The accusative case is a grammatical case that typically marks the direct object of a verb. The direct object is the noun or noun phrase that is affected by the action of a verb. For example: “I saw Ali”, “I saw his brother”.
Accusative case in Persian
The postposition را (“râ”) marks the accusative case and indicates the object of the verb. It is typically, the direct object. Since را is a postposition, it comes after the noun or noun phrase it governs.
| برادرش را دیدم barâdar-aš râ didam I saw his brother |
| کلید اتاقم را گم کرده‌ام Kelid-e otâǧ-am râ gom kardeam I have lost my room key |
| پیازها را با یک چاقوی تیز خرد کنید piyâzhâ râ bâ yek čâǧu-ye tiz xord konid Chop the onions with a sharp knife |
| دارد ماشین جدیدش را می‌شوید Dârad mâšin-e jadid-aš râ mišuyad He is washing his new car |
Accusative pronouns
Personal pronouns have free and bound forms. Bound personal pronouns are used as they are in the accusative case.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | ــَـ م am |
ــِـ مان emân |
| Second Person | ــَـ ت at |
ــِـ تان etân |
| Third Person | ــَـ ش aš |
ــِـ شان ešân |
The accusative proposition is added to free personal pronouns and forms accusative pronouns.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | من را man râ |
ما را mâ râ |
| Second Person | تو را to râ |
شما را šomâ râ |
| Third Person | او را u râ آن را ân râ |
آنها را ânhâ râ |
The free forms are strong and denote more emphasis.
| دیدمش didam-aš |
I saw him/her/it |
| او را دیدم u râ didam |
I saw him/her |
| آن را دیدم ân râ didam |
I saw it |
Oblique case
In literary Persian, the accusative case can mark objects that are normally expressed with the dative and ablative cases. This function of accusative case is similar to the oblique case, which is found in some languages.
| Dative or Ablative | Accusative Equivalent |
|---|---|
| به او گفتم be u goftam I told him/her |
او را گفتم u râ goftam I told him/her |
| از او پرسیدم az u porsidam I asked him/her |
او را پرسیدم u râ porsidam I asked him/her |
Definite nouns
The accusative case can make generic nouns specific and identifiable.
| کتاب خریدم ketâb xaridam I bought books (What I bought was "book" and not "pen", for example) |
| کتاب را خریدم ketâb râ xaridam I bought the book (A specific "book" that is identifiable to the listener) |
| کتابها را خریدم ketâb râ xaridam I bought the books (Specific "books" that are identifiable to the listener) |