Persian Grammar and Morphology: Applied Usage
The ezafat is the spine of Persian syntax
An unstressed -e joins noun to adjective (mard-e 'alim), noun to possessor (kitab-e 'Ali), and noun to place or title (shahr-e Shiraz). Chains build up: dust-e baradar-e man. In Hindi the chain reverses: Ali ki kitab, Shiraz ka shahar, mere bhai ka dost.
Plurals
- -ha: the safe default, especially with inanimates - kitabha, shahrha.
- -an: chiefly rational beings - mardan, danishmandan - plus a few inanimates.
- Arabic broken plurals survive in learned vocabulary: kitab → kutub, qalam → aqlam, hukm → ahkam, sabab → asbab.
Verbs
Learn two stems for every verb: past and present. raftan → raft / raw; didan → did / bin; khwurdan → khwurd / khwar; dadan → dad / deh. Then: past simple raftam; past continuous mi-raftam; present mi-ravam; subjunctive be-ravam; future khaham raft; passive karde shud.
Worked example
Make the negative past continuous of «او میرود»: answer «او نمیرفت». Reasoning: present stem raw plus mi- gives the present; the past continuous needs the past stem raft with the same mi-. Negation is ne- placed before mi- (ne-mi-raft), but na- before a bare past (na-raft). Third person singular takes no ending, so the finished form is ne-mi-raft.
Objects and prepositions
The particle ra marks a definite direct object: Ali kitab ra khand. Do not translate it as "for". Core prepositions: az (from), ba (to), bar (on), dar (in), ta (until).
Traps
- Adding -an to an inanimate plural.
- Using mi- with a past stem where the simple past is wanted.
- Treating hast ("exists, is present") and ast ("is") as interchangeable.
- Breaking an ezafat chain at the wrong link.
- Taking an Arabic broken plural for a singular.