Determiners
   

A clitic is a character or set of characters that is attached to the end of another word to make an enclitic.  Generally speaking, the Persian determiner, i.e., the indefinite enclitic, ی , corresponds with the English ‘a, an, some,’ and ‘several’. It is also a counterpart to یک ‘one’ in Persian. Thus یک کتاب yek ketāb and کتابی ketābi both mean the same: ‘one book, a book.’

In addition to nouns, the indefinite ی only concerns the adjectival construction (and not the possessive construction).

In the plural this ی means ‘some, several’ indefinite things; that is, non-specific plural nouns: کتاب‌هایی means ‘some books, several books.’

[tag resources indef-b-01].از آنجا کتاب هایی خوب خریدیم[/tag]
az ānjā ketāb hāyi xub xaridim
“We bought (some) good books there.”

Also, this enclitic ی is mobile; it can be moved and placed either at the end of the noun or the adjective:

Singular:

an expensive book ketābi gerān
ketāb-e gerāni		 [tag resources indef-c-01]کتابی گران[/tag]
[tag resources indef-c-02]کتاب گرانی[/tag]
a kind mother mādari mehr(a)bān
mādar-e mehr(a)bāni		 [tag resources indef-c-03]مادری مهربان[/tag]
[tag resources indef-c-04]مادر مهربانی[/tag]

Plural:

some expensive books ketāb hā-yi gerān
ketāb hā-ye gerāni		 [tag resources indef-c-05]کتاب‌هایی گران[/tag]
[tag resources indef-c-06]کتاب‌های گرانی[/tag]
some/several kind mothers mādar hā-yi mehrbān
mādar hā-ye mehrbāni		 [tag resources indef-c-07]مادرهایی مهربان[/tag]
[tag resources indef-c-08]مادرهای مهربانی[/tag]

Normally, after a final long /ā/ and long /ū/ an euphonic ی intervenes, and after a long /ī/ and the silent /h/, an alef intervenes (although still the یی form is the best choice); thus:

[tag resources indef-d-01]ناخدای ماهری[/tag]
nāxodā-ye māheri
[tag resources indef-d-02]ناخدایی ماهر[/tag]
nāxodā-yi māher
‘a skilled ship captain’

[tag resources indef-d-03]دانشجوی زرنگی[/tag]
dānešju-ye zerangi
[tag resources indef-d-04]دانشجویی زرنگ[/tag]
dānešju-yi zerang
‘a hard-working student’

[tag resources indef-d-05]صندلی شکسته‌ای[/tag]
sandali-ye šekaste-yi
[tag resources indef-d-06]صندلی‌ای شکسته[/tag]
sandali-yi šekaste
‘a broken chair’

[tag resources indef-d-07]جامهٔ بنفشی[/tag]
jāme-ye banafši
[tag resources indef-d-08] جامه ای بنفش[/tag]
jāme-yi banafš
‘a violet shirt/garment’