	Use
infinitive	رسیدن	residan	to arrive, reach
past stem	رسید	resid	رسیدم “I arrived”
present stem	رس	ras	می‌رسم “I arrive/reach”
past participle	رسیده	reside	رسیده است “has arrived”
imperative	برس / برسید	beres / beresid	arrive, reach
negative imperative	نرس / نرسید	nares / naresid	do not reach/arrive; contextually restricted

Past stem رسید contains long i; present stem رس has short a in standard pronunciation. Command برس can sound odd without a complement because arrival is not always under direct control. It is natural in wishes and urgent directions such as سالم برس “arrive safely” and زود برسید “get there early.”

وقتی به ایستگاه رسیدی، به من پیام بده.

vaqti be istgâh residi, be man payâm bede.

When you get to the station, message me. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

فردا کمی زودتر برسید تا جای مناسبی پیدا کنیم.

fardâ kami zud-tar beresid tâ jâ-ye monâsebi peydâ konim.

Arrive a little earlier tomorrow so we can find a good place. (polite/plural standard)

Core paradigm

Person	Present	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌رسم	رسیدم	رسیده‌ام	برسم
you (sg.)	می‌رسی	رسیدی	رسیده‌ای	برسی
he/she/it	می‌رسد	رسید	رسیده است	برسد
we	می‌رسیم	رسیدیم	رسیده‌ایم	برسیم
you (pl./polite)	می‌رسید	رسیدید	رسیده‌اید	برسید
they	می‌رسند	رسیدند	رسیده‌اند	برسند

Negatives are نمی‌رسم، نرسیدم، نرسیده‌ام، نرسم. Context disambiguates می‌رسد: it can mean “he/she arrives,” “it reaches,” or “it is enough.” The grammatical subject and endpoint identify the reading.

Written می‌رسید also merges two forms whose pronunciations differ: second-person plural/polite present mi-rasid “you arrive/reach” and third-person singular past imperfective mi-resid “he/she was arriving / used to reach.” Context and the stem vowel disambiguate them in speech.

ممکن است پرواز با یک ساعت تأخیر برسد.

momken ast parvâz bâ yek sâ'at ta'khir berasad.

The flight may arrive an hour late. (neutral standard; subjunctive)

بسته هنوز به نشانی جدید نرسیده است.

baste hanuz be neshâni-ye jadid na-reside ast.

The package has not yet reached the new address. (neutral standard)

Arrival and goal marking

A destination normally appears with به: به خانه رسیدن، به فرودگاه رسیدن. The arriving person or thing is the subject, so it takes no را. With رسیدن, در locates the event rather than identifying its endpoint: در تهران به هتل رسیدیم means that, while in Tehran, we reached the hotel.

قطار درست پیش از غروب به تبریز رسید.

qatâr dorost pish az ghorub be tabriz resid.

The train arrived in Tabriz just before sunset. (neutral standard)

نامه‌ی شما دیروز به دست من رسید.

nâme-ye shomâ diruz be dast-e man resid.

Your letter reached me yesterday. (neutral/formal; literally reached my hand)

In everyday Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran), conventional destinations can omit به: کی خونه می‌رسی؟ “When will you get home?” This is the same goal omission found with common motion verbs, not permission to omit به from every abstract expression. See Movement versus Location: به and در.

من رسیدم خونه؛ تو کجایی؟

man residam khune; to kojâ-yi?

I've made it home; where are you? (informal, regional: Tehran)

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With رسیدن, ask “what reaches?” That noun is the subject. The endpoint takes به in standard Persian; it is not a direct object corresponding mechanically to English “reach.”

Abstract goals, thresholds, and sensory reach

The endpoint may be abstract: به نتیجه رسیدن “reach a conclusion/result,” به توافق رسیدن “reach an agreement,” به سن قانونی رسیدن “reach legal age.” A measurement can also reach a threshold, and sound, light, or a body part can extend as far as a point.

پس از چند جلسه، دو طرف به توافق رسیدند.

pas az chand jalse, do taraf be tavâfoq residand.

After several meetings, the two sides reached an agreement. (formal/neutral)

دمای اتاق تا ظهر به سی درجه رسید.

damâ-ye otâq tâ zohr be si daraje resid.

The room temperature reached thirty degrees by noon. (neutral standard)

صدای سخنران به ردیف آخر نمی‌رسید.

sedâ-ye sokhanrân be radif-e âkhar nemi-resid.

The speaker's voice did not reach the back row. (neutral standard)

به چیزی رسیدن can also mean manage to attend to it: امروز به ایمیل‌ها نرسیدم “I did not get to the emails today.” With a person, به خود رسیدن means look after one's appearance or well-being; these are lexical extensions, not physical arrival.

Sufficiency: “be enough”

When a resource extends far enough for a need, رسیدن means “be sufficient.” The resource is the subject; به + person/group/endpoint marks who or what it suffices for. Negative forms are especially frequent.

این مقدار برنج به چهار نفر می‌رسد.

in meqdâr berenj be chahâr nafar mi-rasad.

This amount of rice is enough for four people. (neutral standard)

حقوق این ماه به همه‌ی هزینه‌ها نمی‌رسد.

hoquq-e in mâh be hame-ye hazine-hâ nemi-rasad.

This month's salary is not enough for all the expenses. (neutral standard)

Bare وقت نمی‌رسد is not the ordinary equivalent of “I do not have time”; use وقت ندارم or وقت نمی‌کنم for that. With رسیدن, name what the available time fails to cover: وقتم به همه‌ی کارها نمی‌رسد “my time does not stretch to all the tasks.” A person who cannot get around to a particular task says به این کار نمی‌رسم.

💡

The sufficiency reading still contains an endpoint metaphor: the available food or money “reaches” the intended recipients or expenses. The resource is the grammatical subject, so agreement follows ordinary Persian subject-agreement rules; the به-phrase does not control the verb. As elsewhere, nonhuman plural subjects may permit singular agreement.

Causative رساندن

رساندن is the transitive causative “deliver, take/get someone or something to, make reach.” Its past and present stems are رساند / رسان. The delivered entity becomes a direct object, while the endpoint keeps به: بسته را به اداره رساندم. This is the productive valency contrast described on Causative in ـاندن and ـانیدن.

راننده ما را به موقع به فرودگاه رساند.

rânande mâ râ be moqe' be forudgâh rasând.

The driver got us to the airport on time. (neutral standard)

این پیام را به مسئول شیفت برسانید.

in payâm râ be mas'ul-e shift berasânid.

Please pass this message to the shift supervisor. (polite neutral)

Reflexive خود را رساندن means make an effort to get oneself somewhere: خودم را به جلسه رساندم. Tehran forms رسوندن، می‌رسونم، برسون are normal (informal, regional: Tehran); standard writing uses رساندن، می‌رسانم، برسان.

Fixed expressions and register

Expression	Meaning	Register
به پایان رسیدن	come to an end	formal/reporting
از راه رسیدن	arrive, turn up	neutral/literary
فرا رسیدن	arrive, approach in time	formal/literary
به داد کسی رسیدن	come to someone's aid	neutral, often urgent
نوبت به کسی رسیدن	someone's turn come	neutral

نمایش ساعت ده به پایان رسید.

namâyesh sâ'at-e dah be pâyân resid.

The performance ended at ten o'clock. (formal/neutral reporting)

For completion as an aspectual system, compare Completion with تمام کردن، تمام شدن، به پایان رسیدن.

In colloquial Tehran conjugation, می‌رسم، می‌رسی، می‌رسه، می‌رسیم، می‌رسین، می‌رسن are current. Only the endings reduce; the stem remains رس.

Common Mistakes

1. Treating رسیدن as transitive

❌ من ایستگاه را ساعت هشت رسیدم.

Incorrect — the destination is a به-complement, not a direct object.

✅ من کمی پیش از ساعت هشت به ایستگاه رسیدم.

man kami pish az sâ'at-e hasht be istgâh residam.

I reached the station shortly before eight.

2. Using the past stem in the present

❌ اتوبوس هر روز دیر می‌رسیدد.

Incorrect — present stem رس takes third-singular ـد.

✅ اتوبوس این خط اغلب دیر می‌رسد.

otobus-e in khat aghlab dir mi-rasad.

The bus on this route often arrives late.

3. Confusing رسیدن with causative رساندن

❌ تاکسی من را به هتل رسید.

Incorrect — an agent that transports an object requires رساندن.

✅ تاکسی ما را مستقیم به هتل رساند.

tâksi mâ râ mostaqim be hotel rasând.

The taxi took us directly to the hotel.

4. Marking recipients as direct objects in the sufficiency use

❌ این کیک شش نفر را می‌رسد.

Incorrect — beneficiaries of sufficiency take به.

✅ این کیک کوچک به شش نفر نمی‌رسد.

in keyk-e kuchek be shesh nafar nemi-rasad.

This small cake isn't enough for six people.

Key Takeaways

Store رسیدن — رسید — رس; it is intransitive and normally marks its endpoint with به.
Physical destinations, abstract goals, thresholds, and recipients all instantiate an endpoint relation.
In the sufficiency use, the resource is the subject: این غذا به چهار نفر می‌رسد.
Causative رساندن introduces an agent and a direct object: بسته را رساندم.
Tehran می‌رسه / می‌رسن and رسوندن are informal; standard forms are می‌رسد / می‌رسند and رساندن.

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