Many Persian predicates form a transitive–intransitive pair by keeping the same nonverbal element and alternating کردن with شدن: باز کردن “open something” versus باز شدن “open, become open.” The کردن clause introduces a causer and an object; the شدن clause presents the changing entity as its subject.
English often uses one verb for both patterns—“I opened the door” and “the door opened.” Persian makes the argument-structure contrast visible in the light verb. Some شدن clauses can also receive passive translations, but not every شدن is passive.
The core alternation
| Transitive predicate | Intransitive partner | Core contrast |
|---|---|---|
| باز کردن | باز شدن | open something / become open |
| خاموش کردن | خاموش شدن | turn something off / go out, turn off |
| گرم کردن | گرم شدن | heat something / become warm |
| تمام کردن | تمام شدن | finish something / come to an end |
| زیاد کردن | زیاد شدن | increase something / increase |
نگهبان در اصلی را ساعت هفت باز کرد.
negahbân dar-e asli râ sâ'at-e haft bâz kard.
The guard opened the main door at seven. (neutral active; causer plus specific object)
در اصلی ساعت هفت باز شد.
dar-e asli sâ'at-e haft bâz shod.
The main door opened at seven. (neutral intransitive change; no causer asserted)
خواهش میکنم چراغ راهرو را خاموش کنید.
khâhesh mi-konam cherâgh-e râhro râ khâmush konid.
Please turn off the hallway light. (polite standard; transitive کردن)
چراغ راهرو ناگهان خاموش شد.
cherâgh-e râhro nâgahân khâmush shod.
The hallway light suddenly went out. (neutral; intransitive شدن)
Causer, object, and subject
In the transitive pattern, the subject causes the change. A specific direct object commonly takes را: من اتاق را گرم کردم. In the intransitive pattern, that affected entity becomes subject: اتاق گرم شد.
بخاری اتاق را در چند دقیقه گرم کرد.
bokhâri otâq râ dar chand daqiqe garm kard.
The heater warmed the room in a few minutes. (neutral; nonhuman causer)
اتاق کمکم گرم شد.
otâq kam-kam garm shod.
The room gradually became warm. (neutral change of state)
The causer need not be a deliberate agent. Wind can در را باز کند, and heat can رنگ را تغییر دهد. The grammatical contrast is causation versus undergoing change, not simply intentional versus accidental action.
تغییر دادن versus تغییر کردن
The frequent pair تغییر دادن / تغییر کردن uses دادن, not کردن, on its ordinary transitive side. It illustrates why light-verb pairs must be learned lexically rather than generated by one universal formula.
شرکت ساعت کار بخش پشتیبانی را تغییر داد.
sherkat sâ'at-e kâr-e bakhsh-e poshtibâni râ taghyir dâd.
The company changed the support department's working hours. (formal-neutral; transitive تغییر دادن)
ساعت کار بخش پشتیبانی تغییر کرد.
sâ'at-e kâr-e bakhsh-e poshtibâni taghyir kard.
The support department's working hours changed. (formal-neutral; intransitive تغییر کردن)
Standard Iranian Persian also uses تغییر یافت (formal) for “changed,” especially in reports. تغییر شد is not the neutral member of this everyday pair. Vocabulary knowledge decides the light verb.
Why a شدن clause is not automatically passive
In چراغ خاموش شد, the clause can simply report a spontaneous or internally caused change. It does not grammatically require someone who turned the light off. A true passive, by contrast, backgrounds an understood external actor.
Context can make باز شدن passive-like:
در با فشار باد باز شد.
dar bâ feshâr-e bâd bâz shod.
The door opened under the pressure of the wind. (neutral intransitive; cause, not agent)
در به دستور مدیر باز شد.
dar be dastur-e modir bâz shod.
The door was opened on the manager's orders. (formal-neutral; passive-like event reading)
The surface predicate is identical. World knowledge and adjuncts favor a spontaneous-change or externally caused reading. This is why Passive with شدن cannot be diagnosed by translating شد as English was.
Agreement shows the new grammatical subject
When the affected participant is plural and construed as separate affected items, plural شدن makes its subject status visible:
پنجرهها با کنترل مرکزی باز شدند.
panjare-hâ bâ kontrol-e markazi bâz shodand.
The windows opened through the central control. (neutral standard; plural subject)
مهندس پنجرهها را از راه دور باز کرد.
mohandes panjare-hâ râ az râh-e dur bâz kard.
The engineer opened the windows remotely. (neutral active; singular subject, plural object)
The first verb is plural because پنجرهها is the subject and the windows are individuated. An inanimate plural can instead take singular agreement in formal collective construal. The second verb is singular because مهندس is subject; object number never controls Persian verb agreement.
Aspect and tense remain ordinary
The light verb carries all finite morphology. The pairing survives across tense and aspect: باز میکنم / باز میشود, باز کردم / باز شد, باز نمیکنم / باز نمیشود.
این دکمه صدا را کم میکند.
in dokme sedâ râ kam mi-konad.
This button lowers the volume. (neutral standard; transitive present)
با این دکمه صدا کم میشود.
bâ in dokme sedâ kam mi-shavad.
With this button, the volume goes down. (neutral standard; intransitive present)
English may translate the second as “the volume is lowered,” especially in instructions. Persian grammar still foregrounds صدا as the entity undergoing change.
Lexical restrictions
The alternation is productive across many adjective- or noun-based predicates, but not perfectly automatic. حل کردن / حل شدن is established; گوش کردن “listen” does not acquire a normal partner گوش شدن. Changing the light verb can change meaning rather than merely valency.
بعد از چند ساعت مشکل فنی حل شد.
ba'd az chand sâ'at moshkel-e fanni hall shod.
After several hours, the technical problem was resolved. (formal-neutral; established حل شدن)
Learn each predicate as a full infinitive, as explained on Compound Verbs in the Present.
A short dialogue
— چرا پنجره باز شد؟ — خودم بازش کردم؛ هوا گرم بود.
— cherâ panjare bâz shod? — khod-am bâz-ash kardam; havâ garm bud.
— Why did the window open? — I opened it myself; it was warm. (careful conversation; intransitive question, active answer)
The enclitic ـش in بازش کردم refers to the window and functions as the object of the whole compound predicate.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping را with an intransitive شدن subject
❌ پنجره را ناگهان باز شد.
Incorrect — پنجره is subject of باز شدن, not a direct object.
✅ پنجرهی اتاق ناگهان باز شد.
panjare-ye otâq nâgahân bâz shod.
The room's window suddenly opened.
2. Omitting را from a specific transitive object
❌ من این پنجره باز کردم.
Incorrect — demonstrative این makes پنجره a definite, specific object, so it requires را.
✅ من این پنجره را کمی باز کردم.
man in panjare râ kami bâz kardam.
I opened this window a little.
3. Guessing شدن for every intransitive partner
❌ برنامهی کاری تغییر شد.
Unnatural for the intended ordinary intransitive meaning — use established تغییر کردن.
✅ برنامهی کاری ما دوباره تغییر کرد.
barnâme-ye kâri-ye mâ do-bâre taghyir kard.
Our work schedule changed again.
4. Making the verb agree with the object
❌ مدیر چراغها را خاموش کردند.
Incorrect — singular subject مدیر controls agreement, not plural object چراغها.
✅ مدیر همهی چراغها را خاموش کرد.
modir hame-ye cherâgh-hâ râ khâmush kard.
The manager turned off all the lights.
Key Takeaways
- کردن usually introduces a causer and a direct object; شدن presents the affected entity as subject.
- The causer can be deliberate or nonhuman; grammatical transitivity is not the same as intention.
- Some شدن clauses are passive-like, but many simply describe a change of state.
- Learn lexical pairs, especially exceptions such as تغییر دادن / تغییر کردن.
- Tense, negation, and agreement appear on the light verb, not the nonverbal element.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- Compound Verbs in the PresentA1 — Conjugate Persian compound verbs by keeping the nonverbal element stable and placing present-tense marking on the light verb.
- Passive with شدن: First PatternA2 — Build the basic Persian passive with a past participle or compound-predicate base plus شدن, promoting the patient and placing tense on the auxiliary.
- Passive in Present and PastA2 — Conjugate Persian passives across present, past, negative, and perfect forms while controlling agreement, agent suppression, and result-state ambiguity.
- Causative in اندن and انیدنA2 — Recognize Persian morphological causatives in ـاندن and ـانیدن, their derived stems and added arguments, and the lexical limits on forming new causatives.
- Compound Verbs as Single Lexical PredicatesA1 — Learn why Persian noun- or adjective-plus-verb combinations function as one predicate and must be stored with their light verb and complement pattern.