What it means
اسکن کردن (eskan kardan) means to run a document, photograph, or object through a scanner to produce a digital copy. The word اسکن is a direct phonetic borrowing from the English “scan,” and it is combined with the Persian light verb کردن (kardan, “to do”) to form a compound verb, a pattern Iranians use constantly to absorb foreign technical terms. You will hear this word in offices, print shops, and government buildings wherever paperwork is digitized. A synonymous but less common term is پویش کردن (puyesh kardan), the official Persian Academy equivalent, though almost nobody uses it in everyday speech.
How to use it
- این مدرک رو برام اسکن کن. (In madrak ro baram eskan kon.) “Scan this document for me.”
- باید مدارک رو اسکن کنم و بفرستم. (Bâyad madârek ro eskan konam o befarestam.) “I need to scan the documents and send them.”
- اسکنر خرابه، نمیتونم اسکن کنم. (Eskaner kharâbe, nemitunam eskan konam.) “The scanner is broken, I can’t scan.”
- یه نسخهی اسکنشده بده بهم. (Ye noskhe-ye eskan-shode bede beham.) “Give me a scanned copy.”
Cultural note
Iranian bureaucracy relies heavily on photocopies and scanned documents. Government offices, banks, and universities routinely ask applicants to submit اسکن مدارک (eskan-e madârek, scanned documents) alongside originals. Small print and copy shops called دفتر خدمات (daftar-e khadamât) or پرینت (print shops) are found near every government building and university campus, offering scanning and printing services for a few thousand tomans per page. The verb اسکن کردن is so naturalized that most speakers do not think of it as a foreign word at all.