The grammatical category voice indicates whether the subject performs the action expressed by the verb phrase (= active) or not (= passive).
The passive voice became extinct in Middle Persian, and no longer exists in Persian. In modern times, the translation of passive verb phrases from European languages into Persian usually occurs by means of the following pattern:
- [VP[Vtransitive perfect participle] [VP(conjugated) verb phrase from the verbal root /ʃæv/ (infinitive /ʃodæn/ شدن)]].
کشتن (active) ⇆ کشته شدن (passive)
افروخته (active) ⇆ افروخته شده (passive)
خریدند (active) ⇆ خریده شدند (passive)
مینواختی (active) ⇆ نواخته میشدی (passive)
پوشیده است (active) ⇆ پوشیده شده است (passive)
The following points are notable here:
- Passive verb phrase are intransitive, whereas they are generated only from transitive perfect participles.
- The direct object of the active verb phrase becomes the subject of the passive verb phrase.
- The subject of the active verb phrase can be used as an auctorial adverbial of the passive verb phrase.
For example:
اسکندر تختِ جمشید را به آتش کشید. (active) ⇆ تختِ جمشید (به دستِ اسکندر) به آتش کشیده شد. (passive)