What it means
شیر کردن (share-kardan) is the everyday Persian verb for sharing something. The narrow meaning is digital: you شیر میکنی a link, a post, a clip, a story. The wider meaning is conversational, where Iranians under thirty will say یه چیزی رو باهات شیر کنم (something to share with you) before telling you a secret, a feeling, or an opinion. The English verb walked in with the share button on Telegram and Instagram, then quietly expanded into casual talk.
The Pure Persian Movement option is به اشتراک گذاشتن (be eshterāk gozāshtan, to place into common holding), a five-syllable phrase that sounds like a government press release. The shorter Arabic-origin word اشتراک still appears in formal writing. In speech, شیر کن is what comes out of people’s mouths.
Compound verb structure
Share-kardan follows the same pattern as every other internet anglicism: an invariant English root plus the Persian light verb کردن (kardan). Conjugation lives on کردن; شیر never inflects.
- Present: من شیر میکنم (man share mikonam), تو شیر میکنی (to share mikoni)
- Past: من شیر کردم (man share kardam)
- Imperative: شیر کن (share kon, share it), شیر نکن (share nakon, don’t share it)
- Negation: شیر نکردم (share nakardam)
Direct objects mark with را or رو: لینک رو شیر کردم (link ro share kardam, I shared the link).
How to use it
link-e maghāle ro shāre kardam barāt.
I shared the article link with you.
لینک مقاله رو شیر کردم برات.
mishe ye chizi rā bāhāt share konam?
Can I share something with you?
میشه یه چیزی را باهات شیر کنم؟
storia-sh rā share nakon, hālesh khub nist.
Don’t share her story, she’s not okay.
استوریاش را شیر نکن، حالش خوب نیست.
The wider semantic stretch
What makes share-kardan interesting is the slide from digital to emotional. A Tehrani twenty-something will say یه چیزی رو میخوام باهات شیر کنم before opening up about a breakup, an anxiety, a half-formed thought. Older speakers would have said میخوام بهت بگم (I want to tell you) or میخوام درد دل کنم (I want to pour out my heart). The English verb carries lighter weight; sharing is more casual than confessing, and the lighter register is part of why younger speakers reach for it.
Where it comes from
Share comes directly from English, imported through the user-interface vocabulary of Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The Persian کردن is the native general-purpose light verb. The compound emerged organically in the late 2010s and is fully naturalized today.
References
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