Predicative Adjectives and the Copula | Farsi Grammar

A predicative adjective makes an assertion about a subject: هوا سرد است havâ sard ast “The weather is cold,” من خسته‌ام man khaste-am “I am tired.” The adjective is not an internal modifier of the noun, so there is no ezâfe between subject and adjective. A copula—separate است, an enclitic person form, or negative نیست—completes the predicate.

English also uses a copula, but Persian can attach most present-tense copula forms directly to the adjective and omit an independently expressed subject. خسته‌ام already says “I am tired”; خسته‌ایم says “we are tired.” Everyday Tehran speech additionally reduces third-person است to ـه, while edited standard Persian keeps است or the appropriate standard enclitic.

Predicate structure

Person	With خسته	Reading	Meaning
1st singular	خسته‌ام	khaste-am	I am tired
2nd singular	خسته‌ای	khaste-i	you are tired
3rd singular	خسته است	khaste ast	he/she/it is tired
1st plural	خسته‌ایم	khaste-im	we are tired
2nd plural/polite	خسته‌اید	khaste-id	you are tired
3rd plural	خسته‌اند	khaste-and	they are tired

The person ending belongs to the copula, not the adjective. خسته remains invariant; ـام، ـای، است، ـایم، ـاید، ـاند identify the subject and complete the clause.

No ezâfe in a predicate

Compare an adjective inside a noun phrase with an adjective asserted of a subject:

چای سرد را نخور.

chây-e sard râ nakhor.

Don't drink the cold tea. (attributive: سرد modifies چای through ezâfe)

چای سرد است.

chây sard ast.

The tea is cold. (predicative: no ezâfe; است completes the assertion)

In unvowelized script, the difference can be invisible until the copula appears. In speech it is immediate: chây-e sard is one noun phrase; chây sard ast is a clause. Adjectives after Nouns with Ezâfe develops the attributive pattern.

این اتاق روشن است.

in otâq rowshan ast.

This room is bright. (neutral standard)

غذا آماده است؛ می‌توانیم شروع کنیم.

ghazâ âmâde ast; mi-tavânim shoru' konim.

The food is ready; we can start. (careful spoken standard)

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The practical test is whether the adjective helps identify a noun or makes the sentence's claim. “Which tea?” gives attributive چایِ سرد; “How is the tea?” gives predicative چای سرد است.

Enclitic copulas and subject omission

With first, second, and plural persons, the copula commonly attaches to the predicate. Because the ending identifies person and number, an independent subject pronoun is unnecessary unless it is contrastive.

خسته‌ام، اما هنوز کارم تمام نشده است.

khaste-am, ammâ hanuz kâr-am tamâm nashode ast.

I'm tired, but my work still isn't finished. (neutral standard; subject omitted)

برای جلسه آماده‌اید؟

barâ-ye jalase âmâde-id?

Are you ready for the meeting? (polite/plural standard)

ما آماده‌ایم، ولی آن‌ها هنوز مشغول‌اند.

mâ âmâde-im, vali ân-hâ hanuz mashghul-and.

We are ready, but they are still busy. (contrastive subjects expressed)

The pronouns ما and آن‌ها appear because the sentence contrasts two groups. In a continuing conversation, simple آماده‌ایم would be enough for “We are ready.” This is ordinary pro-drop, not casual ellipsis.

After consonant-final adjectives, forms attach without a ZWNJ when normal joining permits: خوبم، خوبی، خوبیم، خوبید. After silent ه, standard spelling uses the boundary seen in خسته‌ام. Third-person plural مشغول‌اند takes a ZWNJ before اند.

Third-person است and colloquial ـه

Written standard Persian normally uses است after an adjective: هوا گرم است. Careful speech can pronounce it distinctly. Everyday Tehran speech normally reduces the third-person singular copula to ـه, attached to the predicate: هوا گرمه.

هوا امروز خیلی گرم است.

havâ emruz kheyli garm ast.

The weather is very warm today. (standard)

هوا امروز خیلی گرمه.

havâ emruz kheyli garme.

It's really warm today. (informal, regional: Tehran)

این مسیر کوتاه‌تره، ولی شلوغه.

in masir kutâh-tare, vali sholughe.

This route is shorter, but it's crowded. (informal, regional: Tehran)

Colloquial ـه is a copula, not a feminine ending or definite article. It attaches to comparative کوتاه‌تر and simple adjective شلوغ without changing either adjective's lexical form.

Negation with نیست

Present negative copular clauses use نیست plus person endings: نیستم، نیستی، نیست، نیستیم، نیستید، نیستند. The adjective precedes the negative copula.

این صندلی راحت نیست.

in sandali râhat nist.

This chair isn't comfortable. (neutral standard)

نگران نیستم؛ فقط کمی خسته‌ام.

negarân nistam; faqat kami khaste-am.

I'm not worried; I'm just a little tired. (neutral standard; subjects omitted)

بچه‌ها آماده نیستند.

bachche-hâ âmâde nistand.

The children aren't ready. (human plural agreement)

Do not negate an adjective by placing نه before it in an ordinary predicate. نه coordinates alternatives or answers a question; نیست carries copular negation and agreement.

Adjective predicates and agreement

The adjective never agrees for gender or number. The copula carries person/number agreement: او خسته است, آن‌ها خسته‌اند. With inanimate plurals, formal Persian often permits singular agreement, while plural agreement can foreground separate objects.

این پرونده‌ها ناقص است.

in parvande-hâ nâqes ast.

These files are incomplete. (formal/careful standard; inanimate plural with singular copula)

Here ناقص is unchanged; the agreement choice appears only in the copula. See Adjectives Do Not Agree.

A short dialogue

اتاق برای جلسه آماده است؟

otâq barâ-ye jalase âmâde ast?

Is the room ready for the meeting? (careful spoken standard)

نه، هنوز خیلی شلوغه.

na, hanuz kheyli sholughe.

No, it's still very cluttered. (informal, regional: Tehran; subject omitted and copula reduced)

باشه، وقتی آماده شد خبرم کن.

bâshe, vaqti âmâde shod khabar-am kon.

Okay, let me know when it's ready. (informal, regional: Tehran)

The second reply omits اتاق because it remains the active subject. Colloquial شلوغه still contains a copula; it is not a bare adjective fragment.

Common Mistakes

1. Inserting ezâfe before a predicative adjective

❌ هوای سرد است.

havâ-ye sard ast

Incorrect for ‘The weather is cold’—هوای سرد is an attributive noun phrase, not a subject followed by a predicative adjective.

✅ هوا امروز سرد است.

havâ emruz sard ast.

The weather is cold today.

2. Omitting the copula entirely

❌ این اتاق روشن.

Incorrect as a complete neutral assertion — an adjective predicate requires a copula.

✅ این اتاق روشن است.

in otâq rowshan ast.

This room is bright.

3. Negating with نه instead of نیست

❌ این صندلی نه راحت است.

a neutral statement that the chair is not comfortable

Incorrect analysis — نه creates contrastive focus or coordination; simple predicate negation uses the negative copula نیست.

✅ این صندلی راحت نیست.

in sandali râhat nist.

This chair isn't comfortable.

4. Adding plural morphology to the adjective

❌ بچه‌ها خسته‌ها هستند.

Incorrect for an adjective predicate — plural agreement belongs to هستند, not خسته.

✅ بچه‌ها خسته هستند.

bachche-hâ khaste hastand.

The children are tired.

Key Takeaways

A predicative adjective follows its subject with no ezâfe and requires a copula.
Enclitic copulas mark person and number, so subjects can be omitted: خسته‌ام، آماده‌ایم.
Standard third-person است corresponds to informal Tehran ـه.
Negative predicates use inflected نیست, not simple نه.
The adjective stays invariant; person and number appear on the copula.

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