Ezāfe 1
   

Persian forms the [tag resources Ezafe-093]ezāfe[/tag] اضافه construction to connect words. We use it primarily in three situations:

  • Possession: to connect the possessed noun with its owner
  • Adjectival phrases: to modify nouns
  • Naming: to connect people and titles and places, days, and seasons and their names.

In all three cases, two words are connected using a short -e sound. The primary noun comes first and is followed by the word modifying it with the short -e connecting the two. When a word ends in a consonant, the ezāfe is pronounced but not written; however, we can mark it using the diacritical mark kesre کسره, which becomes the kesre-ye ezāfe کسرهٔ اضافه.

This feature is best explained with examples.

Possession:

My book ketāb-e man

[tag resources ezafe1_01]کتاب من[/tag]
Your pen qalam-e to

[tag resources ezafe1_02]قلمِ تو[/tag]
Bahrām’s mother mādar-e barām

[tag resources ezafe1_03] مادرِ بهرام[/tag]
Sara’s father pedar-e sārā

[tag resources ezafe1_04] پدرِ سارا[/tag]
The professor’s notebook daftar-e ostād

[tag resources ezafe1_05]دفتر استاد[/tag]

Ownership can be expressed using a pronoun, a proper name, or a noun.

Adjectives:

[tag resources ezafe1_06]فیلمِ خوب[/tag]
film-e xub
“The good movie”

[tag resources ezafe1_07]مردِ خوشحال[/tag]
mard-e xošhāl
“The happy man”

[tag resources ezafe1_08]فیلمسازِ معروف[/tag]
filmsāz-e ma’ruf
“The famous director”

[tag resources ezafe1_09]کلاسِ مهم[/tag]
kelās-e mohem
“The important class”

[tag resources ezafe1_10]سالِ دیگر[/tag]
sāl-e digar
“Next year”

Naming:

[tag resources ezafe1_11]خیابانِ فردوسی[/tag]
xiyābān-e ferdosi
“Ferdowsi Street”

[tag resources ezafe1_12]دانشگاهِ تگزاس[/tag]
dānešgah-e tegzās
“The University of Texas”

[tag resources ezafe1_13]فصل بهار[/tag]
fasl-e bahār
“The Spring Season”

[tag resources ezafe1_14]خانم محمودی[/tag]
xānum-e mahmudi
“Ms. Mahmudi”

[tag resources ezafe1_15]شهر تهران[/tag]
šahr-e tehrān
“The city of Tehran”

[tag resources ezafe1_16]کشور ایران[/tag]
kešvar-e irān
“The country of Iran”

When ezāfe is added to a word that ends in a vowel, the short -e sound becomes a yeh sound. In such cases, the ezāfe is always pronounced and usually written.

If a word ends in a long vowel, the letter yeh is written to connect it with its modifier:

ا

[tag resources ezafe1_17]آقای افشار[/tag]
āqāy-e afšār
“Mr. Afshar”

[tag resources ezafe1_18]دانشجوی خوب[/tag]
dānešjoy-e xub
“The good student”

[tag resources ezafe1_19]پای من[/tag]
pāy-e man
“My foot/leg”

This rule applies to all three cases, possession, adjective, and naming.

If a word ends in the short vowel designated by the heh do-cheshm (ه), then ezāfe may be marked in two ways.

Most commonly, a hamze ء is added on top of the final heh:

[tag resources ezafe1_20]خانهٔ ما[/tag]
xāne-ye mā
“Our house”

[tag resources ezafe1_21]هفتهٔ دیگر[/tag]
hafte-ye digar
“Next week”

[tag resources ezafe1_22]امثلهٔ خوب[/tag]
amsale-ye xub
“The good examples”

Occasionally, you will find the letter yeh in place of the hamze:

ا

[tag resources ezafe1_23]خانه‌ی ما[/tag]
xāne-ye mā
“Our house”

[tag resources ezafe1_24]هفته‌ی دیگر[/tag]
hafte-ye digar
“Next week”

[tag resources ezafe1_25]امثله‌ی خوب[/tag]
amsale-ye xub
“The good examples”

Although the ezāfe is usually marked on words that end in vowels, texts in certain printed sources—like newspapers— often neglect this convention.