Persian بعضی ba'zi and چند chand both describe an indefinite quantity, but they organize that quantity differently. بعضی دانشجوها means “some students,” selecting an unspecified subset from a larger group. چند دانشجو means “a few students” in a statement or “how many students?” in a question. After چند, the counted noun stays morphologically singular; after attributive بعضی, a count noun is commonly plural.
The distinction is conceptual. بعضی divides a known or imaginable set into included and excluded members. چند supplies an unknown or small count without naming the exact number. A partitive with از can make the larger set explicit: بعضی از دانشجوها “some of the students,” چند نفر از دانشجوها “a few/how many of the students.”
Core comparison
| Pattern | Noun number | Typical meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
بعضی
| usually plural | some members/types | بعضی کتابها |
بعضی از
| plural/collective | some of the set | بعضی از کتابها |
چند
| singular | a few / how many | چند کتاب |
چند نفر از
| plural set after از | a few/how many of the people | چند نفر از دانشجوها |
چند تا از
| plural set after از | a few/how many of the items | چند تا از صندلیها |
Neither expression is an English-style article. Both quantify a noun phrase, and reference to a particular subset may additionally license را.
بعضی: an unspecified subset
Before a count noun, بعضی normally combines with an overt plural: بعضی روزها, بعضی آدمها, بعضی کتابها. It says that the predicate holds for part of a relevant set, without stating how many.
بعضی روزها تا دیر وقت در دفتر میمانم.
ba'zi ruz-hâ tâ dir vaqt dar daftar mi-mânam.
Some days I stay at the office until late. (neutral standard)
بعضی دانشجوها ترجیح میدهند تنها کار کنند.
ba'zi dâneshju-hâ tarjih mi-dahand tanhâ kâr konand.
Some students prefer to work alone. (neutral standard)
بعضی کتابها فقط برای مراجعه مناسب است.
ba'zi ketâb-hâ faqat barâ-ye morâje'e monâseb ast.
Some books are suitable only for reference. (formal/careful standard; inanimate plural with singular agreement)
The subset need not be definite. In these examples, بعضی simply partitions the class. When the larger set has already been identified, add a partitive.
بعضی از: some of a delimited set
The preposition از introduces the whole from which the subset is selected. That whole is typically definite or contextually identifiable: این کتابها, دانشجوهای کلاس, مردم محله.
بعضی از این پروندهها ناقص است.
ba'zi az in parvande-hâ nâqes ast.
Some of these files are incomplete. (formal/careful standard; delimited set)
بعضی از مهمانها را از قبل میشناختم.
ba'zi az mehmân-hâ râ az qabl mi-shenâkhtam.
I already knew some of the guests. (specific subset object)
In the second sentence, را follows the full partitive phrase because the speaker has a particular subset in mind. It does not follow مهمانها inside the از phrase.
Stand-alone بعضیها means “some people/some of them” when the category is recoverable. It belongs more directly to pronominal grammar, but learners should recognize it in conversation.
بعضیها زود رفتند، ولی بقیه تا آخر ماندند.
ba'zi-hâ zud raftand, vali baqiyye tâ âkhar mândand.
Some people left early, but the rest stayed until the end. (neutral spoken standard)
چند: “a few” in statements
In an affirmative declarative context, چند commonly means “a few/several.” It behaves like a numeral: the following count noun remains singular.
چند کتاب دربارهی تاریخ ایران خریدم.
chand ketâb darbâre-ye târikh-e irân kharidam.
I bought a few books about Iranian history. (indefinite small quantity)
چند روز در اصفهان ماندیم.
chand ruz dar esfahân mândim.
We stayed in Isfahan for a few days. (neutral standard)
برای این کار چند نفر لازم داریم.
barâ-ye in kâr chand nafar lâzem dârim.
We need a few people for this job. (neutral standard)
The exact quantity remains unspecified. چند often suggests a modest number, but it does not encode a fixed upper limit. Context can make three “a few” in one situation and ten “a few” in another.
چند: “how many?” in questions
The same form is interrogative when the clause asks for a number. Persian does not change its spelling; question syntax, intonation, and context distinguish “a few” from “how many.”
چند کتاب برای این درس لازم است؟
chand ketâb barâ-ye in dars lâzem ast?
How many books are needed for this course? (information question)
نمیدانم چند نفر در جلسه شرکت کردند.
nemi-dânam chand nafar dar jalase sherkat kardand.
I don't know how many people attended the meeting. (embedded question)
Compare چند نفر آمدند with falling declarative intonation, “A few people came,” and the same words with question intonation, “How many people came?” In writing, the Persian question mark removes the ambiguity in a direct question. An embedded question is identified by the selecting predicate نمیدانم.
Partitives with چند
To select members from an identified set, Persian commonly uses a unit expression before از. For people, چند نفر از ... is natural; for ordinary countable objects, conversational چند تا از ... is common. Formal prose can repeat a suitable noun or classifier instead of general تا.
چند نفر از همکارها در کارگاه شرکت کردند؟
chand nafar az hamkâr-hâ dar kârgâh sherkat kardand?
How many of the colleagues took part in the workshop? (neutral standard)
چند تا از سیبها را برای سفر برداشتم.
chand tâ az sib-hâ râ barâ-ye safar bardâshtam.
I took a few of the apples for the trip. (neutral conversation; specific subset)
The plural appears in the definite whole after از—سیبها—not directly after چند. The structure is “[a few units] of [the apples].” See Partitives with از.
Mass nouns need different quantifiers
Because چند counts discrete units, it does not normally quantify a mass noun directly. Say کمی آب “a little water,” مقداری برنج “some rice,” or supply a unit: چند لیوان آب “a few glasses of water.” In a café or delivery context, چند آب can be coerced to “a few/how many bottles or servings of water.” That context-supplied count reading cannot express an unbounded amount. بعضی آبها is possible only when different waters/types/batches are contrasted, not for ordinary “some water.”
کمی آب برای راه بردار.
kami âb barâ-ye râh bardâr.
Take a little water for the road. (mass quantity)
چند بطری آب در ماشین گذاشتم.
chand botri âb dar mâshin gozâshtam.
I put a few bottles of water in the car. (counted containers)
A short dialogue
چند نفر برای جلسهی فردا میآیند؟
chand nafar barâ-ye jalase-ye fardâ mi-âyand?
How many people are coming to tomorrow's meeting? (careful spoken standard)
فقط چند نفر؛ بعضی از دوستام سفرن.
faqat chand nafar; ba'zi az dustâm safaran.
Only a few; some of my friends are away. (informal, regional: Tehran)
The question asks for a number; the reply uses declarative چند نفر for a small quantity and بعضی از for a subset of the speaker's friends.
Common Mistakes
1. Pluralizing directly after چند
❌ چند کتابها خریدم.
Incorrect — like a numeral, چند takes a singular counted noun.
✅ چند کتاب خریدم.
chand ketâb kharidam.
I bought a few books.
2. Using a singular count noun after attributive بعضی
❌ بعضی دانشجو زود رفتند.
Incorrect for ordinary ‘some students’—use a plural count noun after بعضی.
✅ بعضی دانشجوها زود رفتند.
ba'zi dâneshju-hâ zud raftand.
Some students left early.
3. Omitting از in a definite partitive
❌ بعضی این کتابها را خواندم.
Incorrect — a subset of the identified books requires بعضی از این کتابها.
✅ بعضی از این کتابها را خواندم.
ba'zi az in ketâb-hâ râ khândam.
I read some of these books.
4. Reading چند آب as an unbounded mass quantity
❌ چند آب میخواهم.
an unbounded amount of water
Incorrect analysis — without an overt unit, چند forces a contextually supplied count reading such as bottles or servings; use کمی آب for an unbounded amount.
✅ کمی آب میخواهم.
kami âb mi-khâham.
I want some/a little water. (unbounded mass quantity)
Key Takeaways
- بعضی + plural noun selects an unspecified subset; بعضی از + definite set means “some of.”
- چند + singular count noun means either “a few” or “how many,” depending on clause type and context.
- Use چند نفر از for people and common conversational چند تا از for countable things in partitives.
- A specific subset object can take را after the complete phrase.
- Mass nouns normally use کمی or مقداری, unless a countable unit such as لیوان is supplied.
Now practice Farsi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- همه with Plural and Collective NounsA2 — Use همهی before plural, collective, and whole-denoting nouns, or همه alone for everyone and everything in context.
- Partitives with ازB1 — Build Persian partitives such as بعضی از and یکی از, choose a delimited whole, and control agreement, را, and pronominal clitics.
- Counting Words تا and نفرB1 — Use optional general counter تا and human counter نفر while keeping counted Persian nouns singular and register-appropriate.
- Few and Little: کم، اندک، معدودB1 — Express small quantity with کم, اندک, and معدود while controlling count syntax, scalar implication, and formal register.
- Plural after Numbers and QuantifiersA2 — Why Persian keeps a counted noun singular after a number, how optional counting words fit in, and which quantifiers follow different patterns.
- چند and چند تاA2 — Ask and state quantities with چند, colloquial چند تا, singular counted nouns, نفر for people, and context-dependent ‘a few’ readings.