Many people: -ha and -aan
People have two plurals. The old -aan serves the dignified words for human kinds: mard — mardaan, zan — zanaan, doost — doostaan. The everyday -ha serves everything alive: bache-ha — the kids, moshtaari-ha — the customers, davtalab-ha — the applicants. A few nouns are born collective and take no ending: mardom — people; jameyat — the population. Aksariat-e saakine-ha javaan-and — the majority of the residents are…
How it works
People have two plurals. The old -aan serves the dignified words for human kinds: mard — mardaan, zan — zanaan, doost — doostaan. The everyday -ha serves everything alive: bache-ha — the kids, moshtaari-ha — the customers, davtalab-ha — the applicants. A few nouns are born collective and take no ending: mardom — people; jameyat — the population. Aksariat-e saakine-ha javaan-and — the majority of the residents are young.
Table
| how it is built | one | many | reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| people + -aan | مرد | مردان | mard — mardaan |
| people + -aan | زن | زنان | zan — zanaan |
| people + -aan | دوست | دوستان | doost — doostaan |
| everything + -ha | بچه | بچهها | bache — bache-ha |
| everything + -ha | مشتری | مشتریها | moshtaari — moshtaari-ha |
| everything + -ha | داوطلب | داوطلبها | davtalab — davtalab-ha |
| collective | مردم | — | mardom — the people |
| collective | جمعیت | — | jameyat — the population |
By example
- داوطلبهای کوچه درختها را کاشتند.dâvtalâbhâe kuche derakhtâ râ kashtand.The street volunteers planted the trees.
- اکثریت ساکنها جواناند.akkariete sâkenhâ dzhavânand.The majority of the residents are young.
- مردم این شهر مهماننوازند.mardâme in shahr memânnavâzand.The people of this city are hospitable.
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Many people: how does it work in Persian?
People have two plurals. The old -aan serves the dignified words for human kinds: mard — mardaan, zan — zanaan, doost — doostaan. The everyday -ha serves everything alive: bache-ha — the kids, moshtaari-ha — the customers, davtalab-ha — the applicants. A few nouns are born collective and take no…
What does it look like in a Persian example sentence?
“داوطلبهای کوچه درختها را کاشتند.” (dâvtalâbhâe kuche derakhtâ râ kashtand.) — The street volunteers planted the trees. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.