Farsi Infinitives and Verbal Nouns: Raftan as a Noun

When Verbs Become Nouns

In English, “going” and “to go” are different forms. In Farsi, raftan (رفتن) covers both. it means “to go” and “going” and “the act of going.” The farsi infinitive doubles as a verbal noun, and once you realize this, dozens of natural constructions open up. “Az raftan-e to nârahat shodam” (I was upset by your going). that’s the infinitive working as a noun, taking the ezafe and a possessor, behaving exactly like any other noun in the sentence.

This post is part of the Persian Grammar series.

This lesson is shorter than the tense-focused ones but it’s a key piece of B1 grammar. Understanding infinitives as nouns is what lets you build sentences like “before leaving,” “the joy of seeing you,” and “eating is fun”. structures you need every day.

Infinitive as Subject

When the action itself is what you’re talking about, the infinitive sits in the subject position:

raftan sakht-e (رفتن سخته). Going is hard / Leaving is hard
durus goftan mohemm-e (درست گفتن مهمه). Speaking correctly is important
fârsi yâd gereftan vaght mikhâd (فارسی یاد گرفتن وقت میخواد). Learning Farsi takes time
sigâr keshidan bad-e (سیگار کشیدن بده). Smoking is bad

In spoken Farsi, the infinitive as subject sounds natural and is used constantly. No special construction needed. just drop the infinitive where you’d put a noun.

Infinitive After Prepositions

This is where infinitives get really useful. Persian prepositions + infinitive create the equivalent of English “before doing,” “after doing,” “instead of doing,” etc.:

ghabl az raftan (قبل از رفتن). before going
ba’d az khordan (بعد از خوردن). after eating
be jâye khordan (به جای خوردن). instead of eating
barâye yâd gereftan (برای یاد گرفتن). for learning / in order to learn
bedun-e goftan (بدون گفتن). without saying
dar hâl-e khundan (در حال خوندن). in the process of reading / while reading

That last one. “dar hâl-e” + infinitive. is the formal way to express “while doing.” In spoken Farsi, the continuous construction with dâshtan is more common, but “dar hâl-e” shows up in writing and slightly formal speech.

Infinitive with Ezafe: “The X-ing of Y”

When you want to specify whose action or what kind of action, the infinitive takes the ezafe like any noun:

raftan-e to (رفتن تو). your going / your leaving
umadan-e bahâr (اومدن بهار). the coming of spring
neveshtan-e in nâme (نوشتن این نامه). the writing of this letter
az didan-e to khoshhâl shodam (از دیدن تو خوشحال شدم). I was happy from seeing you

That last example is how Iranians say “I was glad to see you”. literally “from the seeing of you, I became happy.” The construction is: az + infinitive-ezafe + possessor.

Notice how spoken Farsi attaches the possessive clitic (-et = your) directly to the infinitive: didan + et = didanet. This is standard clitic pronoun behavior.

The Short Infinitive: Raft vs Raftan

Persian has a “short infinitive”. the past stem used as a nominal form. It shows up in specific compound constructions:

raft-o-âmad (رفت و آمد). coming and going / traffic / social visits
goft-o-gu (گفت و گو). conversation (lit: said and say)
jost-o-ju (جست و جو). search (lit: searched and search)
khar-o-forush (خرید و فروش). buying and selling / commerce

These are frozen compound nouns, not productive grammar. You don’t create new ones. you learn the ones that exist as vocabulary items. They’re everywhere in formal and semi-formal speech.

Infinitive vs Subjunctive for “To Do”

English “I want to go” can be expressed two ways in Persian:

Infinitive: mikhâm raftan (میخوام رفتن). rare, sounds slightly formal/old-fashioned
Subjunctive: mikhâm beram (میخوام برم). standard, used by everyone

Modern spoken Farsi overwhelmingly prefers the subjunctive construction after verbs of wanting, needing, and deciding. The infinitive construction exists but sounds archaic in most contexts. The exception: after prepositions, infinitive is the only option. You can’t say “ghabl az beram”. it has to be “ghabl az raftan.”

Common Infinitive Constructions

Phrases you’ll hear and use regularly:

vaght-e raftan-e (وقت رفتنه). it’s time to go
hâl-e harf zadan nadâram (حال حرف زدن ندارم). I don’t feel like talking
az bein raftan (از بین رفتن). disappearing / being destroyed
ghâbel-e khundan (قابل خوندن). readable / worth reading
emkân-e raftan (امکان رفتن). the possibility of going
tars az mordan (ترس از مردن). fear of dying

For the full grammar roadmap, head to the Persian Grammar Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Infinitives are the quiet workhorse of Persian. they’re in half the sentences you say without you even noticing. To practice building natural infinitive constructions in real conversation. book a session with me on Preply.