Indirect Commands and Requests | Farsi Grammar

Persian indirect commands and requests name a recipient and then present the requested action as a finite subjunctive clause: از ناهید خواستم که در را ببندد “I asked Nahid to close the door,” or به ناهید گفتم که کمی صبر کند “I told Nahid to wait a little.” English compresses the second action into to close or to wait; Persian marks its performer with a person ending.

Two relationships must be kept separate. خواستن and خواهش کردن mark the person asked with از; گفتن and دستور دادن normally mark the addressee with به. The embedded subjunctive then agrees with whoever is meant to carry out the action.

The main directive frames

Frame	Typical force	Example skeleton
از کسی خواستن که + subjunctive	ask someone to act	از ناهید خواستم که بیاید
از کسی خواهش کردن که + subjunctive	make a polite request	از مهمانان خواهش کردیم که بنشینند
به کسی گفتن که + subjunctive	tell, instruct, or ask in context	به او گفتم که صبر کند
به کسی دستور دادن که + subjunctive	give an authoritative order	به کارکنان دستور داد که خارج شوند
درخواست کردن که + subjunctive	formal request; recipient may be expressed separately	درخواست کردیم که پرونده بررسی شود

از ناهید خواستم که در را ببندد.

az nâhid khâstam ke dar râ be-bandad.

I asked Nahid to close the door. (neutral standard)

به ناهید گفتم که چند دقیقه صبر کند.

be nâhid goftam ke chand daqiqe sabr konad.

I told Nahid to wait a few minutes. (neutral standard)

از مهمانان خواهش کردیم که تلفن‌هایشان را خاموش کنند.

az mehmânân khâhesh kardim ke telefon-hâ-ye-shân râ khâmush konand.

We asked the guests to switch off their phones. (polite/formal-neutral)

مدیر به کارکنان دستور داد که ساختمان را ترک کنند.

modir be kârkonân dastur dâd ke sâkhtemân râ tark konand.

The manager ordered the staff to leave the building. (formal; authoritative)

The complementizer که is common and useful in writing because it exposes the clause boundary. It may be omitted after frequent directive verbs in conversation: از او خواستم کمی صبر کند. Omission does not change the required mood or agreement.

The recipient normally controls the understood subject

In از ناهید خواستم که در را ببندد, no subject is written inside the embedded clause. The natural interpretation is that Nahid should close the door: the recipient of the request controls the unspoken subject, and ـد agrees with her in the third person singular.

Change the recipient and the subjunctive ending changes too:

از شما خواستم که تا پایان جلسه بمانید.

az shomâ khâstam ke tâ pâyân-e jalase be-mânid.

I asked you to stay until the end of the meeting. (polite/plural شما; neutral standard)

به بچه‌ها گفتیم که نزدیک خیابان بازی نکنند.

be bachche-hâ goftim ke nazdik-e khiyâbân bâzi na-konand.

We told the children not to play near the street. (neutral standard; plural negative subjunctive)

مادرم از من خواست که در خرید کمکش کنم.

mâdar-am az man khâst ke dar kharid komak-ash konam.

My mother asked me to help her with the shopping. (neutral standard; first-person embedded subject)

An overt embedded subject can break this default control relation. از مدیر خواستم که یک کارشناس پرونده را بررسی کند means that I made the request to the manager, but an expert—not necessarily the manager—should perform the review.

از مدیر خواستم که یک کارشناس پرونده را بررسی کند.

az modir khâstam ke yek kârshenâs parvande râ barrasi konad.

I asked the manager to have an expert review the case. (formal-neutral; embedded subject stated overtly)

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Find the intended actor before conjugating the embedded verb. The person after از or به is the default actor, but an overt subject inside the clause can assign the action to someone else.

Why the subjunctive is required

A directive does not assert that the requested action has happened. It presents an event for the recipient to bring about, so Persian uses the present subjunctive: بیاید، بنویسید، کمک کنم. Compound verbs mark mood on their light verb: فرم را پر کند، تماس بگیرید، بررسی شود.

از او خواستم که نتیجه را تا ظهر برایم بفرستد.

az u khâstam ke natije râ tâ zohr barâ-yam be-ferestad.

I asked him or her to send me the result by noon. (neutral standard)

به راننده گفتم که جلوی ورودی توقف نکند.

be rânande goftam ke jelo-ye vorudi tavaqqof na-konad.

I told the driver not to stop in front of the entrance. (neutral standard; negative subjunctive)

شرکت درخواست کرده است که مدارک به‌صورت الکترونیکی ارسال شوند.

sherkat darkhâst karde ast ke madârek be-surat-e elektroniki ersâl shavand.

The company has requested that the documents be submitted electronically. (formal; passive subjunctive)

English speakers must resist inserting the Persian infinitive after the recipient. The equivalent of English I asked her to come is finite از او خواستم بیاید, literally “I asked from her that she-come.” Review the form itself on Present Subjunctive Formation.

Politeness is carried by the reporting frame

The subjunctive marks dependency, not politeness by itself. The matrix verb and the social setting determine force:

خواهش کردن explicitly frames the act as a request (polite).
درخواست کردن is common in institutional and administrative language (formal).
گفتن is neutral and can report either a mild request or a firm instruction.
دستور دادن openly presents authority (formal/authoritative).

از همکارم خواهش کردم که صدای موسیقی را کم کند.

az hamkâr-am khâhesh kardam ke sedâ-ye musiqi râ kam konad.

I asked my colleague to turn the music down. (polite, neutral standard)

از واحد مالی درخواست کردیم که مبلغ را دوباره محاسبه کند.

az vâhed-e mâli darkhâst kardim ke mablagh râ do-bâre mohâsebe konad.

We requested that the finance department recalculate the amount. (formal/institutional)

Indirect, direct, and quote-like alternatives

Formal writing distinguishes an indirect subjunctive complement from direct quotation. The imperative belongs inside quotation marks; the indirect report adjusts the verb to its actor.

به نادر گفتم: «در را ببند، خواهش می‌کنم.»

be nâder goftam: «dar râ be-band, khâhesh mi-konam.»

I said to Nader, ‘Close the door, please.’ (direct quotation; imperative preserved)

به نادر گفتم که در را ببندد.

be nâder goftam ke dar râ be-bandad.

I told Nader to close the door. (indirect report; third-person subjunctive)

Everyday Tehran speech also permits a quote-like بهش گفتم زودتر بیا. The second-person imperative reenacts the instruction rather than fully shifting it into indirect speech.

بهش گفتم زودتر بیا، چون بلیت‌ها دست توئه.

be-hesh goftam zud-tar biyâ, chun belit-hâ dast-e to-e.

I told him or her, ‘Come earlier, because you have the tickets.’ (informal, regional: Tehran; quote-like imperative)

Do not mix this perspective randomly with a formal که complement. The dedicated Reported Commands page follows person and deixis through a full direct-to-indirect transformation.

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An imperative after گفتن reenacts the original addressee's perspective; a subjunctive reports the requested action from the current sentence's perspective. Choose deliberately between quotation and embedding.

Common Mistakes

1. Giving گفتن the recipient marker of خواستن

❌ از علی گفتم که زودتر بیاید.

Incorrect — the addressee of گفتن is marked with به, not از.

✅ به علی گفتم که پیش از ساعت نه بیاید.

be ali goftam ke pish az sâ'at-e noh biyâyad.

I told Ali to come before nine.

2. Using an infinitive instead of a finite complement

❌ از علی خواستم در را بستن.

Incorrect — the requested action needs a person-marked subjunctive.

✅ از علی خواستم که پنجره را ببندد.

az ali khâstam ke panjere râ be-bandad.

I asked Ali to close the window.

3. Stacking indicative می‌ with subjunctive بـ

❌ از او خواستم که بمی‌آید.

Incorrect — present subjunctive بیاید replaces indicative می‌آید; the two prefixes do not combine.

✅ از او خواستم که هفته‌ی بعد بیاید.

az u khâstam ke hafte-ye ba'd biyâyad.

I asked him or her to come next week.

4. Keeping بـ after negative نـ

❌ به او گفتم که نببرود.

Incorrect — negative subjunctive نـ replaces affirmative بـ.

✅ به او گفتم که تنها نرود.

be u goftam ke tanhâ na-ravad.

I told him or her not to go alone.

Key Takeaways

Use از for the person asked with خواستن/خواهش کردن, but به for the addressee of گفتن/دستور دادن.
The requested event is a finite subjunctive clause whose ending identifies its intended actor.
The recipient controls the unspoken embedded subject by default; an overt embedded subject can assign the action elsewhere.
Politeness comes mainly from the reporting verb and social framing, not from subjunctive morphology alone.
Direct and quote-like imperatives retain the original addressee's perspective; fully indirect reports shift person.

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