Past continuous passive (mi-shod / mi-shodand)

The Past Continuous Passive

When talking about historical events, traditional manufacturing, or how things used to be done, you often describe ongoing processes or repeated actions in the past. If the focus is on the object receiving the action, Farsi uses the Past Continuous Passive.

To form this, combine the past participle of the main verb (the past stem + ه) with the past continuous form of شدن (to become/to get). For a singular subject, the auxiliary verb is می‌شد.

Plural Subjects

You have seen that plural inanimate subjects (like buildings or documents) frequently take a singular verb in Farsi. However, when emphasizing that an action was repeatedly done to multiple individual items—such as weaving multiple carpets or sending stacks of letters—speakers often use the plural auxiliary می‌شدند.

Compound Verbs

Many verbs used for traditional trades and historical actions are compound verbs. For compound verbs ending in کردن (to do), making them passive is straightforward: drop کردن entirely and replace it with می‌شد or می‌شدند.

If the compound verb is formed with a different auxiliary like دادن (to give), you must use its past participle (e.g., داده) alongside the passive auxiliary.

Setting the Scene in the Past

The past continuous passive is very common in complex sentences to describe the background state of a story. It naturally follows past-tense verbs of knowing, saying, or waiting, describing the ongoing routines that were happening at the time.