اشاره کردن

What it means

اشاره کردن (eshare-kardan) means to point at, to allude to, to mention in passing, to refer to. It carries two related senses. Physically: to point at something with a finger or a gesture. Verbally: to mention something briefly without laying it out in full. The verbal sense is the one you will meet most often in journalism, academic writing, and serious conversation.

Eshare-kardan sits opposite توضیح دادن (towzih-dadan, to explain) on the explanation spectrum. To eshare-kardan something is to flag it; to towzih-dadan it is to unpack it. A footnote اشاره می‌کنه (eshare mikoneh) to a source; the body of the text توضیح می‌ده (towzih mide). A speaker اشاره می‌کنه to an event everyone knows about; a speaker توضیح می‌ده when the audience needs the full story.

Compound verb structure

Eshare-kardan combines the Arabic-origin noun اشاره (eshare, gesture, allusion, reference) with the Persian light verb کردن (kardan, to do). Conjugation lives in کردن: اشاره می‌کنم (eshare mikonam, I refer), اشاره کرد (eshare kard, he referred), اشاره خواهد کرد (eshare khahad kard, he will refer). The noun اشاره stays fixed. The verb takes the preposition به (be, to): اشاره به چیزی کردن (eshare be chizi kardan, to refer to something). “به این مسئله اشاره کرد” (be in mas’ale eshare kard) is the standard frame: “he referred to this issue.”

How to use it

nevisande dar moqaddame be ketab-e qabli-ash eshare kard.

The author referred to his previous book in the introduction.

نویسنده در مقدمه به کتاب قبلی‌اش اشاره کرد.

faqat be in mowzu eshare kard, towzih nadad.

He only alluded to this topic, he didn’t explain.

فقط به این موضوع اشاره کرد، توضیح نداد.

ba dast be saa-tash eshare kard, ya’ni dir shode.

He pointed at his watch with his hand, meaning we were late.

با دست به ساعتش اشاره کرد، یعنی دیر شده.

Eshare vs towzih

This is the contrast worth memorizing. اشاره is the passing mention, the brief reference, the gesture toward something. توضیح is the full account. A polite political answer often اشاره می‌کنه to a topic without ever giving a real توضیح, and Iranian audiences hear that move clearly. When you read editorial commentary, watch for the verb choice. “اشاره کرد ولی توضیح نداد” (he alluded but did not explain) is a stock phrase of political criticism.

Where it comes from

Eshare is Arabic-origin, the form IV verbal noun of شار (shara, to indicate, signal) on the root sh-w-r (ش و ر). Form IV (إفعال) is causative: “to cause to indicate.” The same root gives مشاوره (moshavere, consultation) and مستشار (mostashar, advisor). The gestural sense (pointing with the finger) and the rhetorical sense (alluding in speech) are both classical Arabic meanings carried into Persian intact.

In our voice

Eshare-kardan with به is one of the high-frequency formal verbs in Persian writing. Once you learn the frame (به X اشاره کردن) and the contrast with towzih-dadan, you can read Persian newspapers and editorials with a much sharper ear for what is being said and what is being skipped.

References

• Dehkhoda, اشاره
• Vajehyab, اشاره