پیشنهاد دادن pishnehâd dâdan: to Suggest | Farsi Grammar

پیشنهاد دادن means “to suggest, propose, or offer.” It can transfer a proposal to a recipient—یک سفر کوتاه به دوستم پیشنهاد دادم—or introduce the content of a proposed action. Nonverbal پیشنهاد carries the lexical meaning; light verb دادن supplies tense, agreement, negation, and mood.

The predicate has potentially three participants: the person suggesting, the proposal, and the person receiving it. A specific proposed item is a direct object and normally takes را; the recipient takes به. This differs from English, which can place “me” directly after “suggest” in some learner-created sentences.

Principal parts of the compound

Form	Persian	Romanization	Use
infinitive	پیشنهاد دادن	pishnehâd dâdan	to suggest/offer
past base	پیشنهاد داد	pishnehâd dâd	پیشنهاد دادم
present base	پیشنهاد ده	pishnehâd dah	پیشنهاد می‌دهم
past participle	پیشنهاد داده	pishnehâd dâde	پیشنهاد داده‌اند
imperative	پیشنهاد بده / پیشنهاد بدهید	pishnehâd bede / pishnehâd bedahid	suggest/offer
negative imperative	پیشنهاد نده / پیشنهاد ندهید	pishnehâd nade / pishnehâd nadahid	do not suggest/offer

Present stem ده is pronounced dah- before personal endings but command بده is bede. The compound remains two written words. Unlike many کردن compounds, دادن keeps affirmative بـ in ordinary command and subjunctive forms: پیشنهاد بده، پیشنهاد بدهم.

اگر راه بهتری داری، همین حالا پیشنهاد بده.

agar râh-e behtari dâri, hamin hâlâ pishnehâd bede.

If you have a better approach, suggest it now. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

به مشتری چیزی پیشنهاد ندهید که موجود نیست.

be moshtari chizi pishnehâd nadahid ke mowjud nist.

Do not offer the customer something that isn't in stock. (polite/plural standard)

Core paradigm

Person	Present	Simple past	Present perfect	Present subjunctive
I	پیشنهاد می‌دهم	پیشنهاد دادم	پیشنهاد داده‌ام	پیشنهاد بدهم
you (sg.)	پیشنهاد می‌دهی	پیشنهاد دادی	پیشنهاد داده‌ای	پیشنهاد بدهی
he/she/it	پیشنهاد می‌دهد	پیشنهاد داد	پیشنهاد داده است	پیشنهاد بدهد
we	پیشنهاد می‌دهیم	پیشنهاد دادیم	پیشنهاد داده‌ایم	پیشنهاد بدهیم
you (pl./polite)	پیشنهاد می‌دهید	پیشنهاد دادید	پیشنهاد داده‌اید	پیشنهاد بدهید
they	پیشنهاد می‌دهند	پیشنهاد دادند	پیشنهاد داده‌اند	پیشنهاد بدهند

Negatives are پیشنهاد نمی‌دهم، پیشنهاد ندادم، پیشنهاد نداده‌ام، پیشنهاد ندهم. The full دادن paradigm, including its pronunciation alternation, appears on دادن dâdan: to Give.

ممکن است پزشک درمان ساده‌تری پیشنهاد بدهد.

momken ast pezeshk darmân-e sâde-tari pishnehâd bedahad.

The doctor may suggest a simpler treatment. (neutral standard; subjunctive)

تا حالا چند راه‌حل عملی پیشنهاد داده‌ایم.

tâ hâlâ chand râh-hal-e amali pishnehâd dâde-im.

So far, we have proposed several practical solutions. (formal/neutral)

Proposed item and recipient

The proposed content can be a noun phrase: یک کتاب، راه‌حل، قیمت، شغل، زمان. A specific proposal takes را; the addressee or beneficiary takes به. Word order is flexible for discourse, but both roles remain grammatically distinct.

کتابدار این فرهنگ را به من پیشنهاد داد.

ketâbdâr in farhang râ be man pishnehâd dâd.

The librarian recommended this dictionary to me. (neutral standard)

برای جلسه‌ی بعد سه‌شنبه را به گروه پیشنهاد کردم.

barâ-ye jalse-ye ba'd seshanbe râ be goruh pishnehâd kardam.

I proposed Tuesday to the group for the next meeting. (neutral; کردن variant)

In the second example, پیشنهاد کردن is fully current. It is especially natural when the speaker foregrounds making a proposal rather than transferring an offer to a particular recipient.

💡

Map three roles: the suggester is the subject, the proposed item is the direct object, and the recipient is a به phrase. English word order does not replace either Persian marker.

Clause content with که

A proposal for an action can appear as که + finite clause. The proposed action is unrealized at the moment of suggesting, so its verb is commonly subjunctive: پیشنهاد داد که جلسه عقب بیفتد. The recipient, if expressed, still takes به.

مهندس پیشنهاد داد که ورودی ساختمان جابه‌جا شود.

mohandes pishnehâd dâd ke vorudi-ye sâkhtemân jâ-be-jâ shavad.

The engineer proposed that the building entrance be moved. (formal/neutral)

به او پیشنهاد دادم که چند روز مرخصی بگیرد.

be u pishnehâd dâdam ke chand ruz morakhkhasi begirad.

I suggested to her that she take a few days off. (neutral standard)

In speech, که may be omitted before a short subjunctive: بهش پیشنهاد دادم زودتر بره. In edited prose, retaining که makes the clause boundary clear. A noun activity is another option: پیشنهاد سفر داد is possible but often less natural than a fully specified clause or پیشنهاد سفر کرد.

پیشنهاد می‌کنم ابتدا هزینه‌ها را دقیق بررسی کنیم.

pishnehâd mi-konam ebtedâ hazine-hâ râ daqiq barrasi konim.

I suggest that we first examine the costs carefully. (formal/meeting register; کردن variant)

The relation between prospective content and subjunctive mood is developed on Present Subjunctive Formation.

پیشنهاد دادن versus پیشنهاد کردن

Both compounds are standard and common. دادن readily foregrounds a recipient or an offer transferred to someone: به من کار پیشنهاد دادند. کردن readily introduces a proposition or the speaker's recommendation: پیشنهاد می‌کنم صبر کنیم. This is a tendency, not an absolute rule; noun objects and clauses occur with both.

Typical focus	Natural choice	Example frame
offer to a recipient	پیشنهاد دادن	به کسی کاری پیشنهاد دادن
formal recommendation	پیشنهاد کردن	پیشنهاد کردن که...
an offered price	either, دادن frequent	قیمتی پیشنهاد دادن

خریدار برای خانه قیمت پایین‌تری پیشنهاد داد.

kharidâr barâ-ye khâne qeymat-e pâyin-tari pishnehâd dâd.

The buyer offered a lower price for the house. (neutral commercial context)

💡

Do not invent a rigid synonym rule. Use دادن naturally for an offer reaching someone and کردن naturally for a recommendation, while recognizing that real usage overlaps.

Clitic placement

A recipient clitic attaches to به: بهش پیشنهاد دادم “I suggested/offered [it] to him/her.” A recoverable proposed object can attach to the nonverbal element: پیشنهادش دادم “I suggested it,” though this string can also mean “I gave his/her proposal.” Context resolves the possessive/object ambiguity. Expanding one role prevents confusion.

این مسیر را بهشان پیشنهاد دادم چون خلوت‌تر است.

in masir râ beh-eshân pishnehâd dâdam chun khalvat-tar ast.

I suggested this route to them because it is quieter. (careful spoken standard)

دو گزینه داشتیم و من گزینه‌ی دوم را پیشنهاد دادم.

do gozine dâshtim va man gozine-ye dovvom râ pishnehâd dâdam.

We had two options, and I proposed the second one. (neutral; expanded object avoids ambiguity)

For the recipient form, see Clitics on Prepositions.

Tehran conversational forms

Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) uses reduced دادن forms: پیشنهاد میدم، میدی، میده، میدیم، میدین، میدن. In ordinary writing, use می‌دهم، می‌دهی، می‌دهد.

بهت پیشنهاد میدم قبل از خرید یه بار امتحانش کنی.

beh-at pishnehâd midam qabl az kharid ye bâr emtehân-ash koni.

I suggest you try it once before buying. (informal, regional: Tehran)

اون رستورانو کی بهت پیشنهاد داد؟

un restorâno ki beh-at pishnehâd dâd?

Who recommended that restaurant to you? (informal, regional: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Treating the recipient as a direct object

❌ من دوستم را یک کتاب پیشنهاد دادم.

Incorrect — the recipient takes به; را belongs to a specific proposed item.

✅ من این کتاب تاریخی را به دوستم پیشنهاد دادم.

man in ketâb-e târikhi râ be dust-am pishnehâd dâdam.

I recommended this history book to my friend.

2. Using an indicative for prospective clause content

❌ پیشنهاد دادم جلسه فردا برگزار می‌شود.

Incorrect as a proposal — the event is prospective and normally subjunctive.

✅ پیشنهاد دادم که جلسه فردا آنلاین برگزار شود.

pishnehâd dâdam ke jalse fardâ ânlâyn bargozâr shavad.

I suggested that tomorrow's meeting be held online.

3. Putting present morphology on پیشنهاد

❌ پزشک داروی دیگری می‌پیشنهاد دهد.

Incorrect — می‌ and agreement belong on دادن.

✅ پزشک گاهی روش دیگری پیشنهاد می‌دهد.

pezeshk gâhi ravesh-e digari pishnehâd mi-dahad.

The doctor sometimes suggests another method.

4. Joining the compound

❌ راه‌حل تازه‌ای پیشنهاد‌دادند.

Incorrect standard spacing — پیشنهاد and دادن remain separate words.

✅ کارشناسان راه‌حل کم‌هزینه‌تری پیشنهاد دادند.

kârshenâsân râh-hal-e kam-hazine-tari pishnehâd dâdand.

The experts proposed a less expensive solution.

Key Takeaways

In پیشنهاد دادن, only دادن carries tense, agreement, negation, and mood.
A specific proposal is direct and takes را; its recipient takes به.
Proposed clause content is commonly subjunctive because the action is not yet realized.
پیشنهاد دادن foregrounds an offer/recipient; پیشنهاد کردن often foregrounds a recommendation, with overlap.
Recipient clitics attach to به; content clitics can attach to پیشنهاد but may be ambiguous.

Now practice Farsi

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Farsi →