خواستن plus Subjunctive | Farsi Grammar

Lexical خواستن “want” takes a finite present subjunctive when what is wanted is an event: می‌خواهم بروم “I want to go,” می‌خواهم علی بیاید “I want Ali to come.” The ending on the subordinate verb identifies who is to perform that event. This makes Persian more explicit than English, whose same-subject to go has no visible subject agreement.

Do not confuse lexical می‌خواهم + subjunctive with the construction taught on Future with خواستن. می‌خواهم بخوانم means “I want to read”; خواهم خواند means “I will read.”

Two verbs, potentially two subjects

The first verb marks the wanter; the subjunctive marks the intended actor:

Pattern	Persian	Subject relation
want-1SG + go-SBJV-1SG	می‌خواهم بروم	I want; I go
want-1SG + come-SBJV-2SG	می‌خواهم بیایی	I want; you come
want-3SG + stay-SBJV-1PL	می‌خواهد بمانیم	he/she wants; we stay
want-1PL + begin-SBJV-3PL	می‌خواهیم شروع کنند	we want; they begin

می‌خواهم پیش از شلوغی خرید کنم.

mi-khâham pish az sholughi kharid konam.

I want to shop before it gets crowded. (neutral standard; same subject)

می‌خواهیم امسال بیشتر پس‌انداز کنیم.

mi-khâhim emsâl bishtar pas-andâz konim.

We want to save more this year. (neutral standard; same subject)

مدیر می‌خواهد شما گزارش را کوتاه‌تر کنید.

modir mi-khâhad shomâ gozâresh râ kutâh-tar konid.

The manager wants you to shorten the report. (formal-neutral; different subjects)

💡

Read the two endings separately. In می‌خواهم بیایی, ـم identifies the wanter as “I,” while ـی identifies the person expected to come as “you.”

Same-subject wanting

When the wanter is also the intended actor, both verbs normally agree with that one subject: می‌خواهم بروم، می‌خواهی بمانی، می‌خواهند بخوابند. Persian does not replace the second verb with an infinitive.

می‌خواهی بعد از جلسه با او صحبت کنی؟

mi-khâhi ba'd az jalase bâ u sohbat koni?

Do you want to speak with her after the meeting? (neutral conversation; same second-person subject)

آن‌ها می‌خواهند نزدیک محل کارشان خانه بگیرند.

ân-hâ mi-khâhand nazdik-e mahall-e kâr-eshân khâne begirand.

They want to rent a home near their workplace. (neutral standard; same third-plural subject)

The independent pronoun can be omitted because both endings make the reference clear. It reappears for contrast: من می‌خواهم بمانم، ولی او می‌خواهد برود “I want to stay, but she wants to leave.”

Different-subject wanting

When another person is expected to act, name that subject or make it recoverable from context, then choose the matching embedded ending. English uses an object form in “I want him to come”; Persian uses a clause whose subject او is not marked with را.

می‌خواهم نازنین هم در جلسه باشد.

mi-khâham nâzanin ham dar jalase bâshad.

I want Nazanin to be at the meeting too. (neutral standard; different subjects)

پدرم می‌خواهد من پزشکی بخوانم.

pedar-am mi-khâhad man pezeshki be-khânam.

My father wants me to study medicine. (neutral standard; third-singular wanter, first-singular embedded subject)

می‌خواهید بچه‌ها کجا بنشینند؟

mi-khâhid bachche-hâ kojâ be-neshinand?

Where do you want the children to sit? (polite/plural standard)

There is no general “same-subject rule” forcing the complement to match خواستن. Agreement follows meaning: who wants, and who performs the wanted event?

Optional که

Complementizer که can explicitly introduce the wanted clause: می‌خواهم که بیایی. It is grammatical with both same and different subjects, but is frequently omitted, especially when the complement is short. With a different overt subject or a long formal sentence, که can make the clause boundary clearer.

از شما می‌خواهیم که مدارک را تا دوشنبه ارسال کنید.

az shomâ mi-khâhim ke madârek râ tâ dushanbe ersâl konid.

We ask you to send the documents by Monday. (formal request; explicit که)

می‌خوام تو هم باهامون بیای.

mi-khâm to ham bâhâmun biyây.

I want you to come with us too. (informal, regional: Tehran; که omitted)

In formal requests, از کسی خواستن که... often corresponds to English “ask someone to...,” as in the first example. The addressee is introduced with از, while the requested action remains a subjunctive clause.

💡

Omitting که does not turn the following verb into an infinitive. می‌خواهم بیایی still contains a complete second-person singular subjunctive.

Wanting an object

If the desired thing is a noun phrase rather than an event, no subjunctive follows. The noun functions as the object of خواستن: آب می‌خواهم “I want water,” کدام کتاب را می‌خواهید؟ “Which book do you want?”

برای اتاق یک چراغ مطالعه می‌خواهم.

barâ-ye otâq yek cherâgh-e motâle'e mi-khâham.

I want a desk lamp for the room. (neutral standard; noun object)

نوشیدنی گرم می‌خواهید یا آب خنک؟

nushidani-ye garm mi-khâhid yâ âb-e khonak?

Would you like a hot drink or cold water? (polite standard; noun objects)

English want uses the same surface verb before a noun and an infinitive. Persian خواستن also supports both meanings, but only the event complement carries subjunctive morphology.

Where negation takes scope

Negating خواستن denies the desire; negating the subjunctive makes non-occurrence the desired content. The distinction can matter socially as well as grammatically:

Persian	Meaning
نمی‌خواهم امیر بیاید.	I do not want Amir to come.
می‌خواهم امیر نیاید.	I want Amir not to come.

The second can sound more forceful because it positively desires non-arrival. For routine tact, speakers often prefer a softer rephrasing.

نمی‌خواهم کسی به خاطر من منتظر بماند.

nemi-khâham kasi be khâter-e man montazer bemânad.

I don't want anyone to wait because of me. (neutral standard; matrix negation)

می‌خواهم این موضوع در حال حاضر مطرح نشود.

mi-khâham in mowzu' dar hâl-e hâzer matrah na-shavad.

I want this matter not to be raised for now. (formal-neutral; embedded negation)

Colloquial Tehran contractions

Everyday Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) commonly has می‌خوام، می‌خوای، می‌خواد، می‌خوایم، می‌خواین، می‌خوان. Embedded subjunctives reduce too: برم، بیای، بمونه، بریم، بیاین، برن. که is especially likely to be absent in short complements, even when the embedded subject differs.

می‌خوای فردا با هم ناهار بخوریم؟

mi-khây fardâ bâ ham nâhâr be-khorim?

Do you want us to have lunch together tomorrow? (informal, regional: Tehran)

Do not combine formal matrix می‌خواهید with a randomly reduced ending unless the utterance genuinely shifts register. Standard می‌خواهید بیایید؟ and colloquial می‌خواین بیاین؟ are coherent alternatives.

Common Mistakes

1. Using an infinitive as the complement

❌ می‌خواهم زودتر رفتن.

Incorrect — an event complement of خواستن is a finite subjunctive.

✅ می‌خواهم امروز کمی زودتر بروم.

mi-khâham emruz kami zud-tar beravam.

I want to leave a little earlier today.

2. Mismatching a same-subject complement

❌ من می‌خواهم تنها بروی.

as same-subject ‘I want to go alone’; the sentence is grammatical with an understood second-person embedded subject

Incorrect for 'I want to go alone' — the embedded actor is first-person singular, so the verb must end in ـم.

✅ من می‌خواهم این مسیر را تنها بروم.

man mi-khâham in masir râ tanhâ beravam.

I want to take this route alone.

3. Marking an embedded subject as a direct object

❌ می‌خواهم سارا را بیاید.

Incorrect — سارا is the subject of بیاید, not a را-marked object of خواستن.

✅ می‌خواهم سارا هم به مهمانی بیاید.

mi-khâham sârâ ham be mehmâni biyâyad.

I want Sara to come to the party too.

4. Mixing lexical wanting with the formal future

❌ فردا خواهم بروم خرید.

Incorrect — خواهم as a future auxiliary requires bare past stem رفت; lexical wanting requires می‌خواهم بروم.

✅ فردا برای خرید خواهم رفت.

fardâ barâ-ye kharid khâham raft.

I will go shopping tomorrow. (formal future)

Key Takeaways

Lexical خواستن takes a finite present subjunctive when its complement is an event.
Matrix and embedded endings independently identify the wanter and the intended actor.
که is optional; it is often omitted in short clauses and in colloquial speech.
A desired noun phrase is an object and requires no subjunctive.
Keep می‌خواهم بروم “I want to go” distinct from خواهم رفت “I will go.”

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