As opposed to a definite article, an indefinite article is used to indicate that the identity of a noun is unknown. Persian marks nouns for indefiniteness both in singular and plural forms using the enclitic “-i”. English does not have an exact equivalent for Persian’s indefinite plural. It is translated with “some”, “any” or simply, a bare plural form.
The indefinite article is grammatically a distinct word but in Persian orthography, it is written attached to it preceding word. For educational purposes, it is separated from its host word with a hyphen (-) in Latin transcription. If the preceding word ends in the vowel sounds “â, o, u”, an epenthetic consonant is added between the word and the indefinite article. This consonant can be ی (-y-) or ئ (-ø-). The former is more prevalent.
Indefinite Singular | Indefinite Plural |
---|---|
مردی mard-i a man |
مردهایی mardhâ-yi some/any men |
زنی zan-i a woman |
زنهایی zanhâ-yi some/any women |
More examples:
- کتابی دارم
⟨ketâb-i dâram⟩
I have a book - کتابهایی دارم
⟨ketâbhâ-yi dâram⟩
I have books - اشتباهی شده
⟨eštebâh-i šode⟩
There is a mistake
Indefinite Parts of Speech
The indefinite article is used in making indefinite pronouns, adjectives and adverbs.
- چیزی
⟨čiz-i⟩
something - چیزهایی
⟨čizhâ-yi⟩
some things - کسی
⟨kas-i⟩
somebody, someone - کسانی
⟨kasân-i⟩
some people
- کمی فارسی بلدم
⟨kam-i fârsi balad-am⟩
I know a little Persian - چیزی در موردش نمیدانم
⟨čiz-i dar mowred-aš nemidânam⟩
I do not know anything about it - کسی دم در است
⟨kas-i dam-e dar ast ⟩
Someone is at the door
The Place of Indefinite Article
In English, the indefinite article is placed at the beginning of a noun phrase: “a house”, “a big house”, “a bigger house”, “a big and modern house”. In Persian, the indefinite article is normally placed at the end of a noun phrase and in certain cases, directly after the noun. This clearly demonstrates that Persian’s indefinite article is a distinct word and not a suffix; it can have different places in a phrase.
- خانهای
⟨xâne-i⟩
a house - خانهی بزرگی
⟨xâne-ye bozorg-i⟩
a big house - خانهی بزرگتری
⟨xâne-ye bozorgtar-i⟩
a bigger house - چه خانهی بزرگی
⟨če xâne-ye bozorg-i⟩
What a big house
- روزی
⟨ruz-i⟩
a day - روز خوبی
⟨ruz-e xub-i⟩
a nice day - روز خوبی داشته باشید
⟨ruz-e xub-i dâšte bâšid⟩
Have a nice day! - چه روز خوبی
⟨če ruz-e xub-i⟩
What a nice day!
- پسری
⟨pesar-i⟩
a boy - پسر خوبی
⟨pesar-e xub-i⟩
a good boy - پسر خوبی باش
⟨pesar-e xub-i bâš⟩
Be a good boy! - پسر بدی نیست
⟨pesar-e bad-i nist⟩
He is not a bad boy - چه پسر خوبی
⟨če pesar-e xub-i⟩
What a good boy!
As stated above, the indefinite article can be placed after the noun it modifies. In this case, it replaces the genitive postposition “-(y)e”.
- خانهی بزرگی
⟨xâne-ye bozorg-i⟩
a big house - خانهای بزرگ
⟨xâne-i bozorg⟩
a big house
- روز خوبی
⟨ruz-e xub-i⟩
a nice day - روزی خوب
⟨ruz-i xub⟩
a nice day
- پسر خوبی
⟨pesar-e xub-i⟩
a good boy - پسری خوب
⟨pesar-i xub⟩
a good boy
This structure is particularly used when adjectives end in the vowel “-i”:
- مرد ایرانیای
⟨mard-e irâni-i⟩
an Iranian man - مردی ایرانی
⟨mard-i irâni⟩
an Iranian man