Persian adjectives are invariant: they do not change to match a noun's natural sex, grammatical number, animacy, or person. خوب khub remains خوب in “a good man,” “a good woman,” “good books,” and “they are good.” Number can appear on the noun, and person/number agreement can appear on a verb or copula, but the adjective itself keeps one lexical form.
For learners coming from a gendered language, this removes an entire agreement paradigm. English has little adjective agreement too, but it still changes demonstratives (this/these), while Persian keeps attributive این invariant as well. The main challenge is not memorizing endings; it is resisting the urge to add Persian plural ـها or an Arabic feminine form to an adjective.
Invariance map
| Feature of referent | Noun phrase or clause | Adjective | Where marking appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| male person | مرد جوان | جوان | natural sex is lexical in مرد |
| female person | زن جوان | جوان | natural sex is lexical in زن |
| singular object | کتاب جدید | جدید | no number suffix |
| plural objects | کتابهای جدید | جدید | plural ـها appears on the noun |
| singular predicate | او خسته است | خسته | copula است |
| plural predicate | آنها خستهاند | خسته | plural copula ـاند |
Ezâfe after an attributive noun and the copula after a predicative adjective show two different syntactic structures. Neither is agreement morphology on the adjective.
No gender agreement
Persian nouns have no grammatical masculine/feminine classes, and adjectives have no gender forms. Natural sex can be named by the noun or context, but the adjective remains identical.
مرد جوان کنار در منتظر است.
mard-e javân kenâr-e dar montazer ast.
The young man is waiting by the door. (neutral standard)
زن جوان کنار در منتظر است.
zan-e javân kenâr-e dar montazer ast.
The young woman is waiting by the door. (neutral standard)
مدیر جدید فردا کارش را شروع میکند.
modir-e jadid fardâ kâr-ash râ shoru' mi-konad.
The new manager starts work tomorrow. (the manager's sex is unspecified)
Occupational nouns such as مدیر, پزشک, and مهندس are also unmarked for gender. Do not select a different adjective or import Arabic feminine ـه/ـة based on the person's sex. Persian مدیر جدید can describe any manager.
Number belongs to the noun, not the adjective
In an attributive phrase, the noun carries plural morphology and the adjective follows unchanged through ezâfe: کتابهای جدید, دانشجوهای خسته, خانههای بزرگ.
کتابهای جدید به کتابخانه رسیده است.
ketâb-hâ-ye jadid be ketâbkhâne reside ast.
The new books have arrived at the library. (formal/careful standard; inanimate plural with singular agreement)
دانشجوهای خسته زودتر به خوابگاه برگشتند.
dâneshju-hâ-ye khaste zudtar be khâbgâh bargashtand.
The tired students returned to the dormitory earlier. (human plural)
خانههای بزرگ این محله حیاط ندارد.
khâne-hâ-ye bozorg-e in mahalle hayât nadârad.
The large houses in this neighborhood do not have yards. (formal/careful standard; inanimate plural with singular agreement)
The final verbs show a separate agreement system. Human plural دانشجوها takes plural برگشتند. Inanimate plural subjects can take singular agreement in formal Persian. In all cases جدید، خسته، بزرگ remain unchanged.
See Inanimate Plurals and Singular Verb Agreement for when a plural verb becomes natural with things.
Predicative adjectives remain invariant too
When an adjective forms the predicate, person and number appear on the copula, not the adjective.
من خستهام، ولی خواهرم سرحال است.
man khaste-am, vali khâhar-am sarhâl ast.
I'm tired, but my sister is energetic. (first- versus third-person copula)
آنها خستهاند، اما ما آمادهایم.
ân-hâ khaste-and, ammâ mâ âmâde-im.
They are tired, but we are ready. (plural copulas; invariant adjectives)
این اتاق کوچک است و آن اتاقها بزرگ است.
in otâq kuchak ast va ân otâq-hâ bozorg ast.
This room is small, and those rooms are large. (formal/careful standard; singular agreement with inanimate plural)
Persian does not have a plural adjective form parallel to English copular are or Romance adjective endings. The contrast between است and ـاند is copular agreement.
Pronoun reference does not change the adjective
Standard او can refer to a man or woman, and آنها can refer to people or things. The adjective provides no gender clue.
او خیلی صبور است.
u kheyli sabur ast.
He or she is very patient. (gender-neutral pronoun and adjective)
آنها برای سفر آمادهاند.
ân-hâ barâ-ye safar âmâde-and.
They are ready for the trip. (human plural in this context)
If an English translation forces he or she, consult the wider context; do not infer gender from صبور or any other adjective.
Invariance survives comparison and modification
Comparative ـتر and superlative ـترین derive new adjective forms, but those forms still do not agree with their nouns. خانهی بزرگتر and خانههای بزرگتر both use بزرگتر. Degree words such as خیلی likewise modify the adjective without triggering agreement.
این مسیر کوتاهتر است، اما آن جادهها امنتر است.
in masir kutâh-tar ast, ammâ ân jâdde-hâ amn-tar ast.
This route is shorter, but those roads are safer. (invariant comparatives; formal inanimate agreement)
Do not confuse derivation with agreement. بزرگتر differs from بزرگ because the meaning is comparative, not because its noun is plural.
When ها on an adjective is not agreement
Persian can nominalize an adjective: جوانها “young people/the young ones,” بزرگترها “the older ones.” Here ـها pluralizes a noun-like adjective that heads the phrase; it does not make an attributive adjective agree.
بزرگترها کنار بچهها نشستند.
bozorg-tar-hâ kenâr-e bachche-hâ neshastand.
The older ones sat beside the children. (substantivized adjective; ها marks the head itself)
Compare بچههای بزرگتر “the older children”: بچهها is the plural head and بزرگتر remains unpluralized. The advanced page on substantivized adjectives treats this conversion in depth.
A short dialogue
مهمانهای جدید رسیدند؟
mehmân-hâ-ye jadid residand?
Have the new guests arrived? (careful spoken standard)
آره، خیلی خسته بودن، ولی خوشحال به نظر میرسیدن.
âre, kheyli khaste budan, vali khoshhâl be nazar mi-residan.
Yeah, they were very tired, but they looked happy. (informal, regional: Tehran)
Plurality appears in مهمانها and colloquial verbs بودن، میرسیدن. Adjectives جدید، خسته، خوشحال do not change.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding plural ها to an attributive adjective
❌ کتابهای جدیدها رسید.
Incorrect — plural ها belongs on the noun; جدید remains invariant.
✅ کتابهای جدید رسید.
ketâb-hâ-ye jadid resid.
The new books arrived. (formal inanimate agreement)
2. Inventing a feminine adjective form
❌ مدیر جدیدة فردا میآید.
Incorrect — Arabic feminine ة is not an adjective-agreement ending in Persian.
✅ مدیر جدید فردا میآید.
modir-e jadid fardâ mi-âyad.
The new manager is coming tomorrow. (sex unspecified)
3. Dropping ezâfe because the adjective is invariant
❌ کامیون قرمز بیرون است.
kâmiyun qermez birun ast
Incorrect reading for ‘the red truck’—invariance does not remove attributive ezâfe.
✅ کامیون قرمز جلوی در است.
kâmiyun-e qermez jelow-e dar ast.
The red truck is by the door.
4. Pluralizing the adjective in a predicate
❌ مهمانها خستهها هستند.
Incorrect — the adjective remains خسته; the copula carries plural agreement.
✅ مهمانها خسته هستند.
mehmân-hâ khaste hastand.
The guests are tired.
Key Takeaways
- Persian adjectives do not agree for gender, number, animacy, or person.
- In attributive phrases, number appears on the noun and ezâfe links the invariant adjective.
- In predicates, person and number appear on the copula or verb, not the adjective.
- او and an adjective do not reveal a person's gender; context must supply it.
- An adjective with ـها is functioning as a noun-like head (“the young ones”), not agreeing with another noun.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- Nouns without Gender or CaseA1 — How Persian nouns stay unchanged for gender and syntactic role while word order, prepositions, and râ express the relationships English often marks elsewhere.
- Adjectives after Nouns with EzâfeA1 — Build neutral Persian attributive phrases with the noun first, an audible ezâfe linker, and one or more following adjectives.
- Predicative Adjectives and the CopulaA1 — Say that someone or something is adjective with no ezâfe, using standard, enclitic, negative, and colloquial copula forms.
- Inanimate Plurals and Singular Verb AgreementA2 — Why Persian often pairs an inanimate plural subject with a singular verb, and when modern usage instead highlights the members with plural agreement.
- Subject Pronouns من، تو، او، ما، شما، آنهاA1 — Learn the six independent Persian subject pronouns, match them to verb agreement, and know when ordinary Persian leaves the subject unspoken.
- Substantivized AdjectivesC1 — Use Persian adjectives as noun-phrase heads for recoverable objects, human groups, and abstract concepts.