Intention with می‌خواهم versus Arrangement with قرار است | Farsi Grammar

Both می‌خواهم + present subjunctive and قرار است + present subjunctive can point toward a future event, but they answer different questions. می‌خواهم بروم locates desire or intention in a participant: “I want/intend to go.” قرار است بروم presents my going as part of an arrangement, schedule, assignment, or expectation: “I am supposed/scheduled to go.”

The event may be identical, and the same person may even have helped make the plan. The contrast concerns the source of commitment foregrounded by the speaker. This page compares those two frames only. For the broader choice among a futurate present, قرار است, and formal خواهـ, use Present, قرار است, or خواهد for the Future?.

The Core Two-Frame Contrast

Frame	Source foregrounded	Typical English rendering	Register
می‌خواهم بروم	the speaker’s desire or intention	I want/intend to go	neutral standard
قرار است بروم	a plan, agreement, schedule, assignment, or expectation	I am supposed/scheduled to go	neutral standard
می‌خوام برم	the same participant-centered meaning	I want to go	(informal, regional: Tehran)
قراره برم	the same arrangement-centered meaning	I’m supposed to go	(informal, regional: Tehran)

Compare the same trip. The first statement can be true before any booking exists. The second suggests that the trip has a place in some plan beyond a private wish.

می‌خواهم شنبه برای دیدن نمایشگاه به تبریز بروم.

mi-khâham shanbe barâ-ye didan-e namâyeshgâh be Tabriz beravam.

I want to go to Tabriz on Saturday to see the exhibition. (neutral standard; personal intention)

قرار است شنبه برای دیدن نمایشگاه به تبریز بروم.

qarâr ast shanbe barâ-ye didan-e namâyeshgâh be Tabriz beravam.

I am supposed to go to Tabriz on Saturday to see the exhibition. (neutral standard; arrangement)

Neither construction guarantees that I will actually travel. می‌خواهم reports the present state of my volition; circumstances may prevent it. قرار است reports the present status of an arrangement or expectation; that plan may be changed. Certainty and future time are therefore secondary to the source from which the statement is presented.

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Ask “Whose stance is this sentence reporting?” A participant’s own wanting favors می‌خواهم. A calendar, agreement, institution, shared plan, or forecast favors قرار است.

می‌خواهم Has a Wanter and an Embedded Actor

Lexical خواستن is finite and agrees with the person who wants: می‌خواهم، می‌خواهی، می‌خواهد، می‌خواهیم، می‌خواهید، می‌خواهند. Its subjunctive complement is also finite. The ending on that embedded verb identifies who is to carry out the desired event.

With one participant in both roles, the person endings match:

مریم می‌خواهد سال آینده رشته‌اش را عوض کند.

Maryam mi-khâhad sâl-e âyande reshte-ash râ avaz konad.

Maryam wants to change her field next year. (neutral standard; Maryam both wants and changes)

With different participants, the endings deliberately differ. The first verb still agrees with the wanter; the complement agrees with the actor of the desired event.

من می‌خواهم مریم پیش از جلسه با وکیل صحبت کند.

man mi-khâham Maryam pish az jalse bâ vakil sohbat konad.

I want Maryam to speak with the lawyer before the meeting. (neutral standard; I want, Maryam speaks)

ما می‌خواهیم شما نتیجه را مستقیم به مشتری اعلام کنید.

mâ mi-khâhim shomâ natije râ mostaqim be moshtari e'lâm konid.

We want you to tell the customer the result directly. (neutral standard; we want, you announce)

English uses an infinitive in same-subject “I want to leave” but an overt object-like noun in “I want Maryam to leave.” Persian uses a finite subjunctive in both. The complement ending carries the contrast even when its subject is omitted: می‌خواهم بروم means that I go; می‌خواهم بروی means that you go. Full complement formation belongs to خواستن plus Subjunctive.

قرار است Has No Personal Wanter

In the present arrangement frame, قرار است stays third-person singular. It does not agree with the person who will act: من قرار است بروم, او قرار است برود, ما قرار است برویم. The complement subject and its ending identify the actor; context identifies the institution, agreement, schedule, or expectation behind the plan.

من قرار است ساعت پنج کلیدها را به نگهبان تحویل بدهم.

man qarâr ast sâ'at-e panj kelid-hâ râ be negahbân tahvil bedaham.

I am supposed to hand the keys to the guard at five. (neutral standard; assigned arrangement)

قرار است مریم پس از جلسه با وکیل صحبت کند.

qarâr ast Maryam pas az jalse bâ vakil sohbat konad.

Maryam is supposed to speak with the lawyer after the meeting. (neutral standard; arranged action)

قرار است قطار اضافی ساعت هفت وارد ایستگاه شود.

qarâr ast qatâr-e ezâfi sâ'at-e haft vâred-e istgâh shavad.

The extra train is scheduled to enter the station at seven. (formal-neutral; timetable)

The inanimate train shows why قرار است cannot simply mean “want.” No train has volition. With a human subject, the construction likewise does not tell us whether that person likes the plan. A speaker may say من قرار است بروم about a duty they oppose or an arrangement they chose enthusiastically.

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قرار است is impersonal at the matrix level. Keep است fixed; put the intended actor’s person and number on the subjunctive complement.

The Same Plan from Two Perspectives

Sometimes both sentences describe a real plan, but they present it from different angles. می‌خواهم از مهر کارآموزی کنم makes the internship the speaker’s goal. قرار است از مهر کارآموزی کنم makes it part of an accepted arrangement—perhaps a university placement. The second does not prove coercion, and the first does not prove that arrangements are absent.

Third person creates the same distinction:

رضا می‌خواهد تابستان در یک درمانگاه کار کند.

Rezâ mi-khâhad tâbestân dar yek darmângâh kâr konad.

Reza wants to work at a clinic this summer. (neutral standard; Reza’s intention)

رضا قرار است تابستان در یک درمانگاه کار کند.

Rezâ qarâr ast tâbestân dar yek darmângâh kâr konad.

Reza is supposed to work at a clinic this summer. (neutral standard; arranged placement)

English be going to can cover both an intention and an expectation. Do not mechanically translate it. Decide whether the Persian sentence should foreground a participant’s volition or an independently grounded plan.

Negation at Two Different Levels

Each frame has a matrix predicate and an embedded event. Negating the matrix rejects the desire or the plan; negating the complement makes nonperformance the content of the desire or plan.

Persian frame	Scope	Core meaning
نمی‌خواهم بروم	negated wanting	I do not want/intend to go
می‌خواهم نروم	desired negative event	I want/intend not to go
قرار نیست بروم	negated arrangement	I am not scheduled/supposed to go
قرار است نروم	arranged negative event	the plan is that I not go

نمی‌خواهم فردا در آن نشست شرکت کنم.

nemi-khâham fardâ dar ân neshast sherkat konam.

I do not want to attend that meeting tomorrow. (neutral standard; no desire to attend)

می‌خواهم فردا در هیچ جلسه‌ای شرکت نکنم.

mi-khâham fardâ dar hich jalse-i sherkat nakonam.

I want not to attend any meetings tomorrow. (neutral standard; deliberate intention to avoid them)

قرار نیست فردا به شعبه‌ی مرکزی برویم.

qarâr nist fardâ be sho'be-ye markazi beravim.

We are not scheduled to go to the central branch tomorrow. (neutral standard; no such arrangement)

قرار است فردا به شعبه‌ی مرکزی نرویم.

qarâr ast fardâ be sho'be-ye markazi naravim.

The arrangement is that we not go to the central branch tomorrow. (neutral standard; non-going is the agreed plan)

The two members of each pair may lead to the same behavior, so everyday speakers sometimes choose by emphasis. The structural distinction remains real: نمی‌خواهم denies wanting, while می‌خواهم نروم positively presents avoidance as the desired outcome. قرار نیست says that an affirmative plan is not in force; قرار است نرویم suggests an explicit plan to stay away.

When Intention Conflicts with the Schedule

The two frames can coexist because one person’s wish and the governing arrangement are separate facts.

— خودت می‌خواهی جمعه چه کار کنی؟ — می‌خواهم به اصفهان بروم، اما قرار است همان روز در تهران سر کار باشم.

— khod-at mi-khâhi jom'e che kâr koni? — mi-khâham be Esfahân beravam, ammâ qarâr ast hamân ruz dar Tehrân sar-e kâr bâsham.

— What do you personally want to do Friday? — I want to go to Isfahan, but I’m scheduled to be at work in Tehran that day. (neutral standard dialogue)

The opposition is not “informal future versus formal future.” Both clauses are neutral standard Persian. It is intention versus externally grounded arrangement.

Common Mistakes

1. Using قرار است for a Private Wish with No Arrangement

⚠️ قرار است یک روز رمان خودم را بنویسم، ولی هنوز هیچ برنامه‌ای ندارم.

qarâr ast yek ruz român-e khodam râ benevisam, vali hanuz hich barnâme-i nadâram.

Grammatical, but incoherent if only a private wish is intended — the explicit denial of any plan leaves قرار است without an arrangement or expectation to report.

✅ می‌خواهم یک روز رمان خودم را بنویسم، ولی هنوز برنامه‌ی دقیقی ندارم.

mi-khâham yek ruz român-e khodam râ benevisam, vali hanuz barnâme-ye daqiqi nadâram.

I want to write my own novel one day, but I do not have a precise plan yet.

2. Keeping the Indicative after Present قرار است

❌ قرار است ناهید فردا گزارش را می‌فرستد.

Incorrect in the present arrangement frame — the projected event requires the present subjunctive.

✅ قرار است ناهید فردا گزارش اصلاح‌شده را بفرستد.

qarâr ast Nâhid fardâ gozâresh-e eslâh-shode râ beferestad.

Nahid is supposed to send the revised report tomorrow.

3. Giving the Embedded Verb the Wanter’s Ending

❌ من می‌خواهم ناهید زودتر برگردم.

Incorrect — می‌خواهم agrees with من, but ناهید is the embedded actor, so the complement must be third-person singular.

✅ من می‌خواهم ناهید پیش از تاریکی برگردد.

man mi-khâham Nâhid pish az târiki bar-gardad.

I want Nahid to return before dark.

4. Confusing Negated Intention with Intention Not to Act

⚠️ برای گفتن «قصد ندارم بروم»، از می‌خواهم نروم استفاده می‌کنم.

barâ-ye goftan-e ‘qasd na-dâram beravam,’ az mi-khâham naravam estefâde mi-konam.

Grammatical sentence expressing the wrong scope rule — می‌خواهم نروم positively expresses an intention not to go; it does not negate having an intention.

✅ نمی‌خواهم امشب از خانه بیرون بروم.

nemi-khâham emshab az khâne birun beravam.

I do not want to go out tonight.

5. Replacing an Arrangement with Formal Future Morphology

Formal خواهـ asserts futurity in its own register but does not itself identify a personal desire or an external arrangement. It also takes a bare past stem, not a subjunctive.

❌ چون برنامه‌ی اداره است، من فردا خواهم بروم.

Incorrect morphology and framing — خواهم cannot take subjunctive بروم, and it would not encode the office arrangement.

✅ طبق برنامه‌ی اداره، قرار است فردا به کرج بروم.

tebq-e barnâme-ye edâre, qarâr ast fardâ be Karaj beravam.

According to the office schedule, I am supposed to go to Karaj tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

می‌خواهم + subjunctive foregrounds a participant’s desire or intention.
قرار است + subjunctive foregrounds a plan, arrangement, assignment, schedule, or expectation.
The ending on the embedded verb identifies its actor; that actor may differ from the person who wants.
قرار است remains impersonal and third-person singular even when the embedded actor is من، ما, or آن‌ها.
Matrix and embedded negation differ: نمی‌خواهم بروم is not می‌خواهم نروم, and قرار نیست بروم is not قرار است نروم.
A futurate present and formal خواهـ solve a broader future-choice problem; consult the dedicated Choosing guide rather than treating them as synonyms of these two frames.

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