Passive Voice

Overview of Passive Voice in Persian

In Persian, passive voice exists, but it is less common in everyday speech than in English. Persian often prefers active sentences with a general or unknown subject such as “they” or “people.” However, to reach B2 level, you must understand and use the passive patterns, especially in written and formal language.

In this chapter you will see how passive is formed in the main tenses, how it behaves with transitive verbs, and how it differs from English in meaning and style. Irregularities and advanced uses such as passive with compound verbs will also appear.

Active vs Passive: The Basic Contrast

Consider this active sentence:

او کتاب را نوشت.
u ketâb râ nevesht.
He / she wrote the book.

Agent (subject) = او, verb = نوشت, object = کتاب را.

Now the same information in passive:

کتاب نوشته شد.
ketâb neveshte shod.
The book was written.

Here, کتاب is the grammatical subject, and the performer of the action is not mentioned. This is typical: passive usually hides or ignores the agent.

In English, passive uses “to be” + past participle. In Persian, the most typical pattern uses the past participle (often with the suffix ه) plus a form of شدن.

Forming the Past Participle

For most verbs, the past participle is formed from the past stem + ه.

Past stem of نوشتن “to write” is نوشت.
Past participle: نوشته (neveshte).

Past stem of دیدن “to see” is دید.
Past participle: دیده (dide).

Past stem of خریدن “to buy” is خرید.
Past participle: خریده (kharide).

This past participle is the form used before شدن in many passive constructions.

Note that for compound verbs, the past participle attaches to the verbal element, not the noun part, and we will treat this later in this chapter.

Passive in Simple Past

The most frequent passive form in written Persian is the simple past passive:

کتاب نوشته شد.
The book was written.

The structure is:

object (now subject) + past participle + شدن in simple past.

Conjugation of شدن in simple past:

من شدم
تو شدی
او شد
ما شدیم
شما شدید
آنها شدند

When you put this after the participle, you get:

من نوشته شدم.
I was written (grammatically correct but rarely meaningful as is).

Usually, the subject is a thing:

نامه فرستاده شد.
The letter was sent.

در بسته شد.
The door was closed.

کار انجام شد.
The work was done.

In English you often add “by X.” In Persian, the agent can be expressed with a prepositional phrase, most often with از طرف or توسط or rarely با:

کتاب از طرفِ او نوشته شد.
ketâb az taraf‑e u neveshte shod.
The book was written by him / her.

کتاب توسطِ استاد نوشته شد.
ketâb tavassot‑e ostâd neveshte shod.
The book was written by the professor.

Because Persian strongly prefers active forms, you will also see:

کتاب را او نوشت.
He / she wrote the book.

or

کتاب را استاد نوشت.
The professor wrote the book.

This is often stylistically more natural in conversation.

Passive in Simple Present

In the simple present, Persian passive is possible but quite formal. It also uses شدن, this time in present tense, plus the past participle.

نوشتن, present stem نویس, but for passive we still use the participle نوشته plus شدن:

کتاب نوشته می‌شود.
ketâb neveshte mi‑shavad.
The book is written.

The structure is:

object (as subject) + past participle + می + present form of شدن.

Conjugation of شدن in present:

من می‌شوم
تو می‌شوی
او می‌شود
ما می‌شویم
شما می‌شوید
آنها می‌شوند

Typically, third person is used:

این قانون هر سال عوض می‌شود.
This law is changed every year.

در هر روز باز می‌شود.
The door is opened every day.

Note that many speakers instead say:

هر سال این قانون را عوض می‌کنند.
Every year they change this law.

This is functionally equivalent in meaning and is more common in speech.

Passive in Present Continuous

If you add a progressive aspect, you can form a present continuous passive. Persian does not have a completely separate grammatical form for continuous, but it uses an adverb such as الان or داره, or context, to show continuity. At B2, you may also see structures with در حالِ … بودن.

Typical colloquial present continuous passive:

کتاب داره نوشته می‌شه.
ketâb dâre neveshte mi‑she.
The book is being written.

Here the pattern is still participle + می‌شه (colloquial for می‌شود) with a progressive marker داره. This kind of structure is more common in speech, although again many speakers choose an active equivalent:

دارن کتاب رو می‌نویسن.
They are writing the book.

In formal writing, you can meet:

کتاب در حالِ نوشته شدن است.
ketâb dar hâl‑e neveshte shodan ast.
Literally: The book is in the process of being written.

Here, شدن appears in infinitive form after نوشته. Present continuous like this is formal and stylistically heavy, but it appears in academic or bureaucratic texts.

Passive in Future and Other Tenses

All the usual tenses that use شدن can in theory form passive, but the more complex they are, the more formal they sound.

Future passive:

کتاب نوشته خواهد شد.
ketâb neveshte khâhad shod.
The book will be written.

Pattern:

past participle + خواهد + شدن (in short form shod, not conjugated).

Past perfect passive:

کتاب نوشته شده بود.
ketâb neveshte shode bud.
The book had been written.

Here شدن appears as its own past participle شده, followed by بود (past of بودن “to be”). This is very common in narrative texts for a “before another past action” meaning.

Present perfect passive:

کتاب نوشته شده است / شده.
The book has been written.

Note the form:

نوشته شده است
past participle of main verb + past participle of شدن + است.

Many speakers drop است in speech:

کتاب نوشته شده.
The book is written / has been written.

In context this can describe a present state that resulted from a past action, similar to English “is written” or “has been written,” depending on context.

Passive with Transitive vs Intransitive Verbs

Only transitive verbs, verbs that have a logical object, can form meaningful passive sentences.

Active:

او در را بست.
He / she closed the door.

Passive:

در بسته شد.
The door was closed.

Here بستن is transitive, so بسته شد is natural.

Intransitive verbs such as رفتن “to go” or آمدن “to come” do not normally form a passive, because there is no object to become the subject:

*خانه رفته شد.
This is not normal Persian.

You must keep in mind whether the verb can take an object. If not, the passive will sound ungrammatical or extremely odd.

Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive, and only the transitive use can be passivized:

Active transitive:

او چراغ را روشن کرد.
He / she turned the light on.

Passive:

چراغ روشن شد.
The light was turned on.

Here روشن شدن has become a lexicalized intransitive meaning “to become lit,” and it feels very natural.

This illustrates an important point: some passive forms become lexicalized and behave like independent intransitive verbs, such as باز شدن “to become open,” خراب شدن “to get broken,” پر شدن “to get filled,” and so on. These are used very often, and in many cases speakers do not think of them as passive of another verb, but as simple intransitives.

Agent Omission and Agent Expression

One of the main functions of passive is to hide or ignore the agent. Persian uses this function in a similar way to English, especially in official statements, news reports, and academic language.

Agent omitted:

این ساختمان در سال ۱۳۵۰ ساخته شد.
This building was built in 1350 (1971/72).

Here, who built it is not mentioned.

Agent expressed, usually formal:

این ساختمان در سال ۱۳۵۰ توسطِ یک شرکتِ فرانسوی ساخته شد.
This building was built in 1350 by a French company.

The most formal agent preposition is توسط. Another common phrase is از طرف:

این طرح از طرفِ دولت اجرا شد.
This plan was implemented by the government.

In more spoken language, people often use active forms instead:

دولت این طرح را اجرا کرد.
The government implemented this plan.

You can also hear agent with “از سوی” in higher formal and literary registers, similar to “on the part of”:

این تصمیم از سویِ وزارتِ آموزش و پرورش گرفته شد.
This decision was made by the Ministry of Education.

Passive vs Middle and Inchoative Meanings

In many cases, forms like بسته شدن or خراب شدن have an inchoative meaning “to become X” rather than a clear passive “to be X-ed by someone.”

بسته شدن: to become closed.
خراب شدن: to get broken.
پر شدن: to become full.
خالی شدن: to become empty.
روشن شدن: to become light / to get turned on.

For example:

در بسته شد.
The door closed.

In English, this can be said either intransitively “the door closed” or passively “the door was closed.” In Persian, بسته شد covers both possibilities.

Similarly:

ماشین خراب شد.
The car broke down.
Literally: The car became broken.

This will almost never be interpreted as “someone broke the car” in a clear passive sense. It feels more like a result state.

When you want to emphasize the agent, especially if an action is deliberate, you often prefer active:

او ماشین را خراب کرد.
He / she broke the car.

Passive with Compound Verbs

Persian has many compound verbs, usually a non-verbal element (noun, adjective, adverb, preposition) plus a light verb such as کردن, شدن, دادن, زدن, گرفتن, آوردن, بردن.

For passive, the past participle usually attaches to the light verb part, not the noun or adjective.

Consider انجام دادن “to do, to carry out,” literally “to give completion.”

Past stem of دادن is داد. Past participle: داده.

Passive:

کار انجام داده شد.
kâr anjâm dâde shod.
The work was carried out.

Another example: امضا کردن “to sign.”

Past stem of کردن is کرد, participle: کرده.

قرارداد امضا شده است.
gharârdâd emzâ shode ast.
The contract has been signed.

Here, passive uses participle شده (from شدن) to indicate a completed action, while امضا کرده شد would be grammatically possible but sounds heavy and rare. In fact, many compound verbs prefer a structure with شده rather than a strict “light verb + شد” pattern.

Compare:

پرینت گرفته شد.
print gerefte shod.
The print was taken (the document was printed).

تحویل داده شد.
tahvil dâde shod.
It was delivered.

انتخاب شده است.
entekhâb shode ast.
He / she has been chosen.

These patterns show that in many compound verbs the participle of the light verb (often شده or داده or گرفته) is the element that combines with شدن for passive.

In colloquial speech, you will often hear shorter forms without explicit شدن:

قبول شده.
He / she has been accepted.
Literally: has become accepted.

This combines the lexical non verbal element (قبول) with شده and is strongly felt as a passive result state.

Stylistic and Pragmatic Aspects

Passive usage in Persian is very sensitive to style and context.

In formal written texts such as news, scientific articles, laws, and official statements, passive is frequent and sometimes preferred, especially when the agent is institutional or unimportant.

For example, news headlines:

لایحه تصویب شد.
The bill was approved.

درهای مرزها بسته شد.
The borders were closed.

In conversation, however, speakers tend to prefer active sentences, even when English would use a passive. Instead of:

خانه ساخته شد.
The house was built.

You are more likely to hear:

خانه را ساختند.
They built the house.

The impersonal “they” is very natural and often replaces passive.

Another important function is politeness and indirectness. Using passive can soften criticism or make a statement less direct:

اشتباهاتی در گزارش دیده شد.
Some mistakes were seen in the report.

Instead of:

ما در گزارش شما اشتباهاتی دیدیم.
We saw some mistakes in your report.

The passive removes the direct attribution and sounds more diplomatic.

Typical Passive-like Patterns without شدن

There are a few high frequency constructions that look and behave like passive, but do not use شدن directly.

One is the use of participles as adjectives:

دربِ بسته
the closed door

کتابِ نوشته‌شده
the written book

کارِ انجام‌شده
the completed work

These can appear in predicative position with بودن:

در بسته است.
The door is closed.

This is not a true verbal passive, but a stative construction “is in a closed state.” It is extremely common.

Sometimes both forms exist:

در بسته است.
The door is closed. (state)

در بسته شد.
The door was closed. / The door closed. (event)

The difference is similar to English “is closed” vs “was closed” or “closed.”

Another pattern is the use of the impersonal “it is said / believed / thought that …”:

گفته می‌شود که …
It is said that …

باور می‌شود که …
It is believed that …

Here, a passive-like form (گفته می‌شود) expresses general opinions or reports. These expressions are very common in formal speech and writing, and they are good models for advanced use of passive.

Summary of Main Structural Patterns

Passive in Persian centers around the combination of a past participle with forms of شدن and occasionally with نتیجه forms like شده plus بودن. The core patterns you should be able to produce at B2 are:

Simple past passive:

کتاب نوشته شد.
The book was written.

Present / habitual passive (formal):

کتاب نوشته می‌شود.
The book is written.

Present perfect passive:

کتاب نوشته شده است / شده.
The book has been written / is written.

Past perfect passive:

کتاب نوشته شده بود.
The book had been written.

Future passive:

کتاب نوشته خواهد شد.
The book will be written.

In everyday speech, you should often prefer corresponding active forms:

کتاب را نوشتند.
They wrote the book.

کتاب را می‌نویسند.
They write the book.

کتاب را نوشته‌اند.
They have written the book.

Understanding when to choose passive, and when to avoid it, is one of the key B2 skills in Persian grammar.

Vocabulary Table