- What is the accusative case?
- How is it marked?
- How are personal pronouns declined in this case?
- What is the effect of accusative case on generic nouns?
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-ash râ didam I saw his brother |
| کلید اتاقم را گم کرده‌ام Kelid-e otâgh-am râ gom kardeam I have lost my room key |
| پیازها را با یک چاقوی تیز خرد کنید piyâzhâ râ bâ yek châghu-ye tiz khord konid Chop the onions with a sharp knife |
| دارد ماشین جدیدش را می‌شوید Dârad mâshin-e jadid-ash râ mishuyad 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | ــَـ م am |
ــِـ مان emân |
| 2nd Person | ــَـ ت at |
ــِـ تان etân |
| 3rd Person | ــَـ ش ash |
ــِـ شان eshân |
The accusative proposition is added to free personal pronouns and forms accusative pronouns.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | من را man râ |
ما را mâ râ |
| 2nd Person | تو را to râ |
شما را shomâ râ |
| 3rd Person | او را u râ آن را ân râ |
آنها را ânhâ râ |
The free forms are strong and denote more emphasis.
- دیدمش
didam-ash
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 kharidam I bought books (What I bought was "book" and not "pen", for example) |
| کتاب را خریدم ketâb râ kharidam I bought the book (A specific "book" that is identifiable to the listener) |
| کتابها را خریدم ketâb râ kharidam I bought the books (Specific "books" that are identifiable to the listener) |