Passive with شدن: First Pattern | Farsi Grammar

The basic Persian passive presents the affected participant—the patient—as the subject and suppresses or backgrounds the actor. With a simple transitive verb, it normally combines the verb's past participle with finite شدن: نامه نوشته شد “the letter was written.” With many compound predicates, the active light verb کردن is replaced by شدن: طرح تصویب شد “the proposal was approved.”

English uses be + participle. Persian uses a form of “become,” so passive form and change-of-state meaning sometimes overlap. The construction is especially useful in formal writing, news, instructions, and situations where the actor is unknown or irrelevant.

From active object to passive subject

Compare the two perspectives:

Voice	Persian pattern	What is foregrounded
active	ویراستار مقاله را اصلاح کرد.	the editor as actor
passive	مقاله اصلاح شد.	the article as affected subject

The active object مقاله را becomes passive subject مقاله and loses را. Finite شدن is controlled by that subject, subject to Persian's special agreement options for inanimate plurals; the actor disappears unless discourse needs it.

ویراستار چند اشتباه را اصلاح کرد.

virâstâr chand eshtebâh râ eslâh kard.

The editor corrected several mistakes. (neutral active; actor foregrounded)

چند اشتباه پیش از چاپ اصلاح شد.

chand eshtebâh pish az châp eslâh shod.

Several mistakes were corrected before publication. (formal-neutral passive; actor suppressed)

پلیس خیابان را برای دو ساعت بست.

polis khiyâbân râ barâ-ye do sâ'at bast.

The police closed the street for two hours. (neutral active)

خیابان برای دو ساعت بسته شد.

khiyâbân barâ-ye do sâ'at baste shod.

The street was closed for two hours. (formal-neutral passive)

💡

To test a basic passive, identify the active object first. That noun phrase becomes the passive subject, loses object marker را, and controls agreement on شدن.

Simple verbs: past participle plus شدن

For a simple transitive verb, build the past participle from its past stem and ـه, then conjugate شدن:

Active infinitive	Participle	Basic passive
نوشتن	نوشته	نوشته شد
ساختن	ساخته	ساخته شد
فرستادن	فرستاده	فرستاده شد
دیدن	دیده	دیده شد

دعوت‌نامه‌ها صبح دوشنبه یکی‌یکی فرستاده شدند.

da'vat-nâme-hâ sobh-e dushanbe yeki-yeki ferestâde shodand.

The invitations were sent one by one Monday morning. (formal-neutral passive; individuated inanimate plural)

این پل بیش از صد سال پیش ساخته شد.

in pol bish az sad sâl pish sâkhte shod.

This bridge was built more than a hundred years ago. (neutral historical statement)

The participle does not carry person or tense. ساخته stays fixed; شد، شدند، می‌شود locate the event. Human plurals normally require plural agreement. Inanimate plurals often allow third-person singular in formal or collective readings, while plural agreement foregrounds separate affected items.

Compound predicates: replace the light verb

Many active compounds with کردن have a passive or intransitive partner with شدن. Persian normally says درخواست تأیید شد, not a mechanically doubled form containing تأیید کرده شد.

Active predicate	Passive partner	Meaning
اعلام کردن	اعلام شدن	announce / be announced
تأیید کردن	تأیید شدن	approve / be approved
انتخاب کردن	انتخاب شدن	select / be selected
لغو کردن	لغو شدن	cancel / be cancelled

نتیجه‌ی مسابقه عصر اعلام شد.

natije-ye mosâbeqe asr e'lâm shod.

The competition result was announced in the afternoon. (formal-neutral)

درخواست مشترک دو دانشجو تأیید شد.

darkhâst-e moshtarak-e do dâneshju ta'yid shod.

The two students' joint application was approved. (formal administrative register; singular head درخواست)

These pairs are lexical units. شدن can mark a passive relation, but it can also create an ordinary intransitive change-of-state predicate. Page Transitive and Intransitive Pairs with کردن and شدن explains that boundary.

Tense and agreement live on شدن

The passive base remains stable while شدن changes:

Time/viewpoint	Form	Meaning
present/habitual	بررسی می‌شود	is checked / gets checked
simple past	بررسی شد	was checked
negative present	بررسی نمی‌شود	is not checked
formal future	بررسی خواهد شد	will be checked

همه‌ی درخواست‌ها جداگانه بررسی می‌شوند.

hame-ye darkhâst-hâ jodâgâne barrasi mi-shavand.

All applications are reviewed separately. (formal procedural statement; plural agreement)

پاسخ نهایی هفته‌ی آینده اعلام خواهد شد.

pâsokh-e nahâyi hafte-ye âyande e'lâm khâhad shod.

The final answer will be announced next week. (formal future passive)

The next page develops the present and past systems, including نمی‌شود and نشده.

Expressing the actor

Persian normally chooses the passive because the actor is unknown, generic, or not worth foregrounding. When an agent must be named, توسط is common (formal/administrative) and به دست is possible when deliberate human agency matters. In conversation, an active sentence is often more natural.

این نسخه توسط مترجم دیگری بازبینی شد.

in noskhe tavassot-e motarjem-e digari bâzbini shod.

This version was reviewed by another translator. (formal; expressed agent)

یک معمار جوان این ساختمان را طراحی کرد.

yek me'mâr-e javân in sâkhtemân râ tarrâhi kard.

A young architect designed this building. (neutral active; more natural when the actor is informative)

💡

If an expressed توسط phrase becomes the most interesting information, consider an active rewrite. Persian tolerates formal agent phrases, but it often prefers simply making that agent the subject.

Passive event or resulting state?

Because شدن also means “become,” some forms allow two related readings. در بسته شد may describe an event caused by someone (“the door was closed”) or merely the door's transition into a closed state (“the door closed”). Context, an agent phrase, and the kind of predicate guide interpretation.

با وزش باد، پنجره ناگهان بسته شد.

bâ vazesh-e bâd, panjare nâgahân baste shod.

With a gust of wind, the window suddenly closed. (neutral; change-of-state reading)

پرونده پس از بررسی قاضی بسته شد.

parvande pas az barrasi-ye qâzi baste shod.

The case was closed after the judge's review. (formal; passive event reading)

There is no one mechanical English translation for every شدن construction. Determine whether the clause profiles an external action, an internally viewed change, or a resulting condition.

Common Mistakes

1. Keeping را on the promoted patient

❌ نامه را دیروز فرستاده شد.

Incorrect — نامه is the passive subject and does not take object marker را.

✅ نامه‌ی رسمی دیروز فرستاده شد.

nâme-ye rasmi diruz ferestâde shod.

The official letter was sent yesterday.

2. Using an infinitive before شدن

❌ گزارش نوشتن شد.

Incorrect — a simple-verb passive requires the past participle نوشته.

✅ گزارش جلسه همان شب نوشته شد.

gozâresh-e jalase hamân shab neveshte shod.

The meeting report was written that same evening.

3. Building the participle from the present stem

❌ عکس‌ها بینه شدند.

Incorrect — the participle of دیدن is built from past stem دید: دیده.

✅ همه‌ی عکس‌ها پیش از انتشار دیده شدند.

hame-ye aks-hâ pish az enteshâr dide shodand.

All the photographs were viewed before publication.

4. Using singular agreement with a human plural patient

❌ دانشجویان برگزیده دعوت شد.

Incorrect in ordinary modern Persian — human plural دانشجویان requires شدند.

✅ دانشجویان برگزیده برای مصاحبه دعوت شدند.

dâneshju-yân-e bargozide barâ-ye mosâhebe da'vat shodand.

The selected students were invited for an interview.

Key Takeaways

A passive promotes the active object to subject and normally removes را.
Simple verbs use past participle + شدن; many کردن compounds replace the light verb with شدن.
Tense and negation are marked on شدن; agreement follows the human/inanimate and collective/individuated patterns of Persian.
Persian usually suppresses the actor; توسط belongs mainly to formal registers.
Because شدن also means “become,” context separates passive events from changes of state.

Now practice Farsi

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

Start learning Farsi →