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Despite what you have heard, Persian grammar is actually quite easy to learn! This Grammar Section is designed to make learning the rules as quick as possible so you can start building your own sentences. Unlike other courses we want you to familiarise with the most important rules to speak Persian immediately from today.

We use the Zagreb Method for teaching grammar. Instead of presenting grammar as abstract rules, we integrates it directly into real-life communication and scenarios. Our students are introduced to grammar through dialogues and situational context that reflect everyday interactions. The method also incorporates repetition and variation, gradually increasing the complexity of sentences to help learners internalize grammatical patterns naturally.

The sections below cover everything you need to know from basic sentence construction and verb conjugations to more complex topics like noun cases, gender agreements, together with practical examples to help you understand and memorise the Persian grammar rules. Be sure to learn the core 2000 Persian vocabulary first so you can follow the examples more easily.

Click on the titles below to reach the section you are interested in or simply start learning from the beginning.

Persian Alphabet

The Persian alphabet is a modified version of the Arabic script and consists of 32 letters. It is written from right to left, and like Arabic, it is primarily cursive, meaning that most letters are connected within a word. However, Persian includes additional letters not found in Arabic to represent sounds that exist in Persian but not in Arabic.

The Persian script is an abjad, meaning it primarily represents consonants, with vowels often inferred from context. However, Persian includes more vowel markings and sounds than Arabic, making it slightly easier to read without full vocalization.

Persian has 32 letters, four of which (پ, چ, ژ, and گ) are not present in Arabic. These letters were added to accommodate Persian phonology, as Persian has sounds that do not exist in Arabic.

Each letter in Persian has up to four forms, depending on its position in a word:

  • Isolated form: When the letter stands alone.

  • Initial form: When the letter appears at the beginning of a word.

  • Medial form: When the letter appears in the middle of a word, connecting to both sides.

  • Final form: When the letter appears at the end of a word, connecting to the preceding letter.

Some letters, known as non-connecting letters, only connect to the preceding letter and never to the following letter. These include ا, د, ذ, ر, ز, and و.

Consonants and Their Pronunciation

Persian consonants are generally pronounced similarly to their Arabic counterparts, but some have distinct Persian pronunciations. Below are some key features:

  • پ (pe) – Represents the "p" sound, which does not exist in Arabic.

  • چ (che) – Represents the "ch" sound, like in chair.

  • ژ (zhe) – Represents the "zh" sound, like in measure.

  • گ (gāf) – Represents the "g" sound, like in go.

Some consonants have multiple representations due to Persian borrowing from Arabic:

  • س, ص (s) – Both are pronounced as "s" in Persian, even though they are distinct in Arabic.

  • ز, ذ, ض, ظ (z) – All are pronounced as "z" in Persian, even though they

    are different in Arabic.

Persian Vowels

Persian has six vowel sounds: three short vowels and three long vowels.

The short vowels are not represented by full letters in standard Persian writing but are indicated by diacritical marks in formal texts or educational materials:

  • َ (zabar) – Represents the short vowel a, as in cat.

  • ِ (zir) – Represents the short vowel e, as in set.

  • ُ (peš) – Represents the short vowel o, as in top.

The long vowels are written with full letters:

  • آ (ā) – Represents a long a sound, as in father.

  • ای (i) – Represents a long i sound, as in machine.

  • او (u) – Represents a long u sound, as in food.

In standard Persian writing, short vowels are usually omitted, and readers rely on context to determine pronunciation.

The Letter Alef (ا) and Variants

The letter ا (alef) represents different vowel sounds depending on context. It can function as a carrier for vowels:

  • آ (ā) – Represents the long a sound.

  • اِ (e) – Represents the short e sound when needed for clarity.

  • اُ (o) – Represents the short o sound in certain cases.

The Special Role of ه (He)

The letter ه (he) serves multiple purposes:

  • At the end of words, it often marks the silent h sound, as in خانه (khāne) house.

  • In informal speech, it may be pronounced as to indicate possession or adjectival relationships.

  • In some words, it represents the aspirated "h" sound, as in هوا (havā) air.

The Letter ی (Ye) and Its Variants

The letter ی (ye) can function as both a consonant and a vowel:

  • As a consonant, it represents the "y" sound, as in یک (yek) one.

  • As a vowel, it represents the long i sound, as in می (mi) wine.

In some dialects and informal writing, ی is written as ئ when following another vowel.

The Letter و (Vāv) and Its Dual Function

The letter و (vāv) is another letter with multiple roles:

  • As a consonant, it represents the "v" sound, as in ولی (vali) but.

  • As a vowel, it represents the long u sound, as in نور (nur) light.

Persian Diacritics and Their Usage

While diacritics (short vowels) are usually omitted in everyday Persian writing, they appear in educational materials, poetry, and religious texts to ensure correct pronunciation. Some key diacritics include:

  • ـً (tanvin-e nasb) – Rarely used in Persian but marks an indefinite accusative noun in Arabic.

  • ٔ (hamze) – Indicates a glottal stop, often appearing in words borrowed from Arabic.

Differences Between Persian and Arabic Script

Although Persian and Arabic share the same script, there are key differences:

  1. Additional Persian letters – Persian includes پ, چ, ژ, and گ, which do not exist in Arabic.

  2. Simplified pronunciation – Persian does not distinguish between emphatic and non-emphatic sounds, making pronunciation more straightforward than in Arabic.

  3. Vowel representation – Persian frequently uses full letters to indicate vowels, while Arabic relies more on diacritics.

  4. Pronunciation differences – Some letters, such as ق and غ, are pronounced identically in Persian but differently in Arabic.

Persian Nouns

In Persian, nouns function as the primary elements of sentences, referring to people, places, things, and abstract concepts. Persian nouns do not have grammatical gender, and they do not change based on case as in some other languages. However, they do inflect for number and can take various suffixes to indicate possession, plurality, and definiteness.

Singular and Plural Forms

Persian nouns in their basic form appear in the singular. To form the plural, Persian employs different suffixes depending on the type of noun.

For most nouns referring to humans or animate beings, the plural suffix -ān is used:

  • دانشجو (dāneshjū) studentدانشجویان (dāneshjūyān) students

  • معلم (mo‘allem) teacherمعلمان (mo‘allemān) teachers

For inanimate objects and general nouns, the suffix -hā is commonly added:

  • کتاب (ketāb) bookکتاب‌ها (ketābhā) books

  • میز (miz) tableمیزها (mizhā) tables

Some Arabic-origin nouns take the Arabic plural endings -āt or -īn, though this is more common in formal and literary contexts:

  • مشکل (moshkel) problemمشکلات (moshkelāt) problems

  • مسلمان (mosalmān) Muslimمسلمین (moslemīn) Muslims

Definiteness and Indefiniteness

Persian does not have definite articles like "the" in English. A noun on its own is understood to be definite from context. However, indefiniteness can be expressed using the suffix -i:

  • کتاب (ketāb) the book

  • کتابی (ketābi) a book

In colloquial speech, the word یک (yek) one is sometimes used for emphasis:

  • یک کتاب (yek ketāb) a book

Possession and Ezāfe Construction

Persian uses a special grammatical structure called Ezāfe to indicate possession or descriptive relationships. This is represented by the unstressed vowel -e (or -ye after vowels).

  • کتابِ علی (ketāb-e Ali) Ali’s book

  • خانه‌ی زیبا (khāne-ye zibā) the beautiful house

If the noun ends in a vowel, -ye is used to ease pronunciation:

  • مدرسه‌ی بزرگ (madrese-ye bozorg) the big school

Demonstrative Nouns

Persian has specific demonstrative pronouns that function similarly to "this" and "that" in English:

  • این کتاب (in ketāb) this book

  • آن میز (ān miz) that table

For plural forms:

  • این کتاب‌ها (in ketābhā) these books

  • آن میزها (ān mizhā) those tables

Compound Nouns

Persian frequently forms compound nouns by combining two words, often with Ezāfe or direct attachment:

  • دانشگاه (dāneshgāh) university (دانش (dānesh) knowledge + گاه (gāh) place)

  • چاپخانه (chāpkhāne) printing house (چاپ (chāp) printing + خانه (khāne) house)

Loanwords and Adaptations

Persian has absorbed many words from Arabic, French, and English, adapting them to Persian phonology and morphology. Some Arabic nouns retain their original plural forms, while others take Persian plural endings:

  • کتاب (ketāb) book (Arabic-origin) → کتب (kotob) books (formal Arabic plural)

  • تلویزیون (televizion) television (French-origin) → تلویزیون‌ها (televizionhā) televisions (Persian plural)

Abstract Nouns and Suffixes

Abstract nouns are often formed using suffixes such as -i, -at, or -gari:

  • دوستی (dusti) friendship (دوست (dust) friend + ی (-i)

  • قدرت (qodrat) power

  • هنرمندی (honarmandi) artistry (هنرمند (honarmand) artist + ی (-i)

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Some Persian nouns are inherently uncountable, requiring a measure word when specifying quantity:

  • یک لیوان آب (yek livān āb) a glass of water

  • دو کیلو برنج (do kilo berenj) two kilos of rice

For countable nouns, numerals directly precede the noun:

  • سه کتاب (se ketāb) three books

  • پنج شاگرد (panj shāgerd) five students

Persian Adjectives

Adjectives in Persian play a crucial role in sentence structure and are used to describe nouns, express qualities, and compare characteristics. Unlike many Indo-European languages, Persian adjectives do not change based on gender or case. They follow a relatively simple grammatical structure but have specific rules for placement, comparison, and formation.

Placement of Adjectives

In Persian, adjectives typically follow the noun they describe and are connected to the noun using the Ezāfe construction, represented by the unstressed -e (or -ye after vowels).

  • خانه‌ی بزرگ (khāne-ye bozorg) the big house

  • کتابِ جدید (ketāb-e jadid) the new book

  • ماشینِ قرمز (māshin-e qermez) the red car

If the noun ends in a vowel sound, -ye is used instead of -e to facilitate pronunciation:

  • مدرسه‌ی خوب (madrese-ye khub) the good school

  • هوایِ سرد (havā-ye sard) the cold weather

Attributive vs. Predicative Adjectives

Persian adjectives can be used in both attributive (modifying a noun directly) and predicative (used with a verb) positions.

Attributive adjectives:

  • دوستِ صمیمی (dust-e samimi) a close friend

  • رنگِ روشن (rang-e rowshan) a light color

Predicative adjectives:

  • این کتاب جدید است. (in ketāb jadid ast.) This book is new.

  • هوا گرم شد. (havā garm shod.) The weather became warm.

In predicative use, Persian often omits the verb است (ast) is in informal speech:

  • این غذا خوشمزه است. (in ghazā khoshmaze ast.) This food is delicious.این غذا خوشمزه‌ست. (in ghazā khoshmaze-st.) This food is delicious.

Comparatives and Superlatives

Persian forms comparatives and superlatives with suffixes and specific words rather than changing adjective endings.

To form the comparative (meaning "more" or "-er" in English), the suffix -tar (-تر) is added to the adjective:

  • سریع (sari‘) fastسریع‌تر (sari‘tar) faster

  • زیبا (zibā) beautifulزیباتر (zibātar) more beautiful

  • بزرگ (bozorg) bigبزرگ‌تر (bozorgtar) bigger

A comparative sentence often uses از (az) than to compare two things:

  • این کتاب از آن کتاب جالب‌تر است. (in ketāb az ān ketāb jālebtar ast.) This book is more interesting than that book.

  • هوا امروز از دیروز سردتر است. (havā emruz az diruz sardtar ast.) The weather today is colder than yesterday.

To form the superlative (meaning "most" or "-est" in English), the suffix -tarin (-ترین) is added to the adjective:

  • سریع‌ترین ماشین (sari‘tarin māshin) the fastest car

  • خوشحال‌ترین روزِ زندگی‌ام (khoshhāltarin ruz-e zendegi-am) the happiest day of my life

  • بهترین دوست (behtarin dust) the best friend

The word از همه (az hame) of all can also be added to emphasize the superlative meaning:

  • این فیلم از همه قشنگ‌تر است. (in film az hame qashangtar ast.) This movie is the most beautiful of all.

Intensifying Adjectives

Persian often uses بسیار (besyār) very, خیلی (kheyli) very, or زیاد (ziyād) a lot before adjectives to intensify their meaning:

  • خیلی خوشمزه (kheyli khoshmaze) very delicious

  • بسیار مفید (besyār mofid) very useful

  • زیاد گرم (ziyād garm) too hot

Colloquially, خیلی (kheyli) is the most commonly used:

  • خیلی جالب بود. (kheyli jāleb bud.) It was very interesting.

Adjective Formation

Persian allows the creation of adjectives from nouns, verbs, and other adjectives using various suffixes.

  1. Formation from nouns

    • علم (elm) scienceعلمی (elmi) scientific

    • فرهنگ (farhang) cultureفرهنگی (farhangi) cultural

  2. Formation from verbs

    • کار (kār) workکاری (kāri) work-related

    • آموزش (āmuzesh) educationآموزشی (āmuzeshi) educational

  3. Formation from other adjectives

    • خوب (khub) goodخوبی (khubi) goodness

    • جدید (jadid) newجدیدی (jadidi) newish

Colors as Adjectives

Color adjectives in Persian follow the same Ezāfe rule when modifying nouns:

  • چشم‌هایِ آبی (cheshmhā-ye ābi) blue eyes

  • لباسِ قرمز (lebās-e qermez) red dress

Some color words end in (-i) to indicate "having the quality of that color":

  • سبز (sabz) greenسبزی (sabzi) greenish

  • آبی (ābi) blue

  • زردی (zardi) yellowish

Negative Adjectives

Persian can create negative adjectives using prefixes such as نا- (nā-) or بی- (bi-), meaning "non-" or "without":

  • ناامید (nāomid) hopeless

  • بی‌ارزش (bi-arzesh) worthless

  • ناشناس (nāshenās) unknown

Some negative adjectives also take the prefix بد- (bad-) bad:

  • بدبو (badbu) bad-smelling

  • بدرفتار (badrraftār) ill-mannered

Adjectives as Nouns

In Persian, adjectives can function as nouns when used without a specific noun reference:

  • خوب‌ها همیشه موفق می‌شوند. (khubhā hamishe movaffagh mishavand) The good ones always succeed.

  • ثروتمندها در این منطقه زیاد هستند. (servatmandhā dar in mantaqe ziyād hastand.) There are many rich people in this area.

By adding the definite marker -hā (-ها), adjectives can take on a plural noun meaning:

  • بزرگ‌ها تصمیم می‌گیرند. (bozorghā tasmim migirand.) The elders make the decisions.

Persian Pronouns

Pronouns in Persian play a crucial role in sentence structure, replacing nouns to avoid repetition and clarify meaning. Persian has several types of pronouns, including personal, possessive, demonstrative, reflexive, indefinite, and interrogative pronouns. Unlike some languages, Persian pronouns do not change based on gender, making them relatively simple in terms of agreement. However, they do inflect based on number (singular/plural) and formality levels.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Persian correspond to the English pronouns I, you, he/she/it, we, you (plural), they. Persian distinguishes between singular and plural forms, and in some cases, between formal and informal usage.

  • I من (man)

  • You (singular, informal) تو (to)

  • You (singular, formal) شما (shomā)

  • He / She / It او (u)

  • We ما (mā)

  • You (plural, formal or informal) شما (shomā)

  • They آن‌ها (ānhā) or ایشان (ishān) (more formal)

In formal Persian, شما (shomā) is used as a respectful singular pronoun when addressing someone politely. The plural form ایشان (ishān) is used to show respect when referring to a single person.

Examples:

  • I am a student. من دانشجو هستم. (man dāneshju hastam.)

  • You are my friend. تو دوست من هستی. (to dust-e man hasti.)

  • He is a doctor. او دکتر است. (u doktor ast.)

  • We live in Tehran. ما در تهران زندگی می‌کنیم. (mā dar Tehrān zendegi mikonim.)

  • They are teachers. آن‌ها معلم هستند. (ānhā mo‘allem hastand.)

Omission of Subject Pronouns

Unlike English, Persian often omits subject pronouns when the verb conjugation makes the subject clear.

  • I am tired. خسته‌ام. (khaste-am.) (instead of من خسته هستم. (man khaste hastam.))

  • We went to the market. به بازار رفتیم. (be bāzār raftim.)

The subject pronoun is generally used only for emphasis or clarification.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns in Persian are formed by adding suffixes to the noun or by using مال (māl), which means belonging to. The suffix form is more common in everyday speech.

Suffixes for possession:

  • My (-am)

  • Your (singular, informal) (-at)

  • His / Her / Its (-ash)

  • Our -مان (-mān)

  • Your (plural or formal) -تان (-tān)

  • Their -شان (-shān)

Examples (Suffix Form):

  • My book کتابم (ketābam)

  • Your house خانه‌ات (khāne-at)

  • His car ماشینش (māshin-ash)

  • Our school مدرسمان (madrese-mān)

  • Their teacher معلم‌شان (mo‘allem-shān)

Alternatively, مال (māl) is used for emphasis:

  • This book is mine. این کتاب مال من است. (in ketāb māl-e man ast.)

  • Is this car yours? آیا این ماشین مال تو است؟ (āyā in māshin māl-e to ast?)

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns in Persian correspond to this, that, these, those in English.

  • This این (in)

  • That آن (ān)

  • These این‌ها (inhā)

  • Those آن‌ها (ānhā)

Examples:

  • This is my house. این خانه‌ی من است. (in khāne-ye man ast.)

  • That is your book. آن کتاب تو است. (ān ketāb-e to ast.)

  • These are good students. این‌ها دانشجویان خوبی هستند. (inhā dāneshju-yān-e khubi hastand.)

  • Those are my friends. آن‌ها دوستان من هستند. (ānhā dustān-e man hastand.)

Reflexive Pronouns

Persian reflexive pronouns emphasize that the subject of the sentence is also the object. The main reflexive pronoun is خود (khod), meaning oneself. It can be combined with personal pronouns for clarity.

Examples:

  • I saw myself in the mirror. خودم را در آینه دیدم. (khodam rā dar āyene didam.)

  • He blamed himself. او خودش را سرزنش کرد. (u khodash rā sarzanesh kard.)

  • They built this house themselves. آن‌ها خودشان این خانه را ساختند. (ānhā khodashān in khāne rā sākh-tand.)

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used to refer to unspecified people or things. Common Persian indefinite pronouns include:

  • Someone کسی (kasi)

  • Something چیزی (chizi)

  • Nobody هیچ‌کس (hichkas)

  • Nothing هیچ‌چیز (hichchiz)

  • Some بعضی (ba‘zi)

Examples:

  • Someone called you. کسی به تو زنگ زد. (kasi be to zang zad.)

  • I saw something in the garden. چیزی در باغ دیدم. (chizi dar bāgh didam.)

  • Nobody was at home. هیچ‌کس در خانه نبود. (hichkas dar khāne nabud.)

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions in Persian.

  • Who کی / چه کسی (ki / che kasi)

  • What چی / چه (chi / che)

  • Where کجا (kojā)

  • When کی (key)

  • Why چرا (cherā)

  • How چطور / چگونه (chetowr / chegune)

Examples:

  • Who is that person? او چه کسی است؟ (u che kasi ast?)

  • What do you want? چه می‌خواهی؟ (che mikhāhi?)

  • Where are you going? کجا می‌روی؟ (kojā miravi?)

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