Old Persian had three grammatical numbers: singular, dual and plural. Since Middle Persian, there is no dual form. The plural form includes dual and indicates “more than one”. The formation of plural can be divided into three cases:

Plural Suffix -hâ

Nouns are normally pluralized with the suffix “-hâ”:

Singular Plural
پسر
⟨pesar⟩
boy; son
پسرها
⟨pesarhâ⟩
boys; sons
دختر
⟨doxtar⟩
girl; daughter
دخترها
⟨doxtarhâ⟩
girls; daughters
درخت
⟨deraxt⟩
tree
درختها
⟨deraxthâ⟩
trees
کتاب
⟨ketâb⟩
book
کتابها
⟨ketâbhâ⟩
books
سیب
⟨sib⟩
apple
سیبها
⟨sibhâ⟩
apples

Plural Suffix -ân

Historically, “-ân” was the primary suffix for giving a plural form to words. In Modern Persian, this suffix is typically used to pluralize animate nouns.

Singular Plural
مرد
⟨mard⟩
man
مردان
⟨mardân⟩
men
زن
⟨zan⟩
woman
زنان
⟨zanân⟩
women
پسر
⟨pesar⟩
boy; son
پسران
⟨pesarân⟩
boys; sons
دختر
⟨doxtar⟩
girl; daughter
دختران
⟨doxtarân⟩
girls; daughters
درخت
⟨deraxt⟩
tree
درختان
⟨deraxtân⟩
trees

The plural Suffix “-ân” is also seen in certain inanimate plurals. This reflects the historical role of “-ân” as a general plural suffix:

Singular Plural
سخن
⟨soxan⟩
speech, remark
سخنان
⟨soxanân⟩
speeches, remarks

Epenthesis in Plural Suffix -ân

Since the plural suffix “-ân” begins with a vowel, there are cases of vowel hiatus and epenthesis when it is added to nouns ending in a vowel.

Nouns Ending in -â, -i, -u

When a singular noun ends in the vowels “â, i, u”, the epenthetic consonant “-y” is added between the singular noun and the plural suffix “-ân”:

Singular Plural
دانا
⟨dânâ⟩
wise
دانایان
⟨dânâyân⟩
the wise
ایرانی
⟨Irâni⟩
Iranian
ایرانیان
⟨Irâniyân⟩
Iranians
دانشجو
⟨dânešju⟩
student
دانشجویان
⟨dânešjuyân⟩
students

In a few nouns that end in “u”, the epenthetic consonant is “-v”. Additionally, “u” changes to “o”, which reflects the older form of the noun:

Singular Plural
بازو
⟨bâzu⟩
arm
بازوان
⟨bâzovân⟩
arms
گیسو
⟨gisu⟩
plait, braid
گیسوان
⟨gisovân⟩
plaits, braids

In a few nouns that end in “â”, the consonant “k” appears between “â” and the plural suffix. This consonant is not an epenthetic consonant. It belongs to the older form of the noun. In the following example, “niyâk” is the older form of “niyâ”, which has been preserved in the plural form “niyâkân”.

Singular Plural
نیا
⟨niyâ⟩
ancestor
نیاکان
⟨niyâkân⟩
ancestors

Nouns Ending in -ow

When a singular noun ends in the diphthong “ow”, it changes to “av” in the plural form. This is related to the older form of the noun preserved in the plural form. The cluster /av/ occurring at word final became /aw/ in early New Persian. The diphthong /aw/ has further transformed into /ow/ in Modern Persian.

Singular Plural
خسرو
⟨xosrow
king
خسروان
⟨xosravân⟩
kings

There is a tendency to pronounce such plurals as “-ovân” instead of “-avân”. However, strictly speaking, it is mispronunciation.

Singular Plural
پیرو
⟨peyrow
disciple, follower
پیروان
⟨peyravân⟩ / (peyrovân)
disciples, followers

Nouns Ending in -e

When a singular noun ends in “e”, the consonant “g” appears before the plural suffix. In many grammar references, this “g” is considered to be an epenthetic consonant but this is not the case. The consonant “g” belongs to the older form of the word. The cluster /ag/ occurring at word final became /a/ in early New Persian. It has further transformed into /e/ in modern pronunciation of Persian. In the following example, “setârag” is the older form of “setâre”, which can be deduced from the plural form “setâregân”.

Singular Plural
ستاره
⟨setâre⟩
star
ستارگان
⟨setâregân⟩
stars
پرنده
⟨parande⟩
bird
پرندگان
⟨parandegân⟩
birds
خواننده
⟨xwânande⟩
singer
خوانندگان
⟨xwânandegân⟩
singers

Arabic Plurals

Many Arabic loanwords have brought their plural form into written Persian as well. Nevertheless, the suffix “-hâ” can be used to pluralize every noun. For example, کتاب (“ketâb”, book) is an Arabic loanword. Its plural form is کتب (“kotob”) in Arabic, which is sometimes used in written Persian too. However, کتاب is normally pluralized as کتابها (“ketâbhâ”). Arabic plurals are not used in spoken Persian and can be entirely avoided in written Persian as well. In fact, their use has greatly decreased. This is somewhat comparable to Latin plurals found in English. The plural form of “forum” is “fora” but it can be avoided in favor of “forums”.

There are Arabic plurals that have found an extended meaning in Persian. For example, انتخابات means “elections” whereas its singular form انتخاب means “choice”. Therefore, the plural form انتخابها means “choices” rather than “elections”. Another example is شرایط which means “conditions”; its singular form شریطه is not used in Persian and therefore, it cannot be pluralized as شریطه‌ها.

Arabic Duals

A few Arabic dual forms exist in written Persian, particularly in legal language. The dual suffix is not productive and dual forms can be alternatively expressed with the Persian number دو (“do”; two).

Singular Dual Alternative Duals
طرف
⟨taraf⟩
side
طرفین
⟨tarafeyn⟩
both sides
دو طرف
⟨do taraf⟩
هر دو طرف
⟨har do taraf⟩
زوج
⟨zowj⟩
husband (legal term)
زوجین
⟨zowjeyn⟩
husband and wife
دو زوج
⟨do zowj⟩
هر دو زوج
⟨har do zowj⟩

Practice Examples

Animate nouns can be pluralized in two ways, mainly human beings but also animals and plants:

How to pluralize nouns and indicate their gender as well:

Plural forms have been marked in the following texts: