The Persian dictionary infinitive—رفتن، دیدن، خواندن—can also function as a verbal noun: the name of an action or event. شنا کردن مفید است means “Swimming is beneficial,” and از دیر رسیدنت ناراحت شدم means “I was upset by your arriving late.” The infinitive contributes verbal meaning but occupies positions that a noun phrase can occupy.
This differs from a finite verb. An infinitive has no person ending and does not by itself locate an action in time. Its participants appear through nominal devices such as ezâfe and possessive clitics, or the writer replaces it with a finite که clause when person, tense, or modality must be explicit.
Citation form and verbal-noun use
The “long infinitive” is the familiar citation form ending in ـن. The label distinguishes it from the past stem obtained by removing that final ن.
| Infinitive | As dictionary citation | As verbal noun |
|---|---|---|
| رفتن | to go | going; departure |
| خواندن | to read | reading |
| ورزش کردن | to exercise | exercising |
| تصمیم گرفتن | to decide | making a decision |
پیادهروی منظم برای قلب مفید است.
piyâde-ravi-ye monazzam barâ-ye qalb mofid ast.
Regular walking is beneficial for the heart. (neutral standard; lexical action noun)
هر روز ورزش کردن به تمرکز من کمک میکند.
har ruz varzesh kardan be tamarkoz-e man komak mi-konad.
Exercising every day helps my concentration. (neutral standard; compound infinitive as subject)
The first example uses the lexical noun پیادهروی; the second uses the whole infinitive ورزش کردن. Persian often has both options, with the long infinitive presenting the action transparently through its verb.
Logical objects follow through ezâfe
When a transitive infinitive is nominalized, its logical object can follow as an ezâfe complement: خواندنِ کتاب “reading the book,” دیدنِ دوست “seeing a friend.” After consonant-final ـن, ordinary unvowelized writing does not show ezâfe, but careful speech must pronounce -e.
خواندن کتابهای تاریخی را دوست دارم.
khândan-e ketâb-hâ-ye târikhi râ dust dâram.
I like reading history books. (neutral standard; کتابها is the logical object of خواندن)
یاد گرفتن زبان تازه صبر میخواهد.
yâd gereftan-e zabân-e tâze sabr mi-khâhad.
Learning a new language requires patience. (neutral standard; compound infinitive plus ezâfe complement)
In the first sentence, the entire phrase خواندن کتابهای تاریخی is the object of دوست داشتن, so را comes after the complete infinitival phrase. Inside it, کتابهای تاریخی is linked to خواندن by ezâfe rather than separately followed by را.
This nominal pattern is especially compact in headings, formal prose, and abstract statements. In spontaneous conversation, a finite complement is often easier when the object is definite and prominent: دوست دارم این کتاب را بخوانم “I want/like to read this book.”
Prepositional complements remain prepositional
An infinitive does not erase the lexical requirements of its predicate. صحبت کردن takes با for an interlocutor; فکر کردن takes به for a topic; ترسیدن commonly takes از for a source of fear.
صحبت کردن با غریبهها برایش آسان نیست.
sohbat kardan bâ gharibe-hâ barâ-yash âsân nist.
Talking with strangers is not easy for him or her. (neutral standard)
فکر کردن به آینده گاهی اضطرابآور است.
fekr kardan be âyande gâhi ezterâb-âvar ast.
Thinking about the future is sometimes anxiety-provoking. (formal-neutral)
از منتظر ماندن در صف خسته شدم.
az montazer mândan dar saf khaste shodam.
I got tired of waiting in line. (neutral standard; infinitive after از)
The outside preposition and the infinitive's own complement have different jobs. In از صحبت کردن با غریبهها, از relates the whole activity to a larger predicate, while با belongs to صحبت کردن.
For more combinations, see Preposition plus Infinitive.
The understood subject as possessor
Because the infinitive is noun-like, its understood performer can be expressed like a possessor. An independent noun phrase may follow through ezâfe—رفتنِ علی “Ali's leaving”—or a possessive clitic may attach: آمدنم “my coming,” رسیدنت “your arriving.”
دیر رسیدنت همه را نگران کرد.
dir residan-at hame râ negarân kard.
Your arriving late worried everyone. (neutral standard; ـت marks the understood performer)
از برگشتن سارا خوشحال شدیم.
az bar-gashtan-e sârâ khoshhâl shodim.
We were happy about Sara's return. (neutral standard; proper-name possessor through ezâfe)
از برگشتنت خوشحال شدم.
az bar-gashtan-at khoshhâl shodam.
I was happy that you came back. (careful spoken standard; possessive clitic)
English uses either a possessive gerund (your arriving) or an object-like pronoun (you arriving). Persian's clitic is structurally possessive, even though English translation may use a finite clause.
Plural infinitives count event instances
Once fully nominalized, an infinitive can take plural ـها: رفتنها، آمدنها، گفتنها. This does not mean that every activity noun should be plural. The plural counts repeated occasions, recognizable acts, or kinds of performance and often has a literary or reflective tone.
آمدنها و رفتنهای بیخبرش همسایهها را کلافه کرده بود.
âmadan-hâ-vo raftan-hâ-ye bi-khabar-ash hamsâye-hâ râ kelâfe karde bud.
His unannounced comings and goings had exasperated the neighbors. (literary-neutral; countable repeated events)
این گفتنها مشکل را حل نمیکند.
in goftan-hâ moshkel râ hall nemi-konad.
All this saying it over and over does not solve the problem. (rhetorical/colloquial-neutral)
For the general noun behavior of these forms, continue to Nominalized Infinitives.
When a finite که clause is clearer
An infinitive does not distinguish past, present, future, fact, desire, or uncertainty by itself. A finite clause with که supplies those distinctions.
خوشحالم که بهموقع برگشتی.
khoshhâl-am ke be-mowqe' bar-gashti.
I'm glad that you came back on time. (finite clause; past person and time explicit)
امیدواریم که فردا هوا بهتر شود.
omidvâr-im ke fardâ havâ behtar shavad.
We hope that the weather will improve tomorrow. (finite subjunctive clause)
Choose the infinitive for a compact action-name and the finite clause for an assertion or proposition with its own tense, subject, or mood.
Common Mistakes
1. Using an infinitive as a finite past verb
❌ من دیروز دیر رسیدن.
Incorrect — رسیدن has no person or tense marking.
✅ من دیروز بهدلیل ترافیک دیر رسیدم.
man diruz be-dalil-e terâfik dir residam.
I arrived late yesterday because of traffic.
2. Omitting ezâfe in the pronunciation
❌ خواندن مقالههای علمی وقت میگیرد.
khândan maqâle-hâ-ye elmi vaqt mi-girad
Incorrect reading — nominal خواندن carries ezâfe before its logical object.
✅ خواندن متنهای تخصصی زمان میبرد.
khândan-e matn-hâ-ye takhassosi zamân mi-barad.
Reading specialist texts takes time.
3. Inserting می into the nominal infinitive
❌ میخواندن کتاب برای کودک مفید است.
Incorrect — می belongs to a finite imperfective verb, not to a nominal infinitive.
✅ کتاب خواندن برای کودک لذتبخش است.
ketâb khândan barâ-ye kudak lezzat-bakhsh ast.
Reading books is enjoyable for a child.
4. Putting را inside an ezâfe object phrase
❌ خواندن کتاب را مفید است.
Incorrect structure for ‘reading the book is useful’ — the infinitive's logical object follows through ezâfe, and the subject phrase takes no را.
✅ خواندن این راهنما پیش از سفر مفید است.
khândan-e in râhnamâ pish az safar mofid ast.
Reading this guide before the trip is useful.
5. Using a count plural for an undifferentiated activity
شنا کردنها can be grammatical when it counts distinct swimming sessions or recognizable ways of swimming; it does not name the activity generically. For the general activity, keep the infinitive singular:
✅ شنا کردن منظم برای کمر مفید است.
shenâ kardan-e monazzam barâ-ye kamar mofid ast.
Regular swimming is beneficial for the back.
Key Takeaways
- The long infinitive can name an action and occupy noun-phrase positions.
- A logical object commonly follows a nominal infinitive through audible ezâfe.
- Prepositional complements keep the preposition selected by the underlying predicate.
- Possessive phrases and clitics can identify the understood performer.
- Plural infinitives count repeated event instances; finite که clauses express tense, person, and mood more clearly.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- The Infinitive and Past StemA1 — Recognize Persian infinitives, recover the fully predictable past stem, and use both forms correctly when learning and looking up verbs.
- Past Participle in هA2 — Build Persian past participles by adding ه to the past stem, then use them in perfect forms, compound predicates, and adjectival result descriptions.
- Nominalized InfinitivesB2 — How Persian long infinitives function as action nouns, retain verbal participants, and contrast with fully finite clauses.
- Preposition plus InfinitiveB2 — Use the Persian infinitive as a verbal noun after برای, قبل از, بدون, and related prepositions, while managing shared subjects and finite-clause alternatives.
- Complementizer کهA2 — Link speech, thought, desire, and evaluation predicates to finite Persian content clauses with که and the appropriate mood.