Now we will start a lesson on how to form a plural noun in Farsi by using the
suffix "ان". Like this. So, previously we taught that we can make any noun plural
in Persian by using the suffix "ها", but now there is another way:
Suffix "ان". The difference is that this suffix in Farsi is used just for
animate objects. So let's look at some examples. For example, the word "پدر",
means father. So it's an animate object. So
"پدران".
The word "درخت"
Trees
درختان
So tree, trees.
درختان
The word "پسر" means boy or son.
پسران
Boys
The word خر
means donkey.
خران
Donkeys
So as you can see, it can be used for human beings, for trees,
like plants and animals. But for example the word "کتاب" has just one
one plural form, which is کتابها
But if we write it کتابان,
That is wrong. There is not such a thing in Farsi.
So it's just used for animate objects.
There is one thing to know about this suffix "ان". That is the
difference in spoken and written, like the suffix "ها".
"ان" in spoken changes to "ا".
So پدران changes to
پدرا
درختان
changes to درختا
And پسران changes to
پسرا
خران changes to
خرا
So this form is just used in spoken Farsi.
It's interesting to see that in a spoken Farsi, there is no
difference between "ها" and "ان", because both are pronounced the same. But in
written Persian they are written differently. One is "ان" and the other one
is "ها". Another point about the suffix "ان" is
when you have a noun that ends in a vowel, like the word
پرنده
"پرنده" means bird.
So we can use the suffix "ان" to make it plural. So,
پرنده ان
But as you can see, the word ends in a vowel, and the suffix starts with
a vowel. In Farsi, instead of using "ان", we use the suffix "گان".
So، whenever the word ends in a vowel, instead of saying پرنده ان,
We say,
پرندگان
Another example: "گرسنه" means a hungry person. So
گرسنگان
"تشنه" means a thirsty person
تشنگان
So the points about "ان": it is just used for animated objects, like human beings,
plants, animals. And secondly, in spoken Persian "ان" changes to "ا".
پدران
changes to پدرا.
درختان
changes to درختا.
And پسران changes
to پسرا. Another point is that when the word, the noun, ends in a vowel--when the
noun ends in a vowel, instead of using the suffix "ان", we use "گان".
پرنده، پرندگان.
گرسنه، گرسنگان.
تشنه، تشنگان.
That was the lesson on how to form a plural noun by using the suffix "ان".