Persian often avoids a formal passive by using an active verb in the third-person plural with no pronounced subject: گفتند فردا تماس میگیرند “I was told they will call tomorrow.” The missing subject can mean “they,” “people,” “the staff,” or another human group recoverable only in a general way. English frequently translates the result with a passive.
This is not a disguised morphological passive. The verb is active, its object retains normal object marking, and the third-plural ending represents an arbitrary or backgrounded human actor.
Null subject, active syntax
Persian is a pro-drop language: personal endings can identify a subject without an overt pronoun. A third-plural ending can therefore introduce either a contextually known group or an arbitrary human agent.
The general conditions for omitting or stating pronouns are covered on Pro-Drop and When Pronouns Appear.
| Pattern | Persian | Natural English |
|---|---|---|
| referential third plural | آنها در را بستند. | They closed the door. |
| null referential subject | در را بستند. | They closed the door. |
| null arbitrary subject | اینجا ساعت ده در را میبندند. | The door is closed here at ten. |
| syntactic passive | در ساعت ده بسته میشود. | The door is closed at ten. |
در این درمانگاه کارت شناسایی میخواهند.
dar in darmângâh kârt-e shenâsâyi mi-khâhand.
Identification is required at this clinic. (neutral standard; arbitrary human staff)
این بسته را صبح جلوی در گذاشتند.
in baste râ sobh jelo-ye dar gozâshtand.
This package was left by the door this morning. (neutral conversation; unknown human actor)
In both sentences the direct object behaves exactly as it does in an ordinary active clause. Definite این بسته takes را; the plural ending belongs to the unspoken people, not to the package.
Arbitrary versus referential “they”
An overt آنها normally points to an identifiable group already active in discourse. Leaving the pronoun out makes an arbitrary reading easier, though context can still supply a specific group.
آنها ورودی غربی را برای تعمیر بستهاند.
ân-hâ vorudi-ye gharbi râ barâ-ye ta'mir baste-and.
They have closed the west entrance for repairs. (neutral standard; referential group)
ورودی غربی را تا آخر هفته بستهاند.
vorudi-ye gharbi râ tâ âkhar-e hafte baste-and.
The west entrance has been closed until the end of the week. (neutral standard; actor backgrounded)
The second does not claim that the actor is unknowable. In a station, everyone may understand “the authorities” or “the maintenance staff.” The construction merely declines to make that actor the topic.
Formal impersonal-style میگویند “they say / it is said” can also invoke diffuse public report rather than a particular set of speakers.
میگویند این جاده در زمستان خطرناک است.
mi-guyand in jâdde dar zemestân khatarnâk ast.
They say this road is dangerous in winter. (neutral standard; diffuse report)
English learners sometimes feel obliged to add آنها because English requires an overt subject. Persian does not. Adding the pronoun changes information structure by inviting the question “which people?”
Why conversation prefers this strategy
The شدن passive is fully grammatical, but extended passive morphology often sounds administrative or written. Active third plural lets conversation preserve ordinary verb vocabulary and natural agent-oriented syntax while keeping the actor low in prominence.
درخواستها را اغلب ظرف دو روز بررسی میکنند.
darkhâst-hâ râ aghlab zarf-e do ruz barrasi mi-konand.
Applications are usually reviewed within two days. (neutral standard; active institutional procedure)
درخواستها اغلب ظرف دو روز بررسی میشود.
darkhâst-hâ aghlab zarf-e do ruz barrasi mi-shavad.
Applications are usually reviewed within two days. (formal procedural passive; inanimate collective agreement)
Both are standard. The active version evokes people processing applications; the passive organizes the statement around the institutional process. This is a register and viewpoint choice, not a contest between correct and incorrect grammar.
Colloquial Tehran
In Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran), third-plural endings reduce to ـن, and standard vocabulary may contract. These forms are extremely common in service encounters and reports of what unnamed officials did.
گفتن جواب آزمایش رو عصر میفرستن.
goftan javâb-e âzmâyesh ro asr mi-ferestan.
They said the test result would be sent this afternoon. (informal, regional: Tehran; two null third-plural subjects)
ماشینمو بردن پارکینگ؛ گفتن فردا تحویل میدن.
mâshin-am-o bord-an pârking; goftan fardâ tahvil mi-dan.
My car was taken to the impound lot; they said they would return it tomorrow. (informal, regional: Tehran)
Standard prose would write ماشینم را به پارکینگ بردند؛ گفتند فردا تحویل میدهند. Do not combine colloquial رو with formal میدهند in a single supposedly neutral example.
Translation without inventing an actor
The best English translation depends on genre:
- اینجا کارت قبول میکنند can be “They accept cards here” or “Cards are accepted here.”
- من را صدا زدند is often “I was called,” not necessarily “They called me.”
- میگویند may be “people say,” “they say,” or formal “it is said.”
Translation should preserve the actor's low discourse prominence. Conversely, when translating an English passive into Persian, do not automatically choose third plural. A regulation may require a formal passive; a spontaneous event may require an intransitive شدن predicate; a conversation often favors arbitrary active plural.
اسم من را از بلندگو صدا زدند و به باجهی چهار رفتم.
esm-e man râ az bolandgu sedâ zadand-o be bâje-ye chahâr raftam.
My name was called over the loudspeaker, and I went to counter four. (neutral narrative; arbitrary plural active)
Restrictions
The arbitrary subject is normally interpreted as human. It cannot replace an intransitive change with no plausible human actor: “the window broke in the storm” is پنجره در طوفان شکست, not a third-plural active unless people actually broke it.
Because the construction is active, its valency remains lexical. تماس گرفتن still needs با; پرسیدن still takes the person or question complement appropriate to its active use. The translation “was contacted” does not create a Persian passive argument structure.
Common Mistakes
1. Combining active object marking with a passive verb
❌ این کارت را بررسی میشود.
Incorrect hybrid — را marks an active object, while میشود is singular passive morphology.
✅ این کارت را هنگام ورود بررسی میکنند.
in kârt râ hengâm-e vorud barrasi mi-konand.
This card is checked upon entry. (active arbitrary plural)
2. Treating the affected object as the active subject
❌ این مدارک فردا تحویل میگیرند.
Incorrect for ‘they receive these documents’ — the definite active object requires را.
✅ این مدارک را فردا در دبیرخانه تحویل میگیرند.
in madârek râ fardâ dar dabir-khâne tahvil mi-girand.
These documents will be received tomorrow at the secretariat.
3. Using singular agreement with an overt plural actor
❌ کارمندها من را از اتاق بیرون کرد.
Incorrect — overt human plural کارمندها requires the plural verb کردند.
✅ کارمندها من را بهاشتباه از صف بیرون کردند.
kârmand-hâ man râ be-eshtebâh az saf birun kardand.
The employees mistakenly removed me from the line.
4. Adding a توسط phrase to an arbitrary active
❌ نامه را توسط اداره فرستادند.
with توسط اداره as an intermediary ‘through the office,’ not as the subject of فرستادند
Incorrect for the intended active-agent structure — a توسط phrase cannot supply the missing subject of plural active فرستادند.
✅ ادارهی مرکزی نامه را برای همهی شعبهها فرستاد.
edâre-ye markazi nâme râ barâ-ye hame-ye sho'be-hâ ferestâd.
The central office sent the letter to all branches.
Key Takeaways
- A null third-plural active can background an unknown, generic, or institutionally obvious human actor.
- The affected participant remains an object and takes را when definite or specific.
- An overt آنها normally creates a referential “they”; omission supports the arbitrary reading.
- Conversation strongly favors this strategy, with Tehran endings in ـن; formal prose uses both it and syntactic passives.
- Translate by discourse function: English may naturally use a passive even though Persian syntax is active.
Now practice Farsi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- 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.
- Passive across the Tense and Mood SystemB1 — Carry Persian passive bases through subjunctive, perfect, future, modal, negative, and agreement patterns by conjugating the شدن layer.
- Expressing the Passive Agent with توسطB1 — Use formal توسط agent phrases accurately, distinguish them from از طرف and causal phrases, and know when an active clause is clearer.
- Pro-Drop and When Pronouns AppearA1 — Omit recoverable Persian subject pronouns, but state them for contrast, emphasis, topic changes, politeness, or reference clarity.