Persian forms an important family of action and result nouns by adding ـش to a verb's present stem. Thus آموزـ gives آموزش “instruction, training,” سنجـ gives سنجش “measurement, assessment,” and کوشـ gives کوشش “effort.” These words name an action, process, result, or concept without asserting that somebody is performing it at a particular time.
English often uses -ing for both a verbal clause and a noun. Persian does not have one form with precisely that range. A ـش noun is a genuine lexical noun, while the long infinitive can also serve as a verbal noun. Choosing between them depends on established usage and register, not just on a mechanical translation rule.
Build from the present stem
The input to ـش is the present stem, not the infinitive and not the past stem. Present stems must often be learned separately: آموختن has present stem آموزـ, سنجیدن has سنجـ, and کوشیدن has کوشـ. The same principle is introduced in How a Persian Verb Is Built.
| Infinitive | Present stem | Action noun | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| آموختن | آموزـ | آموزش | instruction, training |
| سنجیدن | سنجـ | سنجش | measurement, assessment |
| کوشیدن | کوشـ | کوشش | effort, attempt |
| بخشیدن | بخشـ | بخشش | forgiveness; donation |
| پوشیدن | پوشـ | پوشش | covering; coverage; clothing |
آموزش کارکنان از هفتهی آینده آغاز میشود.
âmuzesh-e kârkonân az hafte-ye âyande âghâz mi-shavad.
Staff training will begin next week. (neutral-formal; آموزش names an organized process)
سنجش کیفیت آب سه روز طول کشید.
sanjesh-e keyfiyat-e âb se ruz tul keshid.
Assessing the water quality took three days. (formal/technical; سنجش as an action noun)
با کوشش زیاد توانستیم مشکل را حل کنیم.
bâ kushesh-e ziyâd tavânestim moshkel râ hal konim.
With a great deal of effort, we managed to solve the problem. (neutral; کوشش is lexicalized as ‘effort’)
The suffix typically receives the final lexical stress: آموزِش، سنجِش، کوشِش. This is a useful recognition cue, though sentence focus can make another syllable sound more prominent. Stress does not tell you whether a newly imaginable formation is actually conventional.
Vowel-final stems take a glide
When the present stem ends in a vowel, Persian inserts written ی before ش. Thus آزما gives آزمایش, نما gives نمایش, گرا gives گرایش, and افزا gives افزایش. The ی prevents two vowel-like elements from meeting and is part of the standard written word.
| Present stem | Derived noun | Meaning now |
|---|---|---|
| آزماـ | آزمایش | test, experiment |
| نماـ | نمایش | display, performance, show |
| گراـ | گرایش | inclination, tendency, academic concentration |
| افزاـ | افزایش | increase |
نتیجهی آزمایش خون تا عصر آماده میشود.
natije-ye âzmâyesh-e khun tâ asr âmâde mi-shavad.
The blood-test result will be ready by evening. (neutral; lexicalized آزمایش)
نمایش امشب به دلیل بیماری بازیگر لغو شد.
namâyesh-e emshab be dalil-e bimâri-ye bâzigar laghv shod.
Tonight's performance was canceled because the actor was ill. (neutral; نمایش has a conventional theatrical sense)
گرایش بازار به خرید اینترنتی بیشتر شده است.
gerâyesh-e bâzâr be kharid-e interneti bishtar shode ast.
The market's tendency toward online purchasing has increased. (formal/economic register)
Action, result, and lexicalized concept
The label “action noun” describes the origin of the pattern, not a promise that every word still denotes a pure event. پوشش may refer to the act of covering, news coverage, insurance coverage, or clothing. بینش usually means “insight,” not simply “seeing.” روش means “method,” and modern speakers do not normally analyze it as “the act of going.”
این بیمه هزینهی درمان را هم پوشش میدهد.
in bime hazine-ye darmân râ ham pushesh mi-dahad.
This insurance also covers treatment costs. (neutral-formal; پوشش in a lexicalized insurance collocation)
این خوانش از شعر بر تصویرهای طبیعی تأکید دارد.
in khân-esh az she'r bar tasvir-hâ-ye tabi'i ta'kid dârad.
This reading of the poem emphasizes its natural imagery. (academic; خوانش means an interpretation)
In everyday speech, خواندن این کتاب “reading this book” is usually more natural than using academic خوانش for the ordinary activity. The long infinitive behaves nominally while retaining a transparent event meaning; compare Long Infinitives as Verbal Nouns.
— خواندن گزارش چقدر وقت برد؟ — نیم ساعت؛ ولی بررسی آمارش بیشتر طول کشید.
— khândan-e gozâresh cheqadr vaqt bord? — nim sâ'at; vali barrasi-ye âmâr-ash bishtar tul keshid.
— How long did reading the report take? — Half an hour, but checking its figures took longer. (informal-neutral dialogue; infinitive and established noun chosen naturally)
Productivity and competing nouns
The ـش pattern is productive enough to support technical and academic vocabulary, but it is not a general equivalent of English -ing. Existing Persian and Arabic-derived nouns compete with it. Persian normally uses تصمیم “decision,” تحلیل “analysis,” استفاده “use,” and حرکت “movement” in many contexts; speakers do not replace each one with a newly manufactured ـش form.
Competition can produce differences in meaning or style rather than exact synonyms. خوانش is (academic) or critical when it means “interpretation,” whereas خواندن is neutral for the activity of reading. آموزش is ordinary in institutional contexts, while یاد دادن is a transparent verbal expression in everyday conversation. Learn the noun together with its common complements and collocations.
پژوهشگران افزایش قیمت مسکن را تحلیل کردند.
pazhuheshgarân afzâyesh-e qeymat-e maskan râ tahlil kardand.
The researchers analyzed the increase in housing prices. (academic; productive-looking افزایش coexists with Arabic-derived تحلیل)
Common Mistakes
1. Adding ش to the past stem
❌ نوشتش مقاله سه روز طول کشید.
Incorrect — نوشتـ is the past stem, and Persian does not form the ordinary event noun *نوشتش.
✅ نوشتن مقاله سه روز طول کشید.
neveshtan-e maqâle se ruz tul keshid.
Writing the article took three days.
2. Treating ش as a general English -ing suffix
❌ رویش به اداره هر روز خستهکننده است.
Incorrect for ‘going to the office’ — رویش is associated with growing, not the ordinary action of رفتن.
✅ رفتن به اداره با مترو راحتتر است.
raftan be edâre bâ metro râhat-tar ast.
Going to the office by metro is easier.
3. Omitting ی after a vowel-final stem
❌ نتیجهی آزماش فردا میآید.
Incorrect spelling — آزماـ takes the glide ی before ش.
✅ نتیجهی آزمایش فردا اعلام میشود.
natije-ye âzmâyesh fardâ e'lâm mi-shavad.
The test result will be announced tomorrow.
4. Using an action noun as though it were a finite verb
❌ من به دانشجویان فارسی آموزش.
Incorrect English-transfer structure — آموزش is a noun here and cannot carry the sentence by itself as ‘I teach.’
✅ من به دانشجویان فارسی آموزش میدهم.
man be dâneshjuyân fârsi âmuzesh mi-daham.
I teach Persian to university students.
Key Takeaways
- ـش usually attaches to the present stem: آموزش، سنجش، کوشش.
- Vowel-final present stems insert ی: آزمایش، نمایش، گرایش، افزایش.
- The result is a lexical noun whose meaning may be an action, process, result, or specialized concept.
- Ordinary event reference may prefer the long infinitive, while some ـش nouns are formal or academic.
- The pattern is productive but competes with established Persian and Arabic-derived vocabulary; not every English -ing expression maps to it.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- Building Words without Inflectional GenderA1 — Recognize Persian roots, stems, suffixes, compounds, and word families while keeping nouns and adjectives invariant for gender.
- Abstract Nouns with یA2 — Build and interpret Persian abstract nouns with ـی, including their spelling after vowels, stress, range of meanings, and lexicalized uses.
- How a Persian Verb Is BuiltA1 — See how Persian combines two stems with prefixes, personal endings, participles, and light verbs to build its verbal system.
- Long Infinitives as Verbal NounsA2 — Use Persian infinitives as noun-like names of actions, with ezâfe complements, prepositional phrases, possessors, and countable event readings.