A noun phrase consists of a noun as the “head” and zero or more words that modify it. For example, the noun phrase “a house” consists of “house” as the head and the indefinite article “a” as a modifier. The phrase “a big house”, has two modifiers: “a” and “big”. A noun phrase can consist of only a noun. For example, “house” is a noun phrase with no modifiers.
It is important to know about the concept of noun phrase because in Persian, certain grammatical elements are placed in a different order than in English. For example, the indefinite article “-i” typically occurs at the end of a noun phrase whereas in English, it occurs at the beginning. In the examples, the head is wrapped in square brackets [].
- کتابی
[ketâb]-i
a [book] - کتاب خوبی
[ketâb]-e xub-i
a good [book] - کتاب خوب و آموزندهای
[ketâb]-e xub o âmuzande-i
a good and illuminating [book]
Premodifiers
Premodifiers are modifiers that occur before the head. In Persian. the premodifiers of a noun phrase are as follows:
- Demonstrative adjectives
- Indefinite adjectives
- Interrogative adjectives
- Exclamatory adjectives
- Superlative adjectives
- Cardinal numerals
- Superlative numerals
- Classifiers and Massifiers
Linguistically, adjectives and determiners should be differentiated as distinct parts of speech. For example, “demonstrative determiner” is a more accurate term than the traditional term “demonstrative adjective”. However, for the sake of familiarity, the traditional terms will be used here.
Demonstrative Adjectives
- این درخت
in [deraxt]
This [tree] - آن درخت
ân [deraxt]
That [tree] - همین درخت
hamin [deraxt]
This very [tree] - چونین درختی
čonin [deraxt] i
Such a [tree]
Indefinite Adjectives
- همهی درختها
hame ye [deraxthâ]
All [trees] - هر درختی
har [deraxt] i
Any [tree] - هر درخت
har [deraxt]
Each [tree] - چند درخت
čand [deraxt]
A few [trees] - هیچ درختی
hič [deraxt] i
No [trees]
Interrogative Adjectives
- کدام درخت
kodâm [deraxt]
Which [tree]? - چند تا درخت
čand tâ [deraxt]
How many [trees]?
Exclamatory Adjectives
- چه درخت بلندی
če [deraxt] e boland i
What a tall [tree]! - عجب درختی
ajab [deraxt] i
What a tree!
Superlative Adjectives
- بلندترین درخت
bolandtarin [deraxt]
The tallest [tree] - کوتاهترین درخت
kutâhtarin [deraxt]
The shortest [tree]
Superlative Numerals
- چهارمین درخت
čahâromin [deraxt]
The fourth [tree] - آخرین درخت
âxarin [deraxt]
The last [tree]
Cardinal Numerals
- دو تا درخت
do tâ [deraxt]
Two [trees] - هزار تا درخت
hezâr tâ [deraxt]
A thousand [trees]
Classifiers And Massifiers
- دو تا درخت
do tâ [deraxt]
Two [trees] - دو بسته کود
do baste [kud]
Two packages of [fertilizer]
Postmodifiers
Postmodifiers are modifiers that occur after the head. The postmodifiers of a noun phrase in Persian are as follows:
- Indefinite article
- Attributive adjectives
- Possessive adjectives
- Ordinal numerals
- Comparative adjectives
- Noun complements
Indefinite Article
- درختی
[deraxt] i
A [tree] - درخت بلندی
[deraxt] e boland i
Tall [tree]
Attributive Adjectives
- درخت بلند
[deraxt] e boland
Tall [tree] - درخت بلند کهنسال
[deraxt] e boland e kohansâl
Tall old [tree]
Possessive Adjectives
- درختم
[deraxt] am
My [tree] - درخت قشنگم
[deraxt] e ǧašang am
My beautiful [tree]
Ordinal Numerals
- درخت چهارم
[deraxt] e čahârom
The fourth [tree] - درخت آخر
[deraxt] e âxar
The last [tree]
Comparative Adjectives
- درخت بلندتر
[deraxt] e bolandtar
Taller [tree] - درختی بلندتر
[deraxt] i bolandtar
A taller [tree]
Noun Complements
- درخت باغ
[deraxt] e bâǧ
The [tree] of the garden - درخت باغ پدربزرگ
[deraxt] e bâǧ e pedarbozorg
The [tree] of the grandfather’s garden