Ablative Case in Persian
The preposition از (az) marks the ablative case in Persian. The ablative case is a grammatical case that typically marks the “source” or “origin” of a verb. For example: “to fall from a tree”, “To come from a city”, “to jump out of a plane”. The ablative case is also used for comparison: “to be younger than somebody”. Marking the material out of which something is made (e.g. “a wall made from stones”), is among the other uses of the ablative case.
| از انگلیسی به فارسی ترجمه کردن Az Engelisi be Fârsi tarjome kardan To translate from English into Persian |
| از پدرم پرسیدم az pedar-am porsidam I asked my father |
| از مرگ می‌ترسد az marg mitarsad He fears death |
| از دوستی شنیدم az dust-i šenidam I heard from/through a friend |
| از نمایشگاه خریدمش az nemâyešgâh xaridam-aš I bought it from the exhibition |
| از ما تشکر کرد az mâ tašakkor kard He thanked us |
| می‌توانم از تلفن‌تان استفاده کنم؟ Mitavânam az telefon-etân estefâde konam? Can I use your phone? |
The ablative is the case of source and origin. Therefore, it can be used to indicate the cause of an action.
| از ترس می‌لرزیدند Az tars milarzidand They were trembling with fear |
| از ترس دروغ گفت Az tars doruǧ goft He lied out of fear |
Ablative of Pronouns
The ablative preposition can combine with bound personal pronouns and free personal pronouns. Bound pronouns are not normally used in written Persian and are typical of spoken Persian. The following table demonstrates bound ablative pronouns as they are written and pronounced in informal speech.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | ازم az-am |
ازمون az-amun |
| 2nd Person | ازت az-at |
ازتون az-atun |
| 3rd Person | ازش az-aš |
ازشون az-ašun |
The following table demonstratives free ablative pronouns.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | از من az man |
از ما az mâ |
| 2nd Person | از تو az to |
از شما az šomâ |
| 3rd Person | از او az u از آن az ân |
از آنها az ânhâ |
The free forms are strong and denote more emphasis.
| ازش پرسیدم az-aš porsidam I asked him/her |
| از او پرسیدم az u porsidam I asked him/her |
| ازت نمی‌ترسم az-at nemitarsam I’m not afraid of you |
Ablative of Prepositions
The ablative case governs certain prepositions including the following prepositions.
| پیش از piš az before |
| قبل از ǧabl az before |
| پس از pas az after |
| بعد از baød az after |