Formal Passive with گردیدن and گشتن | Farsi Grammar

Modern Iranian Persian normally builds passives and change-of-state predicates with شدن. Administrative prose also uses گردیدن, while elevated or older literary prose may use گشتن. Thus نتیجه اعلام شد is neutral, نتیجه اعلام گردید is bureaucratic (formal), and نتیجه اعلام گشت has a deliberately literary or dated flavor (literary).

These alternatives do not create a new passive voice. They replace the شدن layer while preserving the patient subject and the lexical material before it. Their marked register matters more than their translation: English “was announced” does not tell you whether Persian should sound conversational, administrative, or literary.

The register map

Pattern	Typical setting	Modern evaluation
اعلام شد	speech, news, ordinary prose	neutral default
اعلام گردید	official letters, regulations, minutes	formal/administrative
اعلام گشت	elevated narrative, consciously old-fashioned prose	literary; often dated
سرد گردید / سرد گشت	change of state, not necessarily passive	formal or literary

زمان مصاحبه فردا اعلام می‌شود.

zamân-e mosâhebe fardâ e'lâm mi-shavad.

The interview time will be announced tomorrow. (neutral standard; ordinary شدن passive)

نتایج پس از بررسی نهایی اعلام گردید.

natâyej pas az barrasi-ye nehâyi e'lâm gardid.

The results were announced after the final review. (formal administrative passive)

نام برگزیدگان در پایان مجلس اعلام گشت.

nâm-e bar-gozidegân dar pâyân-e majles e'lâm gasht.

The winners' names were announced at the close of the gathering. (literary/deliberately elevated)

💡

Choose شدن unless the text itself has a reason to sound institutional or literary. Register is part of the construction, not decorative vocabulary added afterward.

How گردیدن carries tense and mood

The whole predicate behaves like other compound predicates: the nonverbal element remains stable, while گردیدن carries tense, negation, agreement, and auxiliaries. Its past stem is گردید- and its present stem is گرد-.

Value	Formal form	Neutral شدن equivalent
present/habitual passive	بررسی می‌گردد	بررسی می‌شود
simple past	بررسی گردید	بررسی شد
negative past	بررسی نگردید	بررسی نشد
perfect	بررسی گردیده است	بررسی شده است
future	بررسی خواهد گردید	بررسی خواهد شد

درخواست‌های ناقص بررسی نخواهند گردید.

darkhâst-hâ-ye nâqes barrasi na-khâhand gardid.

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. (formal administrative future; individuated plural subjects)

نسخه‌ی امضاشده در بایگانی ثبت گردیده است.

noskhe-ye emzâ-shode dar bâyegâni sabt gardide ast.

The signed copy has been registered in the archive. (formal administrative perfect)

تا زمان پرداخت هزینه، پرونده فعال نخواهد گردید.

tâ zamân-e pardâkht-e hazine, parvande fa''âl na-khâhad gardid.

The file will not become active until the fee is paid. (formal; lexical change rather than passive)

The last example is crucial: فعال گردیدن means “become active.” There is no suppressed agent necessarily acting on پرونده. Because گردیدن also means “become,” its presence alone never proves a passive analysis. Review the ordinary شدن ambiguity on Passive across the Tense and Mood System.

گشتن: literary auxiliary and independent lexical verb

Passive گشتن survives chiefly in literary or deliberately elevated prose. Past گشت is especially recognizable: آشکار گشت، گشوده گشت، اعلام گشت. In present forms, گردد overlaps historically and morphologically with گردیدن, so modern readers often perceive the whole style as elevated rather than maintaining a sharp everyday distinction between the two lemmas.

با رسیدن خبر، فضای تالار سنگین گشت.

bâ residan-e khabar, fazâ-ye tâlâr sangin gasht.

When the news arrived, the atmosphere in the hall grew heavy. (literary change-of-state use)

دروازه با فرمان پادشاه گشوده گشت.

darvâze bâ farmân-e pâdshâh goshude gasht.

The gate was opened on the king's command. (literary passive)

Modern گشتن also has independent lexical senses such as “wander/go around” and, transitively, “search.” در شهر گشتیم is therefore not passive at all. The predicate before گشتن, its arguments, and the discourse genre must all support the passive reading.

Participles and light-verb replacement

With a simple transitive verb, ordinary passive formation uses its past participle: نامه نوشته شد. Formal prose can replace the auxiliary with گردید—نامه نوشته گردید—but the result is conspicuously bureaucratic and often heavier than necessary. With many کردن compounds, the usual passive simply replaces کردن: درخواست بررسی شد / بررسی گردید. Do not insert redundant کرده.

گزارش پس از اصلاح برای اعضا فرستاده گردید.

gozâresh pas az eslâh barâ-ye a'zâ ferestâde gardid.

After revision, the report was sent to the members. (formal; simple-verb participle plus گردیدن)

💡

With کردن compounds, first test the plain pair بررسی کردن / بررسی شدن. The formal version is normally بررسی گردیدن, not a stack such as بررسی کرده گردیدن.

A register-sensitive exchange

— نتیجه کی اعلام میشه؟ — در اطلاعیه نوشته‌اند که دوشنبه اعلام می‌گردد.

— natije key e'lâm mishe? — dar ettelâ'iye neveshte-and ke doshanbe e'lâm mi-gardad.

— When are they announcing the result? — The notice says it will be announced Monday. (first turn informal Tehran; quoted wording formal administrative)

The contrast is intentional: speakers can cite bureaucratic wording without using that register throughout their own conversation.

Common Mistakes

1. Using an infinitive as a finite passive

❌ نتیجه دیروز اعلام گردیدن.

Incorrect — گردیدن is an infinitive and has no finite tense or agreement.

✅ نتیجه‌ی اعتراض دیروز اعلام گردید.

natije-ye e'terâz diruz e'lâm gardid.

The result of the appeal was announced yesterday. (formal)

2. Putting می‌ on the nonverbal element

❌ پرونده می‌بررسی گردد.

Incorrect — می‌ belongs on the auxiliary گردیدن.

✅ پرونده در کمیته بررسی می‌گردد.

parvande dar komite barrasi mi-gardad.

The file is reviewed by the committee. (formal administrative)

3. Retaining a direct object in the passive

❌ این خبر مردم را اعلام گردید.

Incorrect — the passive patient is subject and does not take را.

✅ این خبر از رادیو اعلام گردید.

in khabar az râdiyo e'lâm gardid.

This news was announced on the radio. (formal)

4. Stacking کرده before a replacement passive

❌ درخواست بررسی کرده گردید.

Incorrect — for this کردن compound, replace کردن with گردیدن rather than retaining کرده.

✅ درخواست پس از جلسه بررسی گردید.

darkhâst pas az jalase barrasi gardid.

The request was reviewed after the meeting. (formal)

Key Takeaways

شدن is the neutral modern default; گردیدن is administrative, and passive گشتن is literary or dated.
The marked auxiliary carries tense, negation, and agreement just as شدن does.
گردیدن/گشتن can mean “become,” so the predicate is not automatically passive.
With many کردن compounds, passive formation replaces the light verb rather than adding کرده.

Now practice Farsi

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Farsi →