Participle plus شدن
The passive is the past participle followed by شدن (to become), conjugated in whatever tense you need. The participle never changes.
| Tense | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| present | نوشته میشود | it is written |
| simple past | نوشته شد | it was written |
| present perfect | نوشته شده است | it has been written |
| past perfect | نوشته شده بود | it had been written |
| future | نوشته خواهد شد | it will be written |
| subjunctive | نوشته شود | (that) it be written |
- این خانه در سال ۱۳۵۰ ساخته شد. — This house was built in 1971.
- در ایران فارسی صحبت میشود. — Persian is spoken in Iran.
- نامه هنوز فرستاده نشده است. — The letter has not been sent yet.
The negative goes on شدن: نوشته نشد، ساخته نمیشود.
The object becomes the subject, so را disappears
- Active: کتاب را نوشتم. — I wrote the book.
- Passive: کتاب نوشته شد. — The book was written.
Naming the agent
Formal writing can add توسطِ or بهوسیلهٔ:
- این کتاب توسط یک نویسندهٔ جوان نوشته شد. — This book was written by a young author.
Everyday Persian avoids this. If you know who did it, use the active sentence.
What Persian uses instead
For "one says", "they say", "it is done", Persian prefers an active verb in the third person plural with no subject:
- میگویند که او رفته است. — They say he has left.
- اینجا سیگار نمیکشند. — People don't smoke here.
- در را بستند. — The door was closed. (literally: they closed the door)
Compound verbs often have a ready-made intransitive partner with شدن, which does the same job: تمام کردن / تمام شدن, باز کردن / باز شدن.
Watch out as an English speaker
- Drop را in the passive: ✗ کتاب را نوشته شد. / ✓ کتاب نوشته شد.
- The auxiliary is شدن, not بودن: ✗ کتاب نوشته است. (that means "the book has written") / ✓ کتاب نوشته شده است.
- English reaches for the passive far more often, and an agent phrase sounds stiff in Persian: ✗ بهوسیلهٔ من انجام شد. / ✓ من انجامش دادم.
- در بسته است describes a state (the door is closed); در بسته شد describes the event.
Example dialogue
این مسجد کِی ساخته شده است؟ — When was this mosque built?
در قرن هفدهم ساخته شد. — It was built in the seventeenth century.
هنوز از آن استفاده میشود؟ — Is it still used?
بله، و هر سال تعمیر میشود. — Yes, and it is repaired every year.