Possession

A1 — ضمایر

Possession in Persian: the ezafe with a pronoun or name (کتابِ من، کتابِ مریم), the possessive endings -am, -at, -ash, -emân, -etân, -eshân and their spoken forms, and مالِ for 'mine' and 'whose'.

Can talk about my family and belongings with the ezafe and the possessive endings, say 'my new book' in the right order, and ask whose something is.

Examples

اسمم ساراست. — My name is Sara.
خانه‌مان نزدیکِ میدانِ نقشِ جهان است. — Our house is near Naqsh-e Jahan Square.
این کیف مالِ کیه؟ مالِ منه. — Whose bag is this? It's mine.
کتابِ جدیدم را گم کردم. — I lost my new book.
مادرِ مریم معلم است. — Maryam's mother is a teacher.

PronounsA1

Possession

Learning Goal

Can talk about my family and belongings with the ezafe and the possessive endings, say 'my new book' in the right order, and ask whose something is.

Exam Skills:AZFA · WritingAZFA · Speaking

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

اسمم ساراست.

My name is Sara.

خانه‌مان نزدیکِ میدانِ نقشِ جهان است.

Our house is near Naqsh-e Jahan Square.

این کیف مالِ کیه؟ مالِ منه.

Whose bag is this? It's mine.

کتابِ جدیدم را گم کردم.

I lost my new book.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Persian has three ways to say whose something is. The ezafe links a noun to its owner: کتابِ من (ketâb-e man, my book). Short endings do the same job more compactly: کتابم (ketâbam). And مالِ (mâl-e, 'property of') answers 'whose?' and gives English 'mine', 'yours'.

Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop.

The possessive endings

Owner	Ending	کتاب (written)	Spoken Tehran	خانه (after -e)
my	-am	کتابم (ketâbam)	ketâbam	خانه‌ام (khâne-am)
your (تو)	-at	کتابت (ketâbat)	ketâbet	خانه‌ات (khâne-at)
his/her	-ash	کتابش (ketâbash)	ketâbesh	خانه‌اش (khâne-ash)
our	-emân	کتابمان (ketâbemân)	ketâbemun	خانه‌مان (khâne-mân)
your (شما)	-etân	کتابتان (ketâbetân)	ketâbetun	خانه‌تان (khâne-tân)
their	-eshân	کتابشان (ketâbeshân)	ketâbeshun	خانه‌شان (khâne-shân)

After â or u, a ی comes in: پایم (pâyam, my foot), مویش (muyash, his/her hair). After a plural: کتاب‌هایم (ketâbhâyam, my books), spoken ketâbâm.

Ezafe or ending?

Both are correct. The endings are the everyday choice; the ezafe with a pronoun gives the owner more weight, and with a name or a noun it is the way to say it: کتابِ مریم (ketâb-e Maryam, Maryam's book), مادرِ علی (mâdar-e Ali, Ali's mother).

Ending after an adjective

The ending goes at the end of the whole phrase, after the adjective: کتابِ جدیدم (ketâb-e jadidam) - my new book; دوستِ خوبت (dust-e khubet, spoken) - your good friend. Put the ending on the noun and you change the meaning: کتابم جدیده (spoken) is a sentence, 'My book is new'.

مالِ: mine, yours, whose

این کیف مالِ کیه؟ (in kif mâl-e kie?) - Whose bag is this? (spoken)
مالِ منه. (mâl-e man-e) - It's mine. (spoken) / مالِ من است. (written)

For English speakers

English puts the owner first ('Maryam's book'); Persian puts the thing first and the owner after the ezafe, 'book-e Maryam'. The same endings also mark objects and appear after prepositions in speech (دیدمش, didamesh, I saw him/her; بهش, behesh, to him/her), so ketâbesh and didamesh share the same -esh.

Mistakes English speakers make

English order: *مریم کتاب - say کتابِ مریم.
The ending before the adjective: *کتابم جدید for 'my new book' - say کتابِ جدیدم.
Doubling the owner: *کتابِ منم - say کتابِ من or کتابم.
-am instead of -yam after â/u: pâam - say pâyam (my foot).

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

🇬🇧 English speakers: putting the owner first (*مریم کتاب instead of کتابِ مریم); attaching the ending to the noun instead of the end of the phrase (*کتابم جدید instead of کتابِ جدیدم, my new book); marking the owner twice (*کتابِ منم); forgetting the ی after â and u (پایم, دانشجویم).

Common Error Patterns

Owner placed before the thing as in English

Thing + ezafe + owner: کتابِ مریم.

Possessive ending put on the noun before its adjective

The ending closes the phrase: کتابِ جدیدم (my new book).

Owner marked with both ezafe + pronoun and an ending

Choose one: کتابِ من or کتابم.

اسمم ساراست.

My name is Sara.

اسمم (esmam) = my name, with the ending -am. ساراست = سارا + است. Same in speech and writing.

خانه‌مان نزدیکِ میدانِ نقشِ جهان است.

Our house is near Naqsh-e Jahan Square.

خانه‌مان (khâne-mân) = our house: after -e the ending is written apart with a non-joiner. The great square of Isfahan. Written register.

این کیف مالِ کیه؟ مالِ منه.

Whose bag is this? It's mine.

Spoken: مالِ کیه (mâl-e kie) = whose is it; مالِ منه (mâl-e man-e) = it's mine.

کتابِ جدیدم را گم کردم.

I lost my new book.

کتابِ جدیدم (ketâb-e jadidam): the ending -am comes after the adjective, at the end of the phrase. Written register.

مادرِ مریم معلم است.

Maryam's mother is a teacher.

مادرِ مریم (mâdar-e Maryam): with a name, possession uses the ezafe. Written register.

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Frequently asked questions

When do you use Possession?: Persian has three ways to say whose something is. The ezafe links a noun to its owner: کتابِ من (ketâb-e man, my book). Short endings do the same job more compactly: کتابم (ketâbam). And مالِ (mâl-e, 'property of') answers 'whose?' and gives English 'mine', 'yours'.
How do you form Possession?: Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop. After â or u, a ی comes in: پایم (pâyam, my foot), مویش (muyash, his/her hair). After a plural: کتاب‌هایم (ketâbhâyam, my books), spoken ketâbâm. Both are correct. The endings are the everyday choice; the ezafe with a pronoun gives the owner more weight, and with a name or a noun it is the way to say it: کتابِ مریم (ketâb-e Maryam, Maryam's book), مادرِ علی (mâdar-e Ali, Ali's mother).
What are common mistakes with Possession?: 🇬🇧 English speakers: putting the owner first (*مریم کتاب instead of کتابِ مریم); attaching the ending to the noun instead of the end of the phrase (*کتابم جدید instead of کتابِ جدیدم, my new book); marking the owner twice (*کتابِ منم); forgetting the ی after â and u (پایم, دانشجویم).

Owner

Ending

کتاب (written)

Spoken Tehran

خانه (after -e)

-am

کتابم (ketâbam)

ketâbam

خانه‌ام (khâne-am)

your (تو)

-at

کتابت (ketâbat)

ketâbet

خانه‌ات (khâne-at)

his/her

-ash

کتابش (ketâbash)

ketâbesh

خانه‌اش (khâne-ash)

our

-emân

کتابمان (ketâbemân)

ketâbemun

خانه‌مان (khâne-mân)

your (شما)

-etân

کتابتان (ketâbetân)

ketâbetun

خانه‌تان (khâne-tân)

their

-eshân

کتابشان (ketâbeshân)

ketâbeshun

خانه‌شان (khâne-shân)

Frequently asked questions

When do you use Possession?

Persian has three ways to say whose something is. The ezafe links a noun to its owner: کتابِ من (ketâb-e man, my book). Short endings do the same job more compactly: کتابم (ketâbam). And مالِ (mâl-e, 'property of') answers 'whose?' and gives English 'mine', 'yours'.

How do you form Possession?

Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop. After â or u, a ی comes in: پایم (pâyam, my foot), مویش (muyash, his/her hair). After a plural: کتاب‌هایم (ketâbhâyam, my books), spoken ketâbâm. Both are correct. The endings are the everyday choice; the ezafe with a pronoun gives the owner more weight, and with a name or a noun it is the way to say it: کتابِ مریم (ketâb-e Maryam, Maryam's book), مادرِ علی (mâdar-e Ali, Ali's mother).

What are common mistakes with Possession?

🇬🇧 English speakers: putting the owner first (*مریم کتاب instead of کتابِ مریم); attaching the ending to the noun instead of the end of the phrase (*کتابم جدید instead of کتابِ جدیدم, my new book); marking the owner twice (*کتابِ منم); forgetting the ی after â and u (پایم, دانشجویم).