Persian Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Persian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Persian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Persian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Persian.

Prepositions - Persian
and و
above بالای
under زیر
before قبل از
after پس از
in front of در مقابل
behind پشت سر
far from دور از
near نزدیک
in در، طی
inside داخل
outside خارج از
with با
without بدون
about درباره
between میان
but اما
for برای
from از
to به

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Persian
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] من بدون کارد غذا می خورم
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] او در نزدیکی کلیسا زندگی می کند
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] او بلندتر از آن خانم است
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] او با سگ کوچکش آمد
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] ممکن است با من بیایید؟

Negation in Persian

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Persian
I understand you [affirmative form] منظور شما را می فهمم
I don't understand you [negation + verb] منظور شما را نمی فهمم
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] این کلمه صحیح نمی باشد
don't leave me [imperative negation] من را تنها نگذار
no problem [negation + noun] اشکالی ندارد

Negative Sentences - Persian
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] من فرانسه صحبت نمی کنم
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] او به آلمان سفر نکرد
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] او نمی تواند ما را ببیند
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] او نمی تواند شطرنج بازی کند؟
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ما دیر نخواهیم کرد

Questions in Persian

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Persian
how? چگونه؟
what? چه؟
who? که؟ چه کسی؟
why? چرا؟
where? کجا؟

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Persian
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] کجا زندگی می کنید؟
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] آیا او چینی صحبت می کند؟
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] قیمت این چقدر است؟
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] می توانم به شما کمک کنم؟
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] نام شما چیست؟

Adverbs in Persian

It's time to learn the adverbs in Persian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Persian
now اکنون
yesterday دیروز
today امروز
tonight امشب
tomorrow فردا
soon به زودی
quickly به سرعت
slowly به آهستگی
together با هم
very بسیار
almost تقریباً
always همیشه
usually معمولاً
sometimes گاهی
rarely بندرت
never هرگز

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Persian
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] حالا منظور من را می فهمید؟
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] من نیاز به کمک فوری دارم
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] او بسیار باهوش است.
I will always love you [verb + adverb] من همیشه شما را دوست خواهم داشت
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] آیا می توانیم با هم زبان آلمانی یاد بگیریم؟

Pronouns in Persian

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Persian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Persian
I من
you تو / شما
he او (مرد)
she او (زن)
we ما
they آنها

Object Pronouns - Persian
me من را
you تو / شما را
him او را (مرد)
her او را (زن)
us ما را
them آنها را

Possessive Pronouns - Persian
my من (مالکیت)
your تو / شما (مالکیت)
his او (مالکیت) (مرد)
her او (مالکیت) (زن)
our ما (مالکیت)
their آنها (مالکیت)

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Persian
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] من دوست شما هستم
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] شما خیلی سریع حرف می زنید
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] او سه سگ دارد
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] او می تواند آلمانی صحبت کند
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ما دیر نخواهیم آمد
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] آنها شیر و نان خریدند

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Persian
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ممکن است نام شما را بدانم؟
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] من به شما پول خواهم داد
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] او برایش یک نامه نوشت
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] آنها دیروز به ملاقات او رفتند
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] آیا می تواند به ما کمک کند؟
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] او به آنها غذا داد

Possessive Pronouns - Persian
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] نام من مایا است
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] برادر شما در اینجا زندگی می کند
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] مادرش برای ما آشپزی می کند
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] سرگرمی او خواندن کتاب است
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] رؤیای ما این است که از پاریس دیدن کنیم
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] خانه آنها دور نیست

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Persian
this is my house این خانه من است
that restaurant is far آن رستوران دور است
these apples are delicious این سیب ها خوشمزه اند
those stars are shiny این ستاره ها درخشان اند

I hope you learned a lot about the Persian grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!