In Persian, compound verbs are constructed of a verb and a non-verbal element, such as a noun, verbal noun, compound noun, adjective, past stem, and preposition. Normally in this case the non-verbal element goes through a semantic mutation:

As in simple verbs, compound verbs also take the stress on the last syllable, in the infinitival form (as in,[tag resources complexcompound_01] کوشش کردن[/tag])
kušeš karda׀n; but in finite compound forms, the stress falls on the last syllable of the non-verbal element:

[tag resources ccverbs007]همهٔ دانشجویان کوشش کردند[/tag]
hameye dānešjuyān kuše׀š kardand
‘students all tried hard’

In compound verbs the particles and prefixes (i.e., می, neg. ن, imp./subj. ب, etc.) always come before the verbal element of the compound; as in,

می بردارم never برمی‌دارم
نبردارnever برندار
بزندگی کن never زندگی بکن

In this case the prefix or the verbal stem may take the stress, according to the context; as in, [tag resources ccverbs011]سفره را بر چیدند [/tag]sofre rā ba׀r cidand, or sofre rā bar či׀dand ‘they wrapped up the table’, but in the negative the na- prefix takes the stress; as in,
[tag resources ccverbs012] سفره را بر نچیدند [/tag]sofre rā bar na׀cidand ‘they did not wrap the table up’.

In verbs with کردن it is normal to drop the imperative/subjunctive ب; as in,[tag resources ccverbs013]کوشش کن[/tag] instead of [tag resources ccverbs014]کوشش بکن [/tag] and [tag resources ccverbs015]باید کوشش کنیم[/tag]instead of[tag resources ccverbs016] باید کوشش بکنیم, [/tag]etc. (See the imperative and the subjunctive sections).

Among the different Persian compound verbs, the majority have the verb کردن kardan as the verbal member of the compound.

Different kinds of compounds:

noun (اسم) + infinitive (مصدر):
The noun may be of Persian origin or a loan word:

The noun may be any kind of grammatical noun, such as:

A compund noun[tag resources ccverbs030] اسم مرکّب:[/tag]
[tag resources ccverbs031]گفتگو کردن [/tag]got-o-gu kardan ‘to have a dialogue, converse’

Adjective (صفت) + infinitive:
The adjective may be simple or compound. Compound verbs with کردن kardan as the verbal member of the compound are active and with شدن šodan they are passive:

Simple adjectives:

It should be understood that etymologically morphemes with [ā-] prefix are compounds, but in Modern Persian they are construed as being simple morphemes. For instance, such words as[tag resources ccverbs042] آفرین [/tag]āfarin ‘praise (be upon thee), good job! bravo!’ (< ā + frin- ‘to bless’) are already taken as a simple morpheme as early as the Middle Persian period (Modern Persian [tag resources ccverbs042]آفرین[/tag]āfrīn ‘praise thee’).

Compound adjectives:

[tag resources ccverbs043]دلگرم شدن[/tag]
delgarm šodan
‘to be encouraged’

[tag resources ccverbs044]خوشبخت شدن[/tag]
xošbaxt šodan
‘to prosper’

[tag resources ccverbs045]سوگوار شدن[/tag]
sugvār šodan
‘to become mournful’

Past stem (بن ماضی) + infinitive:

[tag resources ccverbs046]پخت کردن[/tag]
poxt kardan
‘to bake, cook’

[tag resources ccverbs047]تاخت زدن[/tag]
tāxt zadan
‘to charge a horse, gallop’

[tag resources ccverbs048]آمد داشتن[/tag]
āmad dāštan
‘to bring good omen/luck’

Prepositions (حروف اضافه) + infinitive (complex verbs):
Prepositions are used extensively in the construction of complex verbs. The most common are as follows:

[tag resources ccverbs049]باز[/tag]
باز bāz ‘again’ may be compared with the English re- prefix; as in, بازنشسته bāznešaste ‘retired’; bāz gaštan ‘to return’.

[tag resources ccverbs054]بر[/tag]
بر bar ‘up, above, over’ may be compared with the English –up in “to stand
up, pick up”:

[tag resources ccverbs062]در[/tag]
dar

[tag resources ccverbs063]در آمدن[/tag]
dar āmadan
‘to get out’

[tag resources ccverbs064]در آمیختن[/tag]
dar āmixtan
vi., vt. ‘to mix’

[tag resources ccverbs065]در آویختن[/tag]
dar āvixtan
vi., vt. ‘to hang’

[tag resources ccverbs066]در افتادن[/tag]
dar oftādan
‘to engage oneself in quarrel with…’

[tag resources ccverbs067]در پیچیدن[/tag]
dar picidan
‘to muffle, entangle’

[tag resources ccverbs068]در نوردیدن[/tag]
‘dar navardidan
to traverse, pass through’

[tag resources ccverbs069]فرا[/tag]
farā

[tag resources ccverbs070]فرا خواندن[/tag]
farā xāndan
‘to summon, call upon’

[tag resources ccverbs071]فرا رسیدن[/tag]
farā residan
‘to arrive (time)’

[tag resources ccverbs072]فرا گرفتن[/tag]
farā gereftan
‘to learn’

[tag resources ccverbs073]فرو[/tag]
foru

[tag resources ccverbs074]فرو بردن[/tag]
foru bordan
‘to swallow; vt. submerge’

[tag resources ccverbs075]فرو رفتن[/tag]
foru raftan
vi. ‘to submerge’

[tag resources ccverbs076]فرو نشاندن[/tag]
foru nešāndan
‘to extinguish, suppress, quell, quench (thirst)’

[tag resources ccverbs077]فرو کردن[/tag]
foru kardan
‘to insert, thrust (into)’

[tag resources ccverbs078]ور[/tag]
ور var is a variation of بر ; but historically some compounds have been retained with one as opposed to the other. Normally the colloquial dialect opts for var- vs. bar-; as in, the colloquial ور داشتن vs. بر داشتن (which, however, a few speakers may still use). Also some expressions are constructed with one vs. the other, such as ور رفتن ‘to fool around with, meddle with’, which is pretty much constant among lay-persons as well as among the educated people.

[tag resources ccverbs079]ور افتادن[/tag]
var oftādan
‘to summon, call upon’

[tag resources ccverbs080]ور چیدن[/tag]
var cidan
‘to pick up (especially—but not necessarily—piece-by-piece)’

[tag resources ccverbs081]ور داشتن[/tag]
var dāštan
‘to pick up’

[tag resources ccverbs082]ور رفتن[/tag]
var raftan
‘to meddle with, fool around with’

Compound morpheme + infinitive:
It is possible that the non-verbal element in its turn be a compound. In this case we might also be dealing with a sort of expression:

[tag resources ccverbs083]از بر کردن[/tag]
az bar kardan
‘to learn by heart, memorize’

[tag resources ccverbs084]از پا افتادن[/tag]
az pā oftādan
‘to become too exhausted, lose one’s strength’

[tag resources ccverbs085]از پا در آمدن[/tag]
az pā dar āmadan
‘to fall feeble (after a long resistance), “go down”’