قبول کردن is the everyday compound verb for accepting an offer, request, claim, condition, responsibility, or person into an institution. It presents acceptance as an act or decision: پیشنهاد را قبول کردم “I accepted the offer.” The nonverbal element قبول supplies the lexical meaning, while کردن carries tense, person, negation, and mood.
Three neighboring constructions must remain distinct. قبول شدن means “be accepted/pass,” قبول داشتن means “regard as valid/acknowledge” as a continuing stance, and simple پذیرفتن is a neutral-to-formal alternative to “accept.”
Principal parts of the compound
| Form | Persian | Romanization | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | قبول کردن | qabul kardan | to accept |
| past base | قبول کرد | qabul kard | قبول کردم |
| present base | قبول کن | qabul kon | قبول میکنم |
| past participle | قبول کرده | qabul karde | قبول کردهاند |
| imperative | قبول کن / قبول کنید | qabul kon / qabul konid | accept |
| negative imperative | قبول نکن / قبول نکنید | qabul nakon / qabul nakonid | do not accept |
Modern compounds with کردن normally omit affirmative بـ in the subjunctive and imperative: قبول کنم، قبول کن. The negative is قبول نکن, never a prefix attached to قبول. The two members remain separate words.
قبل از امضا همهی شرطها را قبول نکن.
qabl az emzâ hame-ye shart-hâ râ qabul nakon.
Don't accept all the conditions before signing. (familiar singular; neutral standard)
دعوت ما را برای شام قبول کنید.
da'vat-e mâ râ barâ-ye shâm qabul konid.
Please accept our invitation to dinner. (polite standard)
Core paradigm
| Person | Present | Simple past | Present perfect | Present subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | قبول میکنم | قبول کردم | قبول کردهام | قبول کنم |
| you (sg.) | قبول میکنی | قبول کردی | قبول کردهای | قبول کنی |
| he/she/it | قبول میکند | قبول کرد | قبول کرده است | قبول کند |
| we | قبول میکنیم | قبول کردیم | قبول کردهایم | قبول کنیم |
| you (pl./polite) | قبول میکنید | قبول کردید | قبول کردهاید | قبول کنید |
| they | قبول میکنند | قبول کردند | قبول کردهاند | قبول کنند |
Negatives are قبول نمیکنم، قبول نکردم، قبول نکردهام، قبول نکنم. An object clitic normally attaches to قبول: قبولش کردم “I accepted it/him/her.”
هنوز پیشنهاد تازهی شرکت را قبول نکردهام.
hanuz pishnehâd-e tâze-ye sherkat râ qabul nakarde-am.
I haven't accepted the company's new offer yet. (neutral standard)
ممکن است بانک درخواست وام را قبول کند.
momken ast bânk darkhâst-e vâm râ qabul konad.
The bank may accept the loan application. (neutral/formal)
Objects: offers, claims, and responsibility
A specific accepted item is a direct object and normally takes را: دعوت را، عذر را، مسئولیت را، شرط را قبول کردن. English “accept responsibility for” does not require a Persian preposition before مسئولیت; the responsibility itself is direct.
مدیر مسئولیت تأخیر پروژه را قبول کرد.
modir mas'uliyyat-e ta'khir-e poruzhe râ qabul kard.
The manager accepted responsibility for the project's delay. (neutral/formal)
عذرخواهیاش را قبول کردم، ولی هنوز ناراحتم.
ozr-khâhi-ash râ qabul kardam, vali hanuz nârâhat-am.
I accepted the apology, but I'm still upset. (neutral speech)
With words such as حرف، ادعا، دلیل, acceptance can mean belief or acknowledgment rather than receiving an offer. Context supplies the type of acceptance.
دادگاه این مدرک را بهعنوان سند معتبر قبول نکرد.
dâdgâh in madrak râ be-onvân-e sanad-e mo'tabar qabul nakard.
The court did not accept this document as valid evidence. (formal/legal)
Clauses with که: fact versus agreed action
قبول کردن can take a finite clause with که. If the clause states a fact acknowledged as true, it normally uses an indicative: قبول کرد که اشتباه کرده است “admitted that he/she had made a mistake.” If acceptance means agreeing to carry out a future action, a subjunctive is natural: قبول کرد که بیاید “agreed to come.”
شاهد قبول کرد که بخشی از ماجرا را ندیده است.
shâhed qabul kard ke bakhshi az mâjarâ râ nadide ast.
The witness admitted that he or she had not seen part of the incident. (formal; factual complement)
همسایه قبول کرد که در سفر به گربهمان غذا بدهد.
hamsâye qabul kard ke dar safar be gorbe-mân ghazâ bedahad.
The neighbor agreed to feed our cat while we were away. (neutral; agreed future action)
The mood difference follows meaning rather than the word که itself. A fact is presented as realized; an agreed action remains prospective. See Finite Complement Clauses with که.
Institutional acceptance and passing
Institutions can قبول کردن people, applications, documents, insurance, or payment methods. The institution is the accepting subject. Intransitive قبول شدن makes the applicant or application the subject and is also the everyday expression for passing an examination.
این درمانگاه امروز بیمار بدون وقت قبلی قبول نمیکند.
in darmângâh emruz bimâr-e bedun-e vaqt-e qabli qabul nemi-konad.
This clinic isn't accepting walk-in patients today. (institutional neutral)
در آزمون ورودی قبول شدم و مهرماه دانشگاه را شروع میکنم.
dar âzmun-e vorudi qabul shodam va mehr-mâh dâneshgâh râ shoru' mi-konam.
I passed the entrance exam and start university in Mehr. (neutral standard)
The examinee uses در آزمون قبول شدن, not a direct-object construction copied from English “pass the exam.” An examiner can transitively دانشجو را قبول کند “pass/approve the student.”
قبول کردن, قبول داشتن, and پذیرفتن
| Predicate | Core viewpoint | Register |
|---|---|---|
| قبول کردن | act/decision of accepting | everyday neutral |
| قبول داشتن | continuing acknowledgment of validity or authority | neutral |
| پذیرفتن | accept, receive, undertake | neutral to formal |
| قبول شدن | be admitted/accepted; pass | everyday neutral |
قبول دارم که این روش سریعتر است.
qabul dâram ke in ravesh sari'-tar ast.
I acknowledge that this method is faster. (neutral; continuing stance)
هیئتمدیره استعفای او را پذیرفت.
hey'at-modire este'fâ-ye u râ paziroft.
The board accepted his or her resignation. (formal institutional style)
پذیرفتن is not obsolete or exclusively bureaucratic; it is simply favored more often in edited formal prose. قبول کردن remains fully acceptable in speech and writing.
Tehran conversational forms
Everyday Tehran (informal, regional: Tehran) reduces the light-verb endings: قبول میکنم، قبول میکنی، قبول میکنه، قبول میکنیم، قبول میکنین، قبول میکنن. Short copular قبوله means “okay / agreed”; it is not a third-person finite form meaning “he accepts.”
شرطش منصفانهست؛ قبولش میکنم.
shart-esh monsefâne-st; qabul-esh mi-konam.
The condition is fair; I'll accept it. (informal, regional: Tehran)
قبوله، فردا ساعت نه اونجا میبینمت.
qabule, fardâ sâ'at-e noh unjâ mi-binam-at.
Deal—I'll see you there tomorrow at nine. (informal, regional: Tehran; copular shortcut)
Common Mistakes
1. Inflecting قبول instead of کردن
❌ بانک درخواست را میقبول کند.
Incorrect — present morphology belongs on کردن.
✅ بانک درخواست کامل را بررسی و قبول میکند.
bânk darkhâst-e kâmel râ barrasi va qabul mi-konad.
The bank reviews and accepts a complete application.
2. Giving a specific object no را
❌ من همان پیشنهاد قبول کردم.
Incorrect — همان makes the offer identifiable, so it requires را.
✅ من همان پیشنهاد اولیه را قبول کردم.
man hamân pishnehâd-e avvaliyye râ qabul kardam.
I accepted that same initial offer.
3. Treating the examinee as a transitive agent
❌ من آزمون ورودی را قبول کردم.
Incorrect for ‘I passed the entrance exam’ — the examinee uses قبول شدن with در.
✅ خواهرم در آزمون عملی قبول شد.
khâhar-am dar âzmun-e amali qabul shod.
My sister passed the practical exam.
4. Joining the compound
❌ شرایط را قبولنکردیم.
Incorrect standard spacing — قبول and the negative light verb remain separate words.
✅ شرایط تازه را بدون مشورت قبول نکردیم.
sharâyet-e tâze râ bedun-e mashverat qabul nakardim.
We did not accept the new conditions without consultation.
Key Takeaways
- قبول کردن is a two-word predicate; only کردن inflects.
- Offers, claims, conditions, and responsibilities are direct objects and take را when specific.
- A که clause may present an acknowledged fact or a prospective action someone agrees to perform.
- Institutional قبول شدن means be admitted or pass; قبول داشتن expresses a continuing judgment.
- پذیرفتن is a current neutral-to-formal alternative, not a different tense of the compound.
Now practice Farsi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- Compound Verbs in the PresentA1 — Conjugate Persian compound verbs by keeping the nonverbal element stable and placing present-tense marking on the light verb.
- Finite Complement Clauses with کهB1 — Use که to connect speech, thought, emotion, and evaluation predicates to finite clauses with independent subjects, tense, and mood.
- Compound Verbs as Single Lexical PredicatesA1 — Learn why Persian noun- or adjective-plus-verb combinations function as one predicate and must be stored with their light verb and complement pattern.
- Position of Direct Objects and راA2 — Place bare, indefinite, and specific Persian direct objects before the verb, and attach را to the complete object phrase.
- کردن kardan: to Do and MakeA1 — Reference guide to کردن as a lexical verb, a causative partner, and Persian’s most productive light verb.