There are numerous counting words in Persian, such as جلد jeld ‘volume’ (for books, etc.), رأس ra’s ‘head’ (for animals), دستگاه dastgāh ‘apparatus; machine’ (for machines of any sort, in addition to buildings), and many more.

In colloquial Persian, however, there is the generic counting word تا (originally means ‘one of a pair’), which can replace any of the other counting words. However, while all counting words are used with all numbers, including yek ‘one’, تا is never used with yek.

Examples:

a man	yek mard	[tag resources countingwords_01]یک مرد[/tag]
two men	dó mard (formal)	[tag resources countingwords_02]دو مرد[/tag]
	dó tā mard (colloquial)	[tag resources countingwords_03]دو تا مرد[/tag]
three men	sé mard (formal)	[tag resources countingwords_04]سه مرد[/tag]
	sé tā mard (colloquial)	[tag resources countingwords_05]سه تا مرد[/tag]

A counting word as دانه dāne ‘grain’ is used formally only with small particles, such as grains of legumes, etc.; but in colloquial dialect it is used interchangeably with تا as a generic counting word, especially with a single item. As such, unlike تا, دانه (colloquial دونه) is used with یک (colloquial یه) as well:

[tag resources countingwords_06]یه دونه سیب[/tag]
ye dune sib (colloquial)
‘an apple’

[tag resources counting_01]یه دونه گوسفند[/tag]
ye dune gusfand
‘a sheep’

Usually with more than one item these two generic counting words are combined in the colloquial dialect:

[tag resources countingwords_08]دو تا دونه سیب[/tag]
do tā dune sib
‘two apples’ (literally, “two single units of apple”).

Numbers are invariably followed by a singular noun: یک کتاب yek ketāb ‘a/one book,’ ده کتاب dah ketāb ‘ten books,’ etc. In other words, the noun کتاب is invariably in singular.

Some of the counting words in Persian are as follows:

Counting Word	Example
[tag resources countingwords_09]تخته[/tag] taxte board (for carpets, rugs, etc.)	[tag resources counting_02]یک تخته فرش[/tag] yek taxte farš a (single count of) carpet
[tag resources countingwords_11]جلد[/tag] jeld volume, a bound item (for books, etc.)	[tag resources countingwords_12]سه جلد کتاب[/tag] sé jeld ketāb three volumes of books
[tag resources countingwords_13]دانه[/tag] dāne grain (for small items, especially a single one)	[tag resources countingwords_14]یک دانه برنج[/tag] yek dāne berenj a single grain of rice
[tag resources countingwords_15]دستگاه[/tag] dastgāh apparatus (for machines of any sort and buildings)	[tag resources countingwords_16]دو دستگاه اتومبیل[/tag] dó dastgāh otomobil two cars [tag resources countingwords_17]سه دستگاه آپارتمان[/tag] sé dastgāh āpārtemān three apartments
[tag resources countingwords_18]رأس[/tag] ras head (for almost all stock animals)	[tag resources countingwords_19]پنج رأس گوسفند[/tag] panj ras gusfand five (heads of) sheep
[tag resources countingwords_20]فروند[/tag] farvand (for ships, airplanes and spaceships)	[tag resources countingwords_21]یک فروند هواپیما[/tag] yek farvand havāpeymā an airplane
[tag resources countingwords_22]قالب[/tag] qāleb bar, mold (for soap, butter, cheese, etc.)	[tag resources countingwords_23]دو قالب صابون[/tag] dó qāleb-e sābun two bars of soap
[tag resources countingwords_24]نفر[/tag] nafar person, individual (for people and camels)	[tag resources countingwords_25]چهار نفر ایتالیایی[/tag] cahār nafar itāliyāyi four Italians [tag resources countingwords_26]دو نفر می آیند[/tag] dó nafar mi āyand two individuals come, are coming, will come