- How many forms does an adjective have in Persian?
- Where are adjectives placed in a sentence?
- How is an adjective related to the noun it modifies?
Adjectives have only one form. Persian does not have grammatical gender. Therefore, adjectives do not have masculine, feminine or neuter forms. Additionally, adjectives do not agree in number with the noun they modify. Therefore, adjectives do not have plural forms.
In Persian, adjectives are not a distinct class of words. They belong to a larger class that can function as an adjective or an adverb depending on the word they modify. When they modify a noun, they act as an adjective and when they modify other types of words, they act as an adverb. German and Dutch are among other languages that have this grammatical feature. Adjectives can also be nominalized and function like a noun.
Predicate Adjectives
A predicate adjective is an adjective that modifies the subject of a verb. For example, “happy” in “He is happy” is a predicate adjective. This contrasts with “A happy boy” where “happy” is called an attributive adjective.
| هوا سرد است Havâ sard ast The weather is cold |
| این پیراهن گران است In pirâhan gerân ast This shirt is expensive |
| آن پسرها خوشحال به نظر میآيند Ân pesarhâ khoshhâl be nazar miâyand Those boys seem happy |
Attributive Adjectives
Attributive adjectives come after the noun they modify and are related to it with the genitive marker “e”. In English, attributive adjectives come before nouns. Spanish, French and Italian are among other languages in which adjectives typically come after the noun they modify.
| دوست خوب dust-e khub good friend |
دوستان خوب dustân-e khub good friends |
| اتاق ارزان otâgh-e arzân cheap room |
|
When a noun ends in a vowel, the genitive marker transforms to “ye” to resolve vowel hiatus.
| خانهی بزرگ khâne-ye bozorg big house |
هوای سرد havâ-ye sard cold weather |
| غذاهای خوشمزه ghazâhâ-ye khoshmazze delicious foods |
|