Persian/Lesson 9

In this lesson, you will learn how to create and use plurals of nouns in Persian.

Dialogue: ... ‹...›

... and... are talking....

X:	‹...› “...”	... Missing audio. If you are fluent in Persian, record and upload your voice.	...:
Y:	‹...› “...”	... Missing audio. If you are fluent in Persian, record and upload your voice.	...:

Explanation

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Vocabulary

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درس9

– vandaag (today)

– gisteren (yesterday)

– basisschool

– zijn (be)

– komen (come)

– naam (name)

– regenen,sneeuwen

– ik (I)

– naam

– Nader (jongensnaam) (boys name)

– boek (book)

– Amin (jongensnaam) (boys name)

– teruggeven

– hij geeft, zij geeft

– vandaag regent het (today it rains)

- ik kom uit school (I come from school)

– ik kom snel uit school (I come fast from school)

Plural nouns

کتاب‌ها	←	کتاب‌	‌ها				←	کتاب‌ها
‹ketâbhâ›		‹ketâb›	‹hâ›

The usual way to make a plural in Persian is to add the suffix ها ‹ha› to the noun. The suffix is typically written immediately after the noun with with a ZWNJ.

Colloquially, ها is pronounced ‹â›.

Many words have an alternative plural form that may be used instead of the colloquial Persian form. For example, animate nouns (those that denote humans or things with human-like characteristics) and nouns that denote paired body parts (e.g. eyes, ears, and hands) have an alternative plural form made with the suffix ان ‹ân› :

پسر ‹pesar› (“boy”) + ان ‹-an› (“-s”)
چشم ‹cešm› (“eye”) + ان ‹-an› (“-s”)

Many Arabic words have different plural forms that may be used in Persian. Some are created by adding suffixes:

باغ ‹bâgh› (“garden”) + ت ‹-at› = باغات ‹bâghat› (“gardens”)
معلّم ‹mo’allem› (“teacher”) + ین ‹-in› = معلّمین ‹mo’allemin› (“teachers”)

Others are called “broken plurals”:

كِتاب ‹ketâb› (“book”), كُتُب ‹kotob› (“books”),کتاب
وَقْت ‹vaqt› (“time”), اوقات ‹owqat› (“times”)
طَرَف (“side, direction”), اَطْراف (“sides, directions”)
شَخْس (“person”), اَشْخاس (“persons”)
مُقَدَّمِه (“preliminary”), مُقّدَّمات (“preliminaries”)
عِلم (“science”), عُلوم (“sciences”)
وَزير (“minister”), وُزَراء (“ministers”) (govt.)
لغت (“word”), لُغات (“words”)
شاعِر (“poet”), شُعَرا (“poets”)
عَرَب (“Arab”), اَعْراب (“Arabs”)

		“these books”
	این کتاب‌ها
	این	کتاب	ها
←	‹in›	‹ketâb›	‹-hâ›
←	“this, these”	“book”	“-s”

To pluralize a noun phrase, only the main noun is changed. Adjectives and demonstrative adjectives are not, as shown on the right.

Numbers

		“twenty-one (21)”
	بیست و یک
	بیست	و	یک
←	‹bist›	‹o›	‹yek›
←	“twenty”	“and”	“one”

After 20, Persian numbers use و ‹o› (“and”) between digit, as shown in the example on the right.

		“three thousand four hundred fifty-six (3,456)”
	{{{fa}}}
	{{{1}}}
←	‹{{{2}}}›
←	“{{{3}}}”

Exercises

Plurals:

(To check your answers, click “[show ▼]”.)

Translate the following phrases into Persian.

the books

کتاب‌ها ‹ketâbhâ›

those girls

Using the colloquial Persian plural, آن دخترها ‹ân doxtarhâ› (“those girls, those daughters”)
Bonus points: The alternative, higher-register plural آن دختران ‹ân doxtarân›

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