A Persian past participle can describe the state left by an event: شکسته “broken,” بسته “closed,” نشسته “seated.” In that use it behaves like an adjective. It can modify a noun after ezâfe—لیوان شکسته livân-e shekaste—or form a predicate with است/بود—در بسته است “the door is closed.”
The same shape also builds perfect verbs, so form alone does not always settle the analysis. مریم نامه را نوشته است reports Mary's prior writing event, while در بسته است primarily describes a present condition. Meaning, argument structure, and context do the disambiguating.
From past stem to result state
The form is the familiar past stem + ه introduced on Past Participle in ه. Its verbal source suggests a change; its adjectival use profiles the condition after that change.
| Infinitive | Past stem | Participle | Typical result |
|---|---|---|---|
| شکستن | شکست | شکسته | broken |
| بستن | بست | بسته | closed, tied, packaged |
| نشستن | نشست | نشسته | seated |
| پختن | پخت | پخته | cooked, ripe/mature |
| نوشتن | نوشت | نوشته | written |
فنجان شکسته را کنار گذاشتم تا کسی دستش را نبرد.
fenjân-e shekaste râ kenâr gozâshtam tâ kasi dast-ash râ na-borad.
I put the broken cup aside so nobody would cut their hand. (neutral standard; attributive result state)
همهی صندلیهای جلوی سالن پر بود و چند نفر ایستاده بودند.
hame-ye sandali-hâ-ye jelow-e sâlon por bud va chand nafar istâde budand.
All the seats at the front of the hall were occupied, and several people were standing. (neutral narrative; result/posture states)
The participle is built from the past stem even though it describes a current state. “Past participle” names its morphology, not the time of the entire phrase.
Attributive use: noun plus ezâfe
Like other Persian adjectives, a participial adjective follows its noun. Ezâfe is pronounced after the noun, though it is usually unwritten after a consonant: کتابِ گمشده ketâb-e gom-shode. After silent ه, write the linker as هی.
مدارک امضاشده را در پوشهی آبی بگذارید.
madârek-e emzâ-shode râ dar pushe-ye âbi begozârid.
Put the signed documents in the blue folder. (formal-neutral instruction; attributive participle)
مسافر نشسته جایش را به زن سالخورده داد.
mosâfer-e neshaste jâ-yash râ be zan-e sâlkhorde dâd.
The seated passenger gave their place to the elderly woman. (neutral standard; current posture treated as a property)
پنیر مانده بوی تندی گرفته بود.
panir-e mânde bu-ye tond-i gerefte bud.
The stale cheese had developed a strong smell. (neutral standard; lexicalized meaning of مانده)
The adjective remains invariant. مدرک امضاشده and مدارک امضاشده use the same participial form; Persian does not add gender or plural agreement to it.
Predicative states with است and بود
As a predicate, the participle follows the subject and combines with a copula: پنجره شکسته است, در بسته بود. The copula locates the state in time. It does not automatically turn the phrase into an eventive passive.
در انبار هنوز بسته است؛ کلید پیش نگهبان است.
dar-e anbâr hanuz baste ast; kelid pish-e negahbân ast.
The storeroom door is still closed; the guard has the key. (neutral standard; present result state)
وقتی رسیدیم، چراغها خاموش و پنجره باز بود.
vaqti residim, cherâgh-hâ khâmush va panjare bâz bud.
When we arrived, the lights were off and the window was open. (neutral narrative; coordinated states)
With posture verbs, Persian often uses the resultative form for a current posture: نشسته است “is sitting/seated,” ایستاده است “is standing.” English uses a progressive; Persian conceptualizes the posture as a state reached by sitting down or standing up.
مادرم کنار پنجره نشسته است و روزنامه میخواند.
mâdar-am kenâr-e panjare neshaste ast va ruznâme mi-khânad.
My mother is sitting by the window and reading the newspaper. (neutral standard; current posture)
State, perfect event, or passive event?
Three related structures deserve separate readings:
| Form | Preferred focus | Typical translation |
|---|---|---|
| در بسته است | present condition | the door is closed |
| مریم در را بسته است | Mary's completed act | Mary has closed the door |
| در بسته شده است | completed change/passive event | the door has been closed |
An overt agentive subject and object, as in مریم در را, strongly favor a perfect-event analysis. Added شدن explicitly profiles a change or passive event. A subject plus bare resultative and copula favors a state, especially with هنوز “still,” a location, or a contrast with another property.
مسئول سالن در را ده دقیقه پیش بسته است.
mas'ul-e sâlon dar râ dah daqiqe pish baste ast.
The hall attendant closed the door ten minutes ago. (present perfect; completed act and agent)
در اصلی بهدلیل تعمیرات بسته شده است.
dar-e asli be-dalil-e ta'mirât baste shode ast.
The main door has been closed because of repairs. (formal passive/resulting change)
The boundary can remain genuinely ambiguous without context. Persian does not require speakers to choose a different visible form every time state and prior event overlap. The advanced Result State versus Perfect Event page develops those gray areas.
Lexicalization
Frequent participles can acquire stable adjective meanings that are not completely predictable from the source verb. پخته can mean “mature, seasoned” of a person or idea, not only “cooked”; مانده can mean “stale”; written as one word, کارکرده means “experienced” or “used.” These meanings must be learned lexically.
برای این مذاکره به یک مدیر باتجربه و پخته نیاز داریم.
barâ-ye in mozâkere be yek modir-e bâ-tajrobe va pokhte niyâz dârim.
For this negotiation, we need an experienced and mature manager. (formal-neutral; lexicalized پخته)
یک لپتاپ کارکرده خریدم که هنوز سالم است.
yek lap-tâp-e kâr-karde kharidam ke hanuz sâlem ast.
I bought a used laptop that is still in good condition. (neutral standard; lexicalized one-word کارکرده)
By contrast, کار کرده with a space is the perfect of کار کردن: او اینجا کار کرده است “he/she has worked here.” Orthography distinguishes the lexical adjective from the ordinary compound verb.
Colloquial speech
In Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran), third-singular است is normally omitted or realized as ـه. A resultative remains understandable from the property reading and context: در بستهست, بچه نشسته. Do not mix a colloquial copula with otherwise highly formal phrasing without a reason.
در بستهست، ولی از حیاط میتونی بری تو.
dar baste-st, vali az hayât mi-tuni beri tu.
The door's closed, but you can go in through the yard. (informal, regional: Tehran)
Common Mistakes
1. Copying English adjective order
❌ شکسته لیوان را دور انداختم.
Incorrect neutral order — a participial adjective follows the noun through ezâfe.
✅ لیوان شکسته را با احتیاط دور انداختم.
livân-e shekaste râ bâ ehtiyât dur andâkhtam.
I carefully threw away the broken glass.
2. Omitting ezâfe in pronunciation
❌ مسافر نشسته پیاده شد.
mosâfer neshaste piyâde shod
Incorrect reading for ‘the seated passenger’ — an attributive participle requires ezâfe after مسافر.
✅ مسافر نشسته در ایستگاه بعد پیاده شد.
mosâfer-e neshaste dar istgâh-e ba'd piyâde shod.
The seated passenger got off at the next stop.
3. Pluralizing the adjective
❌ شیشههای شکستهها را جمع کردیم.
Incorrect — شکسته is invariant; plural marking belongs on شیشهها.
✅ شیشههای شکسته را از روی زمین جمع کردیم.
shishe-hâ-ye shekaste râ az ru-ye zamin jam' kardim.
We picked up the broken pieces of glass from the floor.
4. Forcing an event reading onto a state
❌ پنجره بسته است.
as necessarily ‘someone has closed the window’
Incorrect inference — this grammatical sentence can simply describe the window's closed state.
✅ سرایدار پنجره را پیش از رفتن بسته است.
sarâydâr panjare râ pish az raftan baste ast.
The caretaker closed the window before leaving. (perfect event with agent and object)
5. Building the participle from the present stem
❌ نام نویسشده روی کارت خوانا نیست.
Incorrect — نویس is the present stem; the passive/resultative form is نوشتهشده.
✅ نام نوشتهشده روی کارت خوانا نیست.
nâm-e neveshte-shode ru-ye kârt khânâ nist.
The name written on the card is not legible.
Key Takeaways
- Past-stem + ه can describe the state resulting from an event.
- Attributive participles follow the noun through ezâfe and never agree in gender or number.
- A predicative resultative combines with است/بود and answers “what state is it in?”
- Agent plus object favors a perfect event; added شدن foregrounds a passive change.
- Lexicalized forms such as پخته، مانده، کارکرده require meaning- and spelling-specific learning.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- 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.
- Present Perfect FormationA2 — Form the Persian present perfect with a past participle and present copula, including six standard spellings, negation, compound verbs, and Tehran reductions.
- Passive in Present and PastA2 — Conjugate Persian passives across present, past, negative, and perfect forms while controlling agreement, agent suppression, and result-state ambiguity.
- Participial AdjectivesB1 — Recognize Persian adjectives derived from past and present verb stems, and distinguish result states from passive events and lexicalized meanings.
- Adjectives after Nouns with EzâfeA1 — Build neutral Persian attributive phrases with the noun first, an audible ezâfe linker, and one or more following adjectives.
- Result State versus Perfect EventB1 — Distinguish Persian state predicates such as در باز است from perfect change-of-state and passive clauses such as در باز شده است.