Iran

Afghanistan

Tajikistan

فارسی (‹fârsi›, “Persian”)
Learn the Persian language
ContentsIntroduction
Persian Alphabet lessons: 1 ( ۱ )2 ( ۲ )3 ( ۳ )4 ( ۴ )
Elementary grammar: 5 ( ۵ )6 ( ۶ )7 ( ۷ )8 ( ۸ )9 ( ۹ )
10 ( ۱۰ )11 ( ۱۱ )12 ( ۱۲ )13 ( ۱۳ )14 ( ۱۴ )15 ( ۱۵ )
Intermediate: 16 ( ۱۶ )17 ( ۱۷ )18 ( ۱۸ )19 ( ۱۹ )20 ( ۲۰ )
21 ( ۲۱ )22 ( ۲۲ )23 ( ۲۳ )24 ( ۲۴ )25 ( ۲۵ )26 ( ۲۶ )
Advanced:
Appendix: AlphabetGlossaryHandwriting

Farsi

To continue, your computer must display Persian. The box below should show these Persian letters on the far right:
ا ب پ ت ث ج چ ح خ د ذ ر ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن و ه ی

If they are different or in the wrong order, see Persian Computing.


In this lesson, you will learn how to build noun phrases with اضافه ‹ezâfe› and with demonstrative adjectives.

Dialogue: اسم شما چی است؟ ‹esm-e šomâ ci-st?› edit

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

X: ‹â-ye Šahidi ostâd-e man e.›
“Mr. Shahidi is my professor.”
آقای شهیدی استاد من است.
  Missing audio. If you are fluent in Persian, record and upload your voice.
...:
Y: ‹...âgar ostâd-e man â-ye anwâr-e bâsd-e.›
“If my professor Enver”
اگر استاد من آقای انور باشد
  Missing audio. If you are fluent in Persian, record and upload your voice.
...:
X: ‹esm-e somâ ci-st?›
“What is your name?”
اسم شما چی است؟
  Missing audio. If you are fluent in Persian, record and upload your voice.
...:
Y: Esm-e mane pari aste›
“My name is Pari”
اسم من پاری است
  Missing audio. If you are fluent in Persian, record and upload your voice.
...:

Explanation

Shahidi and Enver

Vocabulary

  • استاذ   ‹ostâd›   /oˈstɒːd/ — “professor”
  • ی   ‹ye, e› — “of” (see explanation of ezâfe below)
  • اسم   ‹esm› — “name”

Ezâfe edit

     “the door of the house” 
  در (دروازه) خانه  
  در خانه  
 ←  ‹door› ‹of› ‹house›  
 ← 

” در (دروازه)

خانه  

An important part of Persian grammar is the handy little linking element called اضافه   ‹ezâfe› (“addition”). It is used to extend a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase by adding an unstressed particle similar English “of”, followed by other words like adjectives, nouns, pronouns, and full phrases.

After a consonant, the ezâfe particle is pronounced as an unstressed ‹e› in standard Persian and is not usually written. On the right, در   ‹dar› (“door”) is extended by the ezâfe particle and the noun خانه   ‹xune› (“house”), making the Persian phrase در خانهdar-e xune› (“the door of the house”). در ‹dar› ends in a consonant, so the ezâfe particle is pronounced ‹e› and is not written.

     “my house” 
  خانه (خانهٔ) من  
  خانه من  
 ←  ‹xune ‹ye› man  
 ←  “house” “of” “me”  

After a vowel, the ezâfe particle is pronounced as unstressed ‹ye› and may be written as ی or, after a silent ه, it may be written as a miniature superscript ی that looks like a hamze diacritic, i.e. as هٔ. Usually, though, it is only written after a vowel when extra clarity is wanted; otherwise it is often left unwritten.

Older texts صندلئ راحتی ‹sandaliye rāhati› (“easy chair”)
Modern texts صندلی راحتی
     “the woman’s scarf” 
  روسری زن  
  روسری ی زن  
 ←  ‹rusari ‹ye› zan  
 ←  “scarf” “of” “woman”  

When ezâfe extends one noun by adding another, it often indicates that the first noun's referent belongs to the second one's, as shown on the right in the Persian phrase روسری (چادر) زن ‹rusari-ye zan› (“the woman’s scarf”). In older texts, ezâfe after ی is often represented by a small superscripted ی that resembles hamzeء ), so you may see words like روسرئ (چادر) زن , but today, یی (and thus روسری (چادر) زن ) is more common.

Colloquially, short forms are used even after vowels.

Adding a noun with ezâfe is not only used for ownership. It may indicate a family relationship:

  • ناصر خسرو ‹nâser-e xosrow› (“Nasir, [son] of Khusraw”)
  • پدر و مادر من و شما ‹pedar o mâdar e man o šo› (“mother and father of me and you”)

It may indicate composition or purpose:

  • کاسه مسی ‹kâse-ye messey› (“the bowl [made] of copper, the copper bowl”)
  • آب زندگیâb-e zendegi› (“the water of life”)

It may also used for apposition:

  • آقای پیمان ‹â-ye peymân› (“the gentleman Peyman, Mr. Peyman”)
  • روز جمعهruz-e jom’e› (“the day Friday”)
  • شهر تهرانšahr-e tehrân› (“the city of Tehran”)
     “the big door” 
  در (دروازه) بزرک  
  در بزرک  
 ←  dar ‹e› ‹bozorg  
 ←  “door” “[that is]” “big”  

Ezâfe is also used to add an adjective, as in the phrase در (دروازه) بزرکdar e bozorg› (“the big door”), shown on the right. The particle in such constructions is not usually translated into English as a separate word, but it may be thought of as “that is”.

  • آب گرمâb-e garm› (“water [that is] warm, warm water”)
     “on (the face of) the wall” 
  بر روی دیوار  
  بر روی دیوار  
 ←  ‹bar› ruy ‹e› ‹divâr  
 ←  “on” “face” “of” “wall”  

Ezâfe is also used with certain nouns that have preposition-like meaning. In the example on the right and the one below, the nouns روی   ‹ruy› (“face”) and زیر   ‹zir› (“underside”) are used like prepositions with the help of ezâfe:

  • از زیر میز ‹az zir-e miz› (“from the underside of the table”)

Ezâfe is also used to add prepositional phrases, e.g. بعد از   ‹ba’d az ...› (“after ...”):

  • روز بعد از آن اتفاقruz-e ba’d az un ettefâq› (“the day after that accident”)
     “the big door of my house” 
  در بزرک خانه من  
  در بزرک خانه من  
 ←  dar ‹e› ‹bozorg ‹e› ‹xune ‹ye› man  
 ←  “door” “[that is]” “big” “of” “house” “of” “me”  

A noun phrase created with ezâfe may be extended with ezâfe again, as shown on the right.

Demonstrative Adjectives edit

     “this book” 
  این کتاب  
  این کتاب  
 ←  ‹in› ‹ketâb›  
 ←  “this” “book”  
     “that boy” 
  آن پسر  
  آن پسر  
 ←  ‹un› ‹pesar›  
 ←  “that” “boy”  

As the dialogues in the previous lessons have shown, Persian does not have a word that corresponds to the English definite article “the”. To say, “the book”, for example, the noun کتاب   ‹ketâb› (“book”) is normally used alone. Persian does, however, have the demonstrative adjectives این   ‹in› (“this”) and آن   ‹un› (“that”). These two words, unlike typical adjectives, are used before the noun with no intervening particle, as shown in the examples on the right.

Demonstrative contractions:

  • اینجا   ‹injâ› (“here”)
  • آنجا   ‹ânjâ› (“there”), colloquially pronounced ‹unjâ›
  • چنین   ‹conin› (“like this”), colloquially pronounced ‹cenin›
  • چنین   ‹conân› (“like that”), colloquially pronounced ‹cenun›
  • همین   ‹hamin› (“this [very] same”)
  • همان   ‹hamân› (“that [very] same”), colloquially ‹hamun›
  • کجا   ‹kojâ› (“where”)

Demonstrative pronouns:

  • آنها   ‹unhâ› (“those there”) or just "those", special case where ها is always joined
  • اینها   ‹inhâ› (“these here”), second special case where ها ‹hâ› is always joined

Exercises edit

  Ezâfe:
(To check your answers, click “[show ▼]”.)
1. Translate the following sentences into English:
     “the boy's hair” 
  موی پسر  
   
 ←  ‹mu› ‹-ye› ‹pesar›  
 ←  “hair” “of” “boy”  
     “the garden gate” 
  در باغ

 
  در باغ  
 ←  ‹dar› ‹-e› ‹bâq›  
 ←  “gate” “of”

“garden”  
     “the Arabic woman” 
  زن عربی

 
  زن عربی  
 ←  ‹zan› ‹e› ‹arabi›  
 ←  “woman” “[who is]”

“Arabic”  
  • Daneshju-ye irani: “The Iranian student”
  • man-e bicâra (poor me) [Not really a qualifying adjective here]
Create Persian sentences with this formula:
  • [...] دوست من است. ‹[...] dust-e man e.› (“[...] is a friend of mine.”)
Introduce yourself by your first name by replacing “[...]” in one of the sentences below with your first name.

If your name ends in a consonant, use this:

اسم من [...] است. اسم شما چی است؟ ‹esm-e man [...] e. esm-e šomâ ci-st?› (“My name is [...]. What is your name?”)

If your name ends in a vowel, use this (note, the final ‹e› above becomes ‹s›):

اسم من [...] است. اسم شما چی است؟ ‹esm-e man [...] s. esm-e šomâ ci-st?› (“My name is [...]. What is your name?”)

Introduce yourself by your full name using the same formula.

Translate the following sentences into Persian:
Hassan's house

حسن حسن ‹Hassan-e xune›

2. Using the vocabulary below make 5 simple sentences using ezâfe:
{{Persian/vocab-list

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  Demonstrative adjectives:
(To check your answers, click “[show ▼]”.)
Translate the following phrases into Persian.
this book

این کتاب‌ ‹in ketâb›

that girl

آن دختر ‹ân doxtar›

این گل

this flower

All vocabulary Lessons 1 - 6   edit
English gloss Notes ‹fârsi› فارسی

Letter: [ɒː], [æ], [e], [o]   Lesson 1 ‹alef ا
Noun: gentleman, sir, Mr.   Lesson 2 âqâ› آقا
Adjective: American   Lesson 5 ‹âmriyi› آمریکایی
Pronoun: they   Lesson 5 ‹ân, onâ› آنها
Verb: am, is, are   Lesson 5 ‹am, i, ast, im, in, an› ام، ای، است، ایم، اید، اند
Noun: name   Lesson 4 ‹esm› اسم
Pronoun: he, she   Lesson 5 ‹u› او
Adjective: Iranian   Lesson 5 ‹ini› ایرانی
Letter: [b]   Lesson 1 ‹be› ب
Interjection: excuse me   Lesson 4 ‹bebaxšid› ببخشید
Adjective: bad   Lesson 3 ‹bad› بد
Verb: to be   Lesson 5 ‹budan› بودن
Letter: [p]   Lesson 1 ‹pe› پ
Letter: [t]   Lesson 1 ‹te› ت
Pronoun: you (singular, informal)   Lesson 1 ‹tow› تو
Letter: [s]   Lesson 1 ‹se› ث
Letter: [dʒ]   Lesson 1 ‹jim› ج
Letter: [tʃ]   Lesson 1 ‹ce› چ
Adjective: how   Lesson 2 ‹cetor چطور
Phrase: How are you? (informal)   Lesson 1 ‹cetori?› چطوری؟
Pronoun: what?   Lesson 4 ‹ci› چی
Letter: [h]   Lesson 1 ‹he› ح
Noun: health   Lesson 2 ‹hâl› حال
Noun: your health (informal)   Lesson 3 ‹hâlet› حالت
Letter: [x]   Lesson 1 ‹xe› خ
Phrase: May God keep you. (Goodbye.)   Lesson 2 ‹xofez.› خداحافظ.
Noun: (person) wife, lady, Miss   Lesson 4 ‹xânom› خانم
Phrase: I’m fine.   Lesson 1 ‹(man) xubam.› (من) خوبم.
Phrase: Nice to meet you.   Lesson 4 ‹xošbaxtam› خوشبختم
Interjection: no   Lesson 5 ‹xeyr› خیر
very   Lesson 3 xeyli› خیلی
Letter: [d]   Lesson 2 ‹dâ› د
Letter: [z]   Lesson 2 ‹zâ› ذ
Letter: [ɾ]   Lesson 2 ‹re› ر
Letter: [z]   Lesson 2 ‹ze› ز
Letter: [ʒ]   Lesson 2 ‹že› ژ
Letter: [s]   Lesson 2 ‹sin› س
Phrase: Peace (hello)!   Lesson 1 ‹salâm!› سلام!
Letter: [ʃ]   Lesson 2 ‹šin› ش
Pronoun: you (plural or polite singular)   Lesson 2 ‹šomâ› شما
Letter: [s]   Lesson 2 ‹sâd› ص
Interjection: Good morning   Lesson 3 ‹sobh bexeyr صبح بخیر
Letter: [z]   Lesson 2 ‹zâd› ض
Letter: [t]   Lesson 2 ‹tâ› ط
Letter: [z]   Lesson 2 ‹zâ› ظ
Letter: [ʔ]   Lesson 3 ‹’eyn› ع
Letter: [ɣ], [ɢ]   Lesson 3 ‹qeyn› غ
Letter: [f]   Lesson 3 ‹fe› ف
Letter: [ɢ], [ɣ], [q]   Lesson 3 ‹qaf› ق
Letter: [k]   Lesson 3 ‹kaf› ک
Adjective: from where?   Lesson 5 ‹kojâi کجایی
Letter: [g]   Lesson 3 ‹gaf› گ
Letter: [l]   Lesson 3 ‹lâm› ل
Letter: [m]   Lesson 3 ‹mim› م
Pronoun: us   Lesson 5 ‹mâ› ما
Interjection: thanks   Lesson 1 mersi› مرسی
Pronoun: I, me   Lesson 1 ‹man› من
Letter: [n]   Lesson 3 ‹nun› ن
Verb: (I) am not   Lesson 3 nistam› نیستم
Letter: [v], [u], [ow]   Lesson 4 ‹vâv› و
Conjunction: and   Lesson 3 ‹va, vo, o› و
Letter: [h]   Lesson 4 ‹he› ه
Verb: am, is, are   Lesson 5 ‹hastam, hasti, hast, hastim, hastin, hastan› هستم، هستی، هست، هستیم، هستید، هستند
Noun: Persian New Year’s tradition of “seven S’s”   Lesson 4 ‹haftsin› هفت‌سین
Letter: [j], [i], [ej]   Lesson 4 ‹ye› ی
Particle: of   Lesson 6 ‹ye, e› ی
Symbol: (ligature) lam-alef   Lesson 4 ‹lâ› لا
Symbol: (diacritic) tashdid (“strengthening”)   Lesson 4 ‹tašdid› ّ
Symbol: (diacritic) hamze   Lesson 4 ‹’› ء
Symbol: (diacritic) zabar (“above”)   Lesson 4 ‹a› َ
Symbol: (diacritic) zir (“below”)   Lesson 4 ‹e› ِ
Symbol: (diacritic) pish (“before”)   Lesson 4 ‹o› ُ
Symbol: (diacritic) sokun   Lesson 4 ‹-› ْ

Next: Lesson 7 ( ۷ ), Simple past tense

Continue to Lesson 7 ( ۷ ), Simple past tense >>

ContentsIntroduction

Persian Alphabet lessons: 1 ( ۱ )2 ( ۲ )3 ( ۳ )4 ( ۴ )
Elementary grammar: 5 ( ۵ )6 ( ۶ )7 ( ۷ )8 ( ۸ )9 ( ۹ )
10 ( ۱۰ )11 ( ۱۱ )12 ( ۱۲ )13 ( ۱۳ )14 ( ۱۴ )15 ( ۱۵ )
Intermediate: 16 ( ۱۶ )17 ( ۱۷ )18 ( ۱۸ )19 ( ۱۹ )20 ( ۲۰ )
21 ( ۲۱ )22 ( ۲۲ )23 ( ۲۳ )24 ( ۲۴ )25 ( ۲۵ )26 ( ۲۶ )
Advanced:
Appendix: AlphabetGlossaryHandwriting


 
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This section of the Persian Language Wikibook is a stub.
You can help Wikibooks by expanding it. (See the Persian course Planning page.)