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Adjectives & Word Order
A1·BeginnerAdjectives come after the noun, joined by ezafe
Lesson Overview
12 exercises · Level 2
Grammar Explanation
Adjectives & Word Order
English says "a red car". Persian says "car-of red". The adjective comes after the noun and is linked with ezafe.
The Pattern
noun + -e + adjective
| Phonetic | Literal | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| gol-e ghashang | flower-of pretty | beautiful flower |
| maashin-e ghermez | car-of red | red car |
| ghazaa-ye khoshmaze | food-of tasty | delicious food |
Key Points
- The link is the same ezafe you already know: -e, or -ye after a vowel.
- Multiple adjectives each take their own ezafe: "maashin-e ghermez-e bozorg" = the big red car.
- When the adjective is the whole point of the sentence (a predicate), there is no ezafe: "maashin ghermez-e" = the car is red. Compare "maashin-e ghermez" = the red car.
- Adjectives never change for number or gender: "gol-haa-ye ghashang" = beautiful flowers.
Common Adjectives
| Phonetic | Translation |
|---|---|
| bozorg | big |
| koochik | small |
| khoob | good |
| bad | bad |
| jaded | new |
| ghadimi | old |
| ghashang | beautiful |
| khoshmaze | delicious |
Saying a/an
Ezafe links a noun to an adjective; it does not mean "the". To make a phrase explicitly indefinite, use ye/yek before it or -i after the adjective: ye ketaab-e khoob / ketaab-e khoobi (a good book), ye khoone-ye koochik / khoone-ye koochiki (a small house).