Possession is normally expressed by placing bound personal pronouns at the end of noun phrases.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| م -am my |
مان -emân our; my (formal) |
| ت -at your (informal) |
تان -etân your |
| ش -aš his, her, its |
شان -ešân their; his, her (formal) |
If the preceding word ends in a long vowel, the epenthetic consonant “-y-” appears between the word and the possessive adjectives.
Examples
| پدرم pedar-am My father |
| مادرم دیشب زنگ زد mâdar-am dišab zang zad My mother phoned last night |
| آن پسر برادرش است ân pesar barâdar-aš ast That boy is his brother |
| بلیطم کجاست؟ belit-am kojâ'st? Where is my ticket? |
| کفشهایت را بپوش Kafšhâ-yat râ bepuš Put your shoes on! |
| دستهایت را بشور Dasthâ-yat râ bešur Wash your hands |
| دستش شکست Dast-aš šekast He broke his arm |
| به ساعتش نگاه کرد Be sâat-aš negâh kard She looked at her watch |
In the above examples, the noun phrase consists of a bare noun. The possessive adjective comes after the last element of the noun phrase which is the noun itself, in this case.
| دوست خوبم dust-e xub-am My good friend |
| سگ کوچکش را دوست دارد Sag-e kučak-aš râ dust dârad She loves her little dog |
| کتاب دوستم Ketâb-e dust-am My friend's book |
| کلید اتاقم را گم کرده‌ام Kelid-e otâǧ-am râ gom kardeam I have lost my room key |
In the above examples, the noun phrase consists of a noun and an adjective (“good friend”; “little dog”) or a complement (“friend's book”; “room key”). The possessive adjective comes after the last element of the noun phrase whereas in English, it comes before the first element.
Emphatic form
Possession can also be expressed using genitive case and free personal pronouns. This structure is mainly used for emphasis:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| -e man my |
-e mâ our |
| -e to your (informal) |
-e šomâ your |
| -e u his, her, its |
-e išân their; his, her (formal) |
| -e ân his, her, its |
-e ânhâ their |
Examples
| به نظرم be nazar-am In my opinion |
| به نظر من be nazar-e man In my opinion (emphatic) |
| جای من است Jâ-ye man ast That’s my seat |
| این خانه‌ی ماست In xâne-ye mâ’st This is our house |
| تقصیر تو نیست Taǧsir-e to nist It’s not your fault |
| انگلیسی او بهتر از من است Engelisi-ye u behtar az man ast His English is better than mine |
| دیگر دوست من نیستی Digar dust-e man nisti You are not my friend anymore |