Permission with اجازه دادن and داشتن | Farsi Grammar

Persian builds permission around the noun اجازه “permission.” اجازه دادن focuses on the person who grants it: مدیر اجازه داد بروم “the manager allowed me to leave.” اجازه داشتن focuses on the person who possesses it: اجازه داشتم بروم “I had permission to leave.” The permitted action is normally a finite subjunctive clause, not an English-style bare infinitive.

The challenging part is not the word اجازه, but tracking three possible roles: who grants permission, who receives or has it, and who performs the permitted action.

اجازه دادن: someone grants permission

In اجازه دادن, the grammatical subject is the authority or giver. The recipient can appear with به, and that recipient normally controls the subject of the following subjunctive.

Role	Persian phrase	Function
giver	مدیر	subject of اجازه داد
recipient	به من	person receiving permission
permitted action	زودتر بروم	subjunctive; its subject is “I”

مدیر به من اجازه داد امروز زودتر بروم.

modir be man ejâze dâd emruz zud-tar beravam.

The manager allowed me to leave earlier today. (neutral standard; giver, recipient, and permitted actor are explicit)

صاحب‌خانه اجازه نمی‌دهد دوچرخه‌ها را در راهرو بگذاریم.

sâheb-khâne ejâze nemi-dahad docharkhe-hâ râ dar râhru begozârim.

The landlord does not allow us to leave the bicycles in the corridor. (neutral rule; recipient understood from بگذاریم)

پزشک به بیمار اجازه داد چند قدم راه برود.

pezeshk be bimâr ejâze dâd chand qadam râh beravad.

The doctor allowed the patient to walk a few steps. (neutral standard; third-person recipient controls برود)

The recipient phrase is often omitted because the embedded ending and context identify it: اجازه دادند وارد شویم “they allowed us to enter.” With an explicit complementizer, the same relationship holds: اجازه داد که وارد شویم.

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With اجازه دادن, start from the giver: that person conjugates دادن. Then identify the recipient/actor: that person supplies the ending on the subjunctive.

اجازه داشتن: someone has permission

With اجازه داشتن, the permission holder is the grammatical subject of داشتن and normally also the actor of the subjunctive. There is no separate giver unless a source phrase is added.

دانشجوها اجازه دارند تا ساعت هشت از کتابخانه استفاده کنند.

dâneshju-hâ ejâze dârand tâ sâ'at-e hasht az ketâbkhâne estefâde konand.

The students are allowed to use the library until eight. (formal-neutral; holders and actors are the same people)

من اجازه ندارم اطلاعات مشتری‌ها را بیرون از شرکت بفرستم.

man ejâze na-dâram ettelâ'ât-e moshtari-hâ râ birun az sherkat beferestam.

I am not allowed to send customer information outside the company. (formal-neutral restriction)

آیا مهمان‌ها اجازه دارند از این آسانسور استفاده کنند؟

âyâ mehmân-hâ ejâze dârand az in âsânsur estefâde konand?

Are guests allowed to use this elevator? (polite standard question)

Compare the perspectives directly:

Construction	Subject	Core meaning
رئیس اجازه داد بروم	the boss	the boss granted permission for me to go
اجازه داشتم بروم	I	I possessed permission to go

English often packages both as passive be allowed. Persian makes the chosen viewpoint visible through the light verb and its subject.

The permission source with از

When the authority is viewed as the source from whom permission comes, Persian uses از: از مدیر اجازه دارم “I have permission from the manager.” The same source marking appears with اجازه گرفتن “obtain/ask for permission,” which describes acquiring permission rather than simply having it.

از سرپرستم اجازه دارم جمعه از خانه کار کنم.

az sarparast-am ejâze dâram jom'e az khâne kâr konam.

I have my supervisor's permission to work from home on Friday. (neutral standard; source with از)

برای گرفتن عکس از مسئول موزه اجازه گرفتیم.

barâ-ye gereftan-e aks az mas'ul-e muze ejâze gereftim.

We got permission from the museum official to take photographs. (neutral standard; acquiring permission)

Do not replace source از with recipient به. In مدیر به من اجازه داد, به من receives permission. In من از مدیر اجازه گرفتم, از مدیر supplies it.

The subjunctive complement and optional که

The permitted event uses the same present-subjunctive system described on Present Subjunctive Formation. که is optional; it can help before a longer clause or an overt embedded subject.

به بچه‌ها اجازه دادیم که خودشان غذا را انتخاب کنند.

be bachche-hâ ejâze dâdim ke khod-eshân ghazâ râ entekhâb konand.

We let the children choose the food themselves. (neutral standard; explicit که and third-plural actor)

اجازه داریم وسایلمان را تا عصر اینجا بگذاریم.

ejâze dârim vasâyel-emân râ tâ asr injâ begozârim.

We have permission to leave our things here until this evening. (neutral conversation; که omitted)

With اجازه دادن, the permitted actor can differ from the giver. With اجازه داشتن, the holder and actor are normally the same. If they differ, reframe the sentence so each role is overt rather than forcing an unexplained mismatched ending.

Polite requests for permission

Two useful question frames reflect the same perspective difference. اجازه می‌دهید ...؟ asks whether the addressee will grant permission. اجازه دارم ...؟ asks whether the speaker possesses it. Both take a first-person subjunctive when the speaker wants to act.

اجازه می‌دهید پنجره را باز کنم؟

ejâze mi-dahid panjare râ bâz konam?

Would you allow me to open the window? (polite standard request)

اجازه دارم این فایل را برای همکارم بفرستم؟

ejâze dâram in fâyl râ barâ-ye hamkâr-am beferestam?

May I send this file to my colleague? (polite neutral request)

با اجازه is a conventional courtesy formula used before leaving, entering, interrupting, or beginning an action. It does not by itself name the action and is less structurally explicit than the two full questions.

با اجازه، من باید به جلسه‌ی بعدی بروم.

bâ ejâze, man bâyad be jalase-ye ba'di beravam.

Excuse me, I need to go to my next meeting. (polite formula before leaving)

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For a polite request, the ending on the final verb reveals the actor: اجازه می‌دهید وارد شوم؟ asks you to grant permission for me to enter.

Negation and tense

Negate the light verb to deny permission. اجازه نداد means the giver refused or did not allow something; اجازه نداشتم means the holder lacked permission. Present imperfective اجازه نمی‌دهد describes a current rule or repeated refusal.

نگهبان اجازه نداد بدون کارت وارد ساختمان شویم.

negahbân ejâze na-dâd bedun-e kârt vâred-e sâkhtemân shavim.

The guard did not let us enter the building without a card. (neutral standard; denied grant)

آن زمان اجازه نداشتم شب‌ها ماشین بردارم.

ân zamân ejâze na-dâshtam shab-hâ mâshin bar-dâram.

At that time, I wasn't allowed to take the car at night. (neutral standard; lacked permission)

Everyday Tehran speech

In Tehran conversation (informal, regional: Tehran), می‌دهد / می‌دهید commonly become می‌ده / می‌دین, and subjunctives reduce: بکنم، بروم → کنم، برم according to the verb. The noun اجازه remains recognizable.

اجازه می‌دین گوشیم رو اینجا شارژ کنم؟

ejâze mi-din gushi-m ro injâ shârzh konam?

Would you mind if I charged my phone here? (informal, regional: Tehran; polite plural address)

Common Mistakes

1. Confusing the giver with the holder

❌ من اجازه دادم زودتر بروم.

as ‘I had permission to leave earlier’

Incorrect for that meaning — the grammatical sentence says I granted permission; use اجازه داشتم for possessing permission.

✅ من اجازه داشتم بعد از ناهار مرخص شوم.

man ejâze dâshtam ba'd az nâhâr morakhkhas shavam.

I had permission to leave after lunch.

2. Using an infinitive for the permitted event

❌ اجازه دارم اینجا نشستن.

Incorrect — a personal permitted action takes a finite subjunctive.

✅ اجازه دارم تا آمدن پزشک اینجا بنشینم.

ejâze dâram tâ âmadan-e pezeshk injâ be-neshinam.

I am allowed to sit here until the doctor arrives.

3. Marking the recipient as a source

❌ مدیر از من اجازه داد زودتر بروم.

Incorrect for ‘the manager gave me permission’ — a recipient after اجازه دادن is marked with به.

✅ مدیر به من اجازه داد جلسه را آنلاین دنبال کنم.

modir be man ejâze dâd jalase râ ânlâyn donbâl konam.

The manager allowed me to follow the meeting online.

4. Giving the complement the giver's ending

❌ استاد به ما اجازه داد سؤال بپرسد.

as ‘the professor let us ask a question’

Incorrect for the intended reading — the embedded actor is us, so the subjunctive must be first-person plural.

✅ استاد به ما اجازه داد بعد از کلاس سؤال بپرسیم.

ostâd be mâ ejâze dâd ba'd az kelâs so'âl beporsim.

The professor allowed us to ask questions after class.

Key Takeaways

اجازه دادن takes the giver as subject; its به-marked recipient normally performs the subjunctive action.
اجازه داشتن takes the permission holder as subject; holder and permitted actor normally coincide.
Use از for the authority as a source: از مدیر اجازه دارم / اجازه گرفتم.
Permission requests commonly use اجازه می‌دهید ...؟ or اجازه دارم ...؟ plus first-person subjunctive.
Negate دادن for refusal to grant and داشتن for absence of permission.

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