Prepositional Phrases
   

In addition to single prepositions, there are many prepositional phrases in Persian.  They may be categorized in two groups.

The first group is prepositional phrases which consist of a noun or an adverb preceded by a preposition and followed by the ezāfe [-e] (in English, ‘of,’ as in ‘in front of’).  The prepositions most commonly used are dar ‘in, at’ and bar ‘(up)on.’

instead of dar bāre-ye [tag resources prepphrases_01]دربارهٔ[/tag]
above, on the top of dar bālyā-e [tag resources prepphrases_02]دربالای[/tag]
between, among, in the middle of dar beyn-e [tag resources prepphrases_03]دربین[/tag]
behind, beyond, on the back of dar pas-e [tag resources prepphrases_04]درپس[/tag]
behind, beyond, on the back of dar pošt-e [tag resources prepphrases_05]درپشت[/tag]
beside, next to dar pahlu-ye [tag resources prepphrases_06]درپهلوی[/tag]
in front of, before dar piš-e [tag resources prepphrases_07]درپیش[/tag]
inside of dar tu-ye [tag resources prepphrases_08]درتوی[/tag]
in front of, before dar jelow-(y)e [tag resources prepphrases_09] (درجلو(ی[/tag]
around, about dar dowr-e [tag resources prepphrases_10]دردُور[/tag]
under, underneath dar zir-e [tag resources prepphrases_11]درزیر[/tag]
instead of dar ‛avaz-e [tag resources prepphrases_12]درعوض[/tag]
between, among, in the middle of dar miyān-e [tag resources prepphrases_13]درمیان[/tag]
inspite of bā vojud-e [tag resources prepphrases_14]باوجود[/tag]
on, on top of bar ru-ye [tag resources prepphrases_15]برروی[/tag]
on, on top of, at the tip of bar sar-e [tag resources prepphrases_16]برسر[/tag]
instead of be‛avaz-e [tag resources prepphrases_17]بعوض[/tag]
like be mesl-e [tag resources prepphrases_18]بمثل[/tag]
instead of, in place of be jā-ye [tag resources prepphrases_19]به جای[/tag]
because of be vāsete-ye [tag resources prepphrases_20]به واسطهٔ[/tag]
by, by the means of be vasile-ye [tag resources prepphrases_21]به وسیلهٔ[/tag]
along with be hamrāh-e [tag resources prepphrases_22]به همراه[/tag]

In many instances in the colloquial dialect, using the prepositions dar, bar, and be, is optional.

The second group includes prepositional phrases which consist of an adverb or an adjective followed by a simple preposition, more frequently az ‘from, of’:

after ba‛d az [tag resources prepphrases_23]بعد از[/tag]
after pas az [tag resources prepphrases_24]پس از[/tag]
before piš az [tag resources prepphrases_25]پیش از[/tag]
instead of rāje‛ be [tag resources prepphrases_26]راجع به [/tag]
except, beside, other than γeyr az [tag resources prepphrases_27]غیر از[/tag]
before qabl az [tag resources prepphrases_28]قبل از[/tag]

Although barā-ye more accurately belongs to the prepositional phrases category (in Middle Persian pad ‘to, at’; in New Persian به and the direct object post-positioned particle, را rāy), it is not recognized as such by a modern speaker of Persian.

It must be noted that there are three be prepositions:

(1) The Persian be به ‘to, at’, which is never connected to a following word:

[tag resources prepphrases_29]!به من بگو[/tag]
“Tell me!”

(2) the verbal prefix [be-]:

Sit! imperfect [tag resources prepphrases_30]!بنشین[/tag]
I must go subjunctive [tag resources prepphrases_31]باید بروم[/tag]

(3) and the Arabic [bi-] (Persian [be-]) prefix, which is connected:

Good morning! sobh bexeyr! Persian
I must go. bixayr as in ‘ana bixayr’ Arabic
instead of be‛avaz-e Arabic