The Passive with شُدَن

01

The Pattern

The verb's ⁧ـِه⁩ (-e) form — the one English writes as made, seen, done — plus ⁧⁧شُدَن⁩⁩ (šodanshodanšdn), conjugated for whatever tense is needed.

• ⁧صَفَحاتِ یِک فَرهَنگِ لُغَت اَز کاغَذِ نازُک ساختِه شُدِه اَست.⁩

  ṣafaḥât-e yek farhang-e loġat az kâġaḏ-e nâzok sâxte šode astsafahât-e yek farhang-e loghat az kâghaz-e nâzok sâkhte shode astṣfḥat-a yk frhng-a lġt az kaġḏ-a nazk saxt šd ast

  The pages of a dictionary are made from thin paper.

• ⁧گَردَن‌بَندِ او اَز طَلا ساختِه شُدِه اَست.⁩

  gardan-band-e u az ṭalâ sâxte šode astgardan-band-e u az talâ sâkhte shode astgrdn-bnd-a av az ṭla saxt šd ast

  Her necklace is made of gold.

⁧⁧ساختِه⁩⁩ (sâxtesâkhtesaxt) is the past participle of ⁧⁧ساختَن⁩⁩ (sâxtansâkhtansaxtn), "to make", and ⁧⁧شُدِه اَست⁩⁩ (šode astshode astšd ast) is the perfect of "to become". The literal sense is "has become made" - which is exactly why ⁧⁧شُدَن⁩⁩ (šodanshodanšdn) is the verb for the job.

02

No Agent

A Persian passive almost never says who did it. If the doer matters, the sentence is turned round and made active instead. English "the letter was written by my friend" would simply become "my friend wrote the letter".

03

Compound Verbs Swap Their Light Verb

This is the neat part. A compound verb built on ⁧⁧کَردَن⁩⁩ (kardankardankrdn) makes its passive by changing that one word to ⁧⁧شُدَن⁩⁩ (šodanshodanšdn) - no participle needed.

• ⁧⁧تَمام کَردَن⁩⁩ (tamâm kardantamâm kardantmam krdn) to finish, gives ⁧⁧تَمام شُدَن⁩⁩ (tamâm šodantamâm shodantmam šdn) to be finished
• ⁧⁧قَبول کَردَن⁩⁩ (qabul kardanqabul kardanqbvl krdn) to accept, gives ⁧⁧قَبول شُدَن⁩⁩ (qabul šodanqabul shodanqbvl šdn) to be accepted

• ⁧تَمام خواهَد شُد.⁩

  tamâm xâhad šodtamâm khâhad shodtmam xahd šd

  It will be finished.

• ⁧دَر اِمتِحان قَبول شُدَم.⁩

  dar emteḥân qabul šodamdar emtehân qabul shodamdr amtḥan qbvl šdm

  I passed the exam.

• ⁧عَکسِ زیبا رویِ دیوار آویزان شُدِه اَست.⁩

  ʿaks-e zibâ ru-ye divâr âvizân šode ast'aks-e zibâ ru-ye divâr âvizân shode astʿks-a zyba rv-y dyvar avyzan šd ast

  The beautiful photo has been hung on the wall.

04

⁧شُدَن⁩ (šodan) on Its Own

Outside the passive, the same verb means "to become", and it is extremely common in that plain sense.

• ⁧می‌خواهی با او دوست شَوی؟⁩

  mi-xâhi bâ u dust šavimi-khâhi bâ u dust shavimy-xahy ba av dvst švy

  Do you want to become friends with him?

• ⁧هَر وَقت دَرس می‌خوانَم خِیلی خَستِه می‌شَوَم.⁩

  har vaqt dars mi-xânam xeyli xaste mi-šavamhar vaqt dars mi-khânam kheyli khaste mi-shavamhr vqt drs my-xanm xyly xst my-švm

  Whenever I study I get very tired.

• ⁧دَر ماهِ ژوئیِه، رودخانِه بِسیار گَرم می‌شَوَد.⁩

  dar mâh-e žuʾiye rudxâne besiyâr garm mi-šavaddar mâh-e zhu'iye rudkhâne besiyâr garm mi-shavaddr mah-a žvʾyy rvdxan bsyyar grm my-švd

  In July the river gets very warm.