توضیح دادن towzih dâdan: to Explain | Farsi Grammar

توضیح دادن means “to explain” or “to clarify.” It is transitive: the information being explained can be a noun phrase such as قانون را, a topic with درباره‌ی, or a finite که clause. The person receiving the explanation is not a second direct object; that recipient normally takes به: موضوع را به همکارم توضیح دادم.

The nonverbal element توضیح supplies the lexical idea “explanation,” while دادن carries tense, agreement, mood, and negation. English learners therefore have two separate adjustments to make: put all verbal morphology on دادن, and mark “to someone” with Persian به rather than copying English explain someone something.

Principal parts

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

These are the ordinary (neutral standard) forms. Present ده is dah- before endings, but singular imperative بده is bede. The two parts remain separate in writing: توضیح دادم, never a joined word. The complete alternation comes from دادن dâdan: to Give.

از اول با جزئیات توضیح بده چه اتفاقی افتاد.

az avval bâ joz'iyyât towzih bede che ettefâqi oftâd.

Explain from the beginning in detail what happened. (familiar singular; neutral standard)

جزئیات محرمانه را برای کسی توضیح ندهید.

joz'iyyât-e mahramâne râ barâ-ye kasi towzih nadahid.

Do not explain the confidential details to anyone. (polite/plural standard)

Core paradigm

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

Negatives place نـ on the light verb: توضیح نمی‌دهم، توضیح ندادم، توضیح نداده‌ام، توضیح ندهم. In the subjunctive and imperative, affirmative بـ also belongs to دادن: توضیح بدهد، توضیح بده.

ممکن است وکیل شرایط قرارداد را دوباره توضیح بدهد.

momken ast vakil sharâyet-e qarârdâd râ do-bâre towzih bedahad.

The lawyer may explain the terms of the contract again. (formal-neutral; subjunctive)

این نکته را پیش‌تر برای تیم توضیح داده‌ایم.

in nokte râ pish-tar barâ-ye tim towzih dâde-im.

We have already explained this point to the team. (neutral standard)

What is explained: object, topic, or clause

A delimited piece of content is a direct object. When it is specific, را is normal: روش را توضیح دادم, “I explained the method.” With درباره‌ی, the speaker instead identifies the broader topic: درباره‌ی روش توضیح دادم, “I gave an explanation about the method.” The second does not necessarily promise a complete account of the method itself.

پزشک نتیجه‌ی آزمایش را با حوصله برای بیمار توضیح داد.

pezeshk natije-ye âzmâyesh râ bâ howsele barâ-ye bimâr towzih dâd.

The doctor patiently explained the test result to the patient. (neutral standard)

نماینده درباره‌ی تغییرات جدید توضیح داد، اما وارد جزئیات نشد.

namâyande darbâre-ye taghyirât-e jadid towzih dâd, ammâ vâred-e joz'iyyât nashod.

The representative spoke about the new changes but did not go into detail. (formal-neutral)

An entire proposition follows که. When the speaker explains a fact, cause, or past event, the complement is normally indicative because it is presented as information, not as a requested action. توضیح دادن itself does not automatically trigger the subjunctive.

مدیر توضیح داد که چرا تحویل سفارش عقب افتاده است.

modir towzih dâd ke cherâ tahvil-e sefâresh aqab oftâde ast.

The manager explained why delivery of the order has been delayed. (formal-neutral)

برای بچه‌ها توضیح دادم که برق چطور تولید می‌شود.

barâ-ye bachche-hâ towzih dâdam ke barq chetowr tolid mi-shavad.

I explained to the children how electricity is generated. (neutral standard)

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A که clause after توضیح دادن reports the content of an explanation. Choose its mood from that content: established facts are indicative; a hypothetical or required action may independently call for the subjunctive.

Who receives the explanation

The addressee is normally به + person: به من توضیح بده. برای + person is also common when the person is construed as the beneficiary or audience: برای دانشجوها توضیح داد. With a human noun, bare را cannot mark “to.” This is the central valency contrast with English.

می‌توانید این بخش را یک بار دیگر به من توضیح بدهید؟

mi-tavânid in bakhsh râ yek bâr-e digar be man towzih bedahid?

Could you explain this section to me one more time? (polite standard)

استاد مفهوم را برای دانشجوهای سال اول ساده توضیح داد.

ostâd mafhum râ barâ-ye dâneshju-hâ-ye sâl-e avval sâde towzih dâd.

The professor explained the concept simply for the first-year students. (academic)

A pronominal recipient commonly appears on the preposition: بهش توضیح دادم. A recoverable content object can attach to the nonverbal element: توضیحش دادم, “I explained it.” Because ـش can also be possessive—“his/her explanation”—expanding the content is clearer when both readings are plausible.

دستورالعمل روشن بود، ولی باز هم بهشان توضیحش دادم.

dastur-ol-amal rowshan bud, vali bâz ham beh-eshân towzih-ash dâdam.

The instructions were clear, but I explained them to them anyway. (careful spoken standard; two distinct clitics)

For the shape of بهش، بهشان, see Clitics on Prepositions.

توضیح دادن, شرح دادن, and توضیح کردن

توضیح دادن is the unmarked choice in current speech and writing. شرح دادن (formal/literary) often suggests a fuller description or orderly account: ماجرا را شرح داد. توضیح کردن is attested and understandable, but توضیح دادن is normally more idiomatic in contemporary Iranian Persian; learners should not mechanically substitute کردن for every compound with دادن.

شاهد روند حادثه را با جزئیات شرح داد.

shâhed ravand-e hâdese râ bâ joz'iyyât sharh dâd.

The witness described the course of the incident in detail. (formal)

Tehran conversational forms

Everyday Tehran (informal, regional: Tehran) reduces the light verb: توضیح میدم، میدی، میده، میدیم، میدین، میدن. Pronoun and object markers also take colloquial forms, as in بهت and رو. Standard prose uses می‌دهم and را.

این قسمت رو الان بهت توضیح میدم؛ بقیه‌ش بمونه برای فردا.

in qesmat ro alân beh-at towzih midam; baqiye-sh bemune barâ-ye fardâ.

I'll explain this part to you now; let the rest wait until tomorrow. (informal, regional: Tehran)

هرچی توضیح میدم، بازم میگه متوجه نشده.

har-chi towzih midam, bâzam mige motevajjeh nashode.

No matter how much I explain, he still says he hasn't understood. (informal, regional: Tehran)

💡

Keep the register internally consistent. Standard توضیح می‌دهم and Tehran توضیح میدم are both current, but they belong to different written representations of speech.

Common Mistakes

1. Marking the recipient with را

❌ معلم من را قاعده توضیح داد.

Incorrect — the person receiving the explanation takes به; the explained content is the direct object.

✅ معلم قاعده را به من توضیح داد.

mo'allem qâ'ede râ be man towzih dâd.

The teacher explained the rule to me.

2. Putting verbal morphology on توضیح

❌ مسئول می‌توضیح دهد چه مشکلی پیش آمده است.

Incorrect — می‌ and the person ending belong to دادن.

✅ مسئول توضیح می‌دهد که چه مشکلی پیش آمده است.

mas'ul towzih mi-dahad ke che moshkeli pish âmâde ast.

The person in charge explains what problem has occurred.

3. Joining the two parts

❌ دلیل تأخیر را توضیح‌دادند.

Incorrect standard spacing — the noun and light verb are separate words.

✅ دلیل تأخیر پرواز را توضیح دادند.

dalil-e ta'khir-e parvâz râ towzih dâdand.

They explained the reason for the flight delay.

4. Treating factual که content as automatically subjunctive

❌ او توضیح داد که چرا جلسه لغو بشود.

Incorrect for a factual explanation — the cancellation is reported as a fact, so the indicative is required.

✅ او توضیح داد که چرا جلسه لغو شده است.

u towzih dâd ke cherâ jalse laghv shode ast.

He or she explained why the meeting has been canceled.

Key Takeaways

In توضیح دادن, all tense, person, negation, and mood marking appears on دادن.
A specific explained item takes را; its recipient takes به, while برای presents a beneficiary or audience.
که introduces proposition content and does not by itself require the subjunctive.
درباره‌ی marks a topic; a direct object presents the content itself as what is explained.
Tehran توضیح میدم is informal; standard writing uses توضیح می‌دهم.

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