Classifiers indicate the semantic class of a noun. The Persian word for “classifier” is “counting unit” because classifiers are typically used when we deal with the quantity of a noun. In Persian, “NUMBER NOUN” is expressed as “NUMBER CLASSIFIER NOUN”. For example, “two airplanes” is expressed as “two FARVAND airplanes”, where “farvand” is the classifier for airplanes. This classifier cannot be used for other classes of nouns. That is, you cannot use “farvand” for human beings and say “two FARVAND people” or use it for cars and say “two FARVAND cars”. Classifiers are typical of East Asian languages like Chinese and Japanese. It is uncommon in Indo-European languages. English expressions like “two bars of chocolate” and “three loaves of bread” approximate to the concept of classifiers.

Generic Classifiers

Classifiers are always used in spoken Persian. In written Persian, it is sometimes possible to omit classifiers and say for example, “I have two sons” but in spoken Persian, it is always “I have two CLASSIFIER sons”. There are two generic classifiers: تا ⟨tâ⟩ and دانه ⟨dâne⟩, which is pronounced دونه ⟨dune⟩ in colloquial speech. تا is used when the quantity is “more than one” and دانه is used when the quantity is “one”. In the following examples, classifiers are omitted in written Persian but this does not mean that they are always optional in the written language.

Written Persian Spoken Persian
یک پسر دارد
⟨yek pesar dârad⟩
She has a son
یک دانه پسر دارد
⟨yek dâne pesar dârad⟩

In colloquial speech:
یه دونه پسر داره
⟨ye dune pesar dâre⟩
دو پسر دارد
⟨do pesar dârad⟩
She has two sons
دو تا پسر دارد
⟨do tâ pesar dârad⟩

In colloquial speech:
دو تا پسر داره
⟨do tâ pesar dâre⟩

English words like “bar” in “two bars of chocolate” and “loaf” in “three loaves of bread” are called “measure words”. Classifiers are not equal to measure words. In the following examples, both a measure word (“tekke”: piece) and a classifier are used:

سه تا تکه پیتزا خوردم
⟨se tâ tekke pitzâ xordam⟩
I ate three pieces of pizza
دو تا قطره اشک از گونه‌هایش چکید
⟨do tâ ǧatre ašk az gunehâ-yaš čekid⟩
Two drops of tears rolled down her cheeks

The following example demonstrates classifiers in interrogative sentences. In answer, English simply says “three” but in Persian, it is “three CLASSIFIER”:

چند تا پسر دارد؟
⟨Čand tâ pesar dârad?⟩
How many sons does she have?
سه تا
⟨Se tâ⟩
Three

List of Classifiers

The following table lists the most important classifiers and the typical classes of nouns they classify. Many of these classifiers are mainly used in written Persian. For example, اصله is not used for classifying “trees” in spoken Persian; “tâ” and “dâne” (“dune”) generally replace the more specific classifiers.

Classifier Class
اصله
asle
  • trees
باب
bâb
  • houses
  • stores
برگ
barg
  • paper
  • tissue paper
پارچه
pârče
  • village
  • utensils of the same pattern e.g. plates, bowls, cups
تار
târ
  • hair
تخته
taxte
  • carpets, rugs
  • blankets
تن
tan
  • human beings
جام
jâm
  • mirror
  • glass
  • chandelier
جفت
joft
  • pairs e.g. shoes, socks, gloves
جلد
jeld
  • books
حبه
habbe
  • pill
  • sugar cube
  • [each bulb of] grape
  • [a clove of] garlic
حلقه
halǧe
  • ring
  • film
  • tire
  • well
خوشه
xuše
  • bunch e.g. grape, date, wheat
دانه
dâne
  • each egg of e.g. chicken, snake
  • each seed of e.g. pomegranate
  • each grain of e.g. rice, sugar, salt
دست
dast
  • set of furniture
  • set of eating utensils: plate, fork, etc.
  • set of clothes
  • set of bed/sleep items
دستگاه
dastgâh
  • car
  • apartment
  • electronic device
دهنه
dahane
  • store
رأس
raøs
  • cow
  • sheep
رشته
rešte
  • necklace
  • bracelet
  • rope
  • qanat
شاخه
šâxe
  • flower
  • metal beam
شعله
šoøle
  • lamp
  • candle
عراده
arrâde
  • cannon
  • tank
فروند
farvand
  • aircraft e.g. airplane, helicopter, jet
  • watercraft e.g. ship
فقره
faǧare
  • check, bank draft
  • driving license
قالب
ǧâleb
  • soap
  • butter
  • cheese
قبضه
ǧabze
  • gun
  • knife as weapon
قرص
ǧors
  • bread
قطعه
ǧatøe
  • photo
  • bird
  • fish
  • poem
قلاده
ǧallâde
  • dog
  • cat
  • wolf
  • lion
کلاف
kalâf
  • yarn
  • thread
  • reinforcing bar
  • wire
گلوله
golule
  • garlic
لنگه
lenge
  • each one of a pair e.g. shoes, socks, gloves
  • each leaf of a door
نخ
nax
  • cigarette
نسخه
nosxe
  • newspaper
  • magazine
نفر
nafar
  • human being
  • camel
  • palm tree
واحد
vâhed
  • unit e.g. apartment, building
  • dose e.g. injection

In written Persian, عدد ⟨adad⟩ is usually used in place of the specific classifier of a noun. For instance, دستگاه is the classifier for “television” but instead of یک دستگاه تلویزیون ⟨yek dastgâh televiziyon⟩, it is possible to write یک عدد تلویزیون ⟨yek adad televiziyon⟩. It is also possible to write یک دانه تلویزیون ⟨yek dâne televiziyon⟩ but عدد is preferred to تا and دانه in the written language.

List of Massifiers

A massifier is a kind of classifier that results in a mass of a noun rather than a single or discrete unit. For example, the classifier for cigarettes is نخ ⟨nax⟩ but it is normally sold in packs. Therefore, بسته in یک بسته سیگار (a pack of cigarettes) is a massifier and not a classifier.

Massifier Meaning
بار
bâr
  • an amount that a vehicle or an animal can carry (load)
بسته
baste
  • an amount that a pack can hold (pack, packet)
بطری
botri
  • an amount that a bottle can hold (bottle)
بغل
baǧal
  • an amount that both arms can hold (armful)
پرس
pors
  • an amount of food for one person (portion)
پیمانه
peymâne
  • an amount that a cup can hold (cupful, cup)
توپ
tup
  • typically, 100 meters of cloth (synonym of طاقه)
دسته
daste
  • a group of birds, whales, etc.; a bunch of picked flowers, herbs, etc.
دوجین
dojin
  • dozen
سیخ
six
  • an amount cooked on a stick/skewer: kabob, chicken
شانه
šâne
  • a pack of eggs (usually 30 eggs), honeycomb
شیشه
šiše
  • an amount that glass containers like jars can hold
طاقه
tâǧe
  • 100 meters of cloth (synonym of توپ)
فال
fâl
  • 10 nuts of walnut
قواره
ǧavâre
  • an amount of cloth that is enough for making a piece of clothing e.g. “one ǧavâre of shirt” is enough for making a shirt and “one ǧavâre of suit” is enough for making a whole suit
  • an amount of land that is enough for making a house
کیسه
kise
  • an amount that a bag can hold (bag)
گله
galle
  • a group of animals: sheep, cows, deer, wolves
مشت
mošt
  • an amount that you can hold in your hand (fistful)
نیم‌جین
nimjin
  • half-dozen