A predicate is one of the two main constituents of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb.
When a noun is part of the predicate, and it is modified by an attributive adjective, it takes the indefinite enclitic ی, whether it is singular or plural:
[tag resources Noun_1-37a].علی پسر خوبی است[/tag]
ali pesar-e xubi ast
“Ali is a good boy.”
[tag resources Noun_1-39a].آن فیلم، فیلم زیبایی بود[/tag]
ān film, film-e zibā-yi bud
“That movie was a beautiful one.”
[tag resources Noun_1-41a].دکتر اردشیری پزشک حاذقی است[/tag]
doctor ardeširi pezešk-e hāzeqi ast
“Dr. Ardeshiri is a skillful physician.”
[tag resources Noun_1-44a] .این‌ها کتاب‌های مفیدی است[/tag]
in hā ketāb hā-ye mofidi ast
“These are (some) useful books.”
[tag resources Noun_1-46a] .آن‌ها مردان بزرگی بودند[/tag]
ān hā mardān-e bozorgi budand
“They were (some) great men.”
NOTE: Remember that است ast ‘is’ may be contracted into a preceding long vowel. Therefore, a variation of some of the above sentences would be: [tag resources Noun_1-49a]علی پسر خوبیست[/tag], [tag resources Noun_1-50a]دکتر اردشیری پزشک حاذقیست[/tag], and [tag resources Noun_1-51a]این‌ها کتاب‌های مفیدیست[/tag].
Nouns can be repeated for emphasis, as in the French:
[tag resources Noun_1-52a].این‌ها گل‌هایی خوشبوست[/tag]
in hā, gol hāyi xošbust
“These flowers smell nice.”
[tag resources Noun_1-54a].آن کتاب، کتابی عالیست[/tag]
ān ketāb, ketābi ālist
“That book is a magnificent book.”
Since the indefinite enclitic ی is mobile, in the above sentences it may be placed at the end of the nouns or the adjectives:
[tag resources Noun_1-59a].علی پسری خوب است[/tag]
ali pesar-i xub ast
“Ali is a good boy.”
[tag resources Noun_1-61a].آن فیلم، فیلمی زیبا بود[/tag]
ān film, filmi zibā bud
“That movie was a beautiful one.”
[tag resources Noun_1-63a] .دکتر اردشیری پزشکی حاذق است[/tag]
doctor ardeširi pezeški hāzeq ast
“Dr. Ardeshiri is a skillful physician.”
[tag resources Noun_1-66a] .این‌ها کتاب‌هایی مفید است[/tag]
in hā ketāb hā-yi mofid ast
“These are (some) useful books.”
[tag resources Noun_1-68a] .آن‌ها مردانی بزرگ بودند[/tag]
ān hā mardāni bozorg budand
“They were (some) great men.”
There is no definite article (“the”) in Persian. In addition, the indefinite article (“a”) is not used with a generic noun (see example 2 below). Therefore a Persian noun is either absolute or non-specific. It is only within the syntax of a sentence that the noun is defined as being specific or non-specific:
[tag resources Noun_1-74a].مرد را دیدم[/tag]
mard rā didam
“I saw the man.”
[tag resources Noun_1-75a].من دانشجو هستم[/tag]
man dānešju hastam
“I am a student.”
The demonstratives این in ‘this’ and آن ān ‘that’ make a noun specific/definite:
[tag resources nounpred_01].این مرد را دیدم[/tag]
in mard rā didam
“I saw that (particular) man.”
[tag resources nouns-g-02].آن کتاب خوب است[/tag]
ān ketāb xub ast
“That book is good.”
In its absolute state, a noun is normally generic (which is usually pluralized in English) and singular. Compare and contrast between Persian and English in the following examples:
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