Agent nouns (-ande)

Forming Agent Nouns

In Farsi, you can create an "agent noun"—a word that describes a person performing a specific action—by adding the suffix نده (-ande) to a verb's present stem. If the stem ends in a vowel, a ی is inserted before the suffix.

  • دیدن (to see) → stem بین → بیننده (viewer)
  • شنیدن (to hear) → stem شنو → شنونده (listener)
  • گفتن (to speak) → stem گو → گوینده (speaker)

Agent Nouns with Compound Verbs

To form an agent noun from a compound verb, add the suffix only to the light verb.

The present stem of کردن (to do) is کن, making کننده. The present stem of دادن (to give) is ده, making دهنده.

  • شرکت کردن (to participate) → شرکت‌کننده (participant)
  • رای دادن (to vote) → رای‌دهنده (voter)

These agent nouns pluralize normally with ها, which is common when discussing groups of people in elections.

Contributors