شستن shostan: to Wash | Farsi Grammar

شستن shostan “wash” has past stem شستـ shost- and a present stem traditionally cited as شو shu-. Before ordinary vowel-initial endings, a linking ی appears, giving the surface base شویـ shuy- in می‌شویم mi-shuyam “I wash,” می‌شویی “you wash,” and بشوی “wash!”

This creates genuine ambiguity in unvowelized writing. می‌شویم can be mi-shuyam “I wash” from شستن, or mi-shavim “we become” from شدن. Context, agreement, and the spoken vowels resolve the reading. Everyday Tehran speech largely avoids the collision by using the expanded present stem شورـ: می‌شورم “I wash.”

Principal parts

Item	Persian	Reading	Use
infinitive	شستن	shostan	to wash
past stem	شستـ	shost-	شستم، می‌شستم
present stem	شو / شویـ	shu- / shuy-	می‌شویم، بشویم
past participle	شسته	shoste	perfect and passive
imperative	بشوی؛ بشویید	be-shuy; be-shuyid	wash; careful standard
negative imperative	نشوی؛ نشویید	na-shuy; na-shuyid	do not wash; careful standard

High-value careful-standard paradigm

Person	Present indicative	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	می‌شویمmi-shuyam	شستم	شسته‌ام	بشویمbe-shuyam
you (sg.)	می‌شویی	شستی	شسته‌ای	بشویی
he/she/it	می‌شویدmi-shuyad	شست	شسته است	بشویدbe-shuyad
we	می‌شوییم	شستیم	شسته‌ایم	بشوییم
you (pl./polite)	می‌شویید	شستید	شسته‌اید	بشویید
they	می‌شویند	شستند	شسته‌اند	بشویند

Negatives include نمی‌شویم nemi-shuyam, نشستم na-shostam, نشسته‌ام na-shoste-am, and نشویم na-shuyam. Writing creates another collision: نشستم can be na-shostam “I did not wash” or neshastam “I sat.” Natural context normally makes the reading immediate.

من هر شب بعد از شام ظرف‌ها را می‌شویم.

man har shab ba'd az shâm zarf-hâ râ mi-shuyam.

I wash the dishes every night after dinner. (careful written standard; first singular)

دیروز پرده‌های اتاق را شستیم و در حیاط آویزان کردیم.

diruz parde-hâ-ye otâq râ shostim-o dar hayât âvizân kardim.

Yesterday we washed the room’s curtains and hung them in the yard. (neutral standard; simple past)

هنوز لباس‌های سفر را نشسته‌ام.

hanuz lebâs-hâ-ye safar râ na-shoste-am.

I still haven’t washed the clothes from the trip. (neutral standard; negative perfect)

💡

On the page, do not guess می‌شویم in isolation. Look for the subject and complements: من ظرف‌ها را می‌شویم is mi-shuyam “I wash,” while ما خسته می‌شویم is mi-shavim “we become tired.”

The homography with شدن

Several forms overlap exactly in writing while differing in sound and person. The ambiguity is systematic, not faulty spelling.

Written form	شستن reading	شدن reading
می‌شویم	mi-shuyam, I wash	mi-shavim, we become
می‌شوید	mi-shuyad, he/she washes	mi-shavid, you become
بشوی	be-shuy, wash!	be-shavi, that you become

ما بعد از چند دقیقه راه رفتن خسته می‌شویم.

mâ ba'd az chand daqiqe râh raftan khaste mi-shavim.

We get tired after walking for a few minutes. (neutral standard; شدن, not شستن)

پیش از غذا دست‌هایت را با آب و صابون بشوی.

pish az ghazâ dast-hâ-yat râ bâ âb-o sâbun be-shuy.

Wash your hands with soap and water before eating. (careful standard command; شستن)

The page on شدن shodan: to Become gives the contrasting shav- paradigm.

Objects, body parts, and reflexive meaning

شستن is transitive. The thing cleaned is the object and takes را when specific. With one’s own body parts, Persian normally puts a possessive ending on the body part: دست‌هایم را شستم “I washed my hands.” It does not require English-style possessive syntax plus a separate reflexive pronoun.

وقتی به خانه رسیدم، صورتم را شستم و لباس عوض کردم.

vaqti be khâne residam, surat-am râ shostam-o lebâs avaz kardam.

When I got home, I washed my face and changed clothes. (neutral standard; possessed body part)

Explicit خود را شستن means “wash oneself” and is available when the whole person is contrasted or emphasized. In ordinary descriptions of washing hands, hair, or face, the possessed body part is more idiomatic and more precise.

کودک اصرار داشت خودش را بدون کمک بشوید.

kudak esrâr dâsht khod-ash râ bedun-e komak be-shuyad.

The child insisted on washing himself without help. (neutral; explicit reflexive whole-person object)

Passive and established combinations

Regular passive uses شسته + شدن: ملحفه‌ها شسته شدند “the sheets were washed.” In many everyday situations an active clause is more natural, but the passive is useful when the cleaning process or result matters.

همه‌ی میوه‌ها پیش از بسته‌بندی شسته می‌شوند.

hame-ye mive-hâ pish az baste-bandi shoste mi-shavand.

All the fruit is washed before packaging. (formal-neutral; present passive)

Activities such as ظرف شستن، لباس شستن، دست شستن are transparent object-plus-verb combinations. The idiom از چیزی دست شستن means “give something up, renounce it” (formal/literary but current). Here از is obligatory and the meaning is not literal hand washing. Noun شست‌وشو appears in formal and technical phrases such as قابل شست‌وشو “washable” and شست‌وشو دادن “rinse/clean.”

پس از چند شکست از ادامه‌ی طرح دست شستند.

pas az chand shekast az edâme-ye tarh dast shostand.

After several failures, they gave up on continuing the project. (formal; idiomatic دست شستن از)

Tehran speech

Everyday Tehran generally replaces careful شویـ with شورـ: می‌شورم، می‌شوری، می‌شوره، می‌شوریم، می‌شورین، می‌شورن; commands are بشور، نشور (informal, regional: Tehran). Past شستم remains shostam. This is a genuine register contrast, not a spelling correction to apply to formal prose.

من ظرفا رو می‌شورم؛ تو میز رو جمع کن.

man zarf-â ro mi-shuram; to miz ro jam' kon.

I’ll wash the dishes; you clear the table. (informal, regional: Tehran)

💡

Produce بشوی/می‌شوید in careful standard language and بشور/می‌شوره in Tehran conversation. Both are current Iranian forms, but they belong to different register bundles.

Common Mistakes

1. Combining the past stem with a present ending

❌ او هر روز بعد از ناهار ظرف‌ها را می‌شستد.

Incorrect — present ‘washes’ uses شویـ, while می‌شست is past imperfective.

✅ او هر روز بعد از ناهار ظرف‌های آشپزخانه را می‌شوید.

u har ruz ba'd az nâhâr zarf-hâ-ye âshpaz-khâne râ mi-shuyad.

She washes the kitchen dishes every day after lunch.

2. Reading a wash form as شدن

❌ من لباس‌ها را می‌شویم.

man lebâs-hâ râ mi-shavim

Incorrect reading — with first-singular من and an object, this is mi-shuyam ‘I wash.’

✅ من لباس‌های ورزشی را جداگانه می‌شویم.

man lebâs-hâ-ye varzeshi râ jodâgâne mi-shuyam.

I wash the sports clothes separately.

3. Copying English reflexive structure onto a body part

❌ من خودم را دست‌ها شستم.

Incorrect — make the body part the object and mark it as possessed.

✅ بعد از تعمیر دوچرخه دست‌هایم را خوب شستم.

ba'd az ta'mir-e docharkhe dast-hâ-yam râ khub shostam.

After repairing the bicycle, I washed my hands thoroughly.

4. Omitting از from the idiom دست شستن

❌ مدیر این پیشنهاد را دست شست.

Incorrect for ‘gave up on this proposal’ — idiomatic دست شستن governs از.

✅ مدیر سرانجام از پیشنهاد پرهزینه دست شست.

modir sar-anjâm az pishnehâd-e por-hazine dast shost.

The manager finally abandoned the expensive proposal.

Key Takeaways

Learn شستن — شست — شو/شوی — شسته; standard command is بشوی.
Context and pronunciation distinguish written می‌شویم/می‌شوید/بشوی from forms of شدن.
Use possessed body parts—دست‌هایم را شستم—for ordinary self-directed washing.
Passive شسته شدن is regular; idiomatic از چیزی دست شستن requires از.
Tehran uses می‌شورم/بشور, while careful standard uses می‌شویم/بشوی.

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