Persian distinguishes a demonstrative that modifies a noun from a demonstrative that stands alone. Before a noun, این in “this/these” and آن ân “that/those” do not change for number: این کتاب “this book,” این کتابها “these books,” آن دانشجو “that student,” آن دانشجوها “those students.” When no noun follows, the standard plural pronouns are اینها in-hâ “these/these people” and آنها ân-hâ “those/they.”
English changes this to these and that to those before a plural noun. Persian places plurality on the noun instead. The forms اینها and آنها already contain plural ـها, so placing them directly before another plural noun creates an ungrammatical doubled structure in the intended demonstrative phrase.
Two syntactic jobs
| Job | Near | Far/anaphoric | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| modifies singular noun | این | آن | این نامه، آن نامه |
| modifies plural noun | این | آن | این نامهها، آن نامهها |
| stands alone, plural | اینها | آنها | اینها تازهاند، آنها قدیمیاند |
| colloquial stand-alone plural | اینا | اونا | اینا خوبن، اونا گرونن |
The near/far distinction can be physical, textual, or discourse-based. این often points to what is near or currently presented; آن can point farther away or retrieve something less immediate. In many contexts آنها also serves as the ordinary third-person plural pronoun “they/them.”
Noun-modifying این and آن never pluralize
When an overt noun follows, leave the demonstrative unchanged and mark number on that noun if number needs overt marking.
این کتابها برای کلاس فردا است.
in ketâb-hâ barâ-ye kelâs-e fardâ ast.
These books are for tomorrow's class. (written standard; inanimate plural with singular agreement)
آن دانشجوها هنوز در کتابخانه هستند.
ân dâneshju-hâ hanuz dar ketâbkhâne hastand.
Those students are still in the library. (neutral standard; human plural agreement)
این خیابانها شبها خیلی شلوغ میشود.
in khiyâbân-hâ shab-hâ kheyli sholugh mi-shavad.
These streets get very busy at night. (written standard; inanimate plural construed collectively)
With a numeral, the order is demonstrative + numeral + singular counted noun: این سه کتاب, not اینها سه کتابها. The numeral supplies plural meaning, so the noun remains morphologically singular.
این سه پرونده را امروز بررسی میکنم.
in se parvande râ emruz barrasi mi-konam.
I'll review these three files today. (specific counted object)
اینها and آنها as complete noun phrases
Without a following noun, اینها and آنها can refer to people, animals, objects, ideas, or previously mentioned propositions. Context supplies the category and, for people, any natural gender.
اینها خیلی تازه است؛ همینها را میخواهم.
in-hâ kheyli tâze ast; hamin-hâ râ mi-khâham.
These are very fresh; I want these very ones. (objects, neutral standard)
آنها از دوستان قدیمی پدرم هستند.
ân-hâ az dustân-e qadimi-ye pedar-am hastand.
They are old friends of my father. (people; standard third-person plural)
اینها را از کدام فروشگاه خریدی؟
in-hâ râ az kodâm forushgâh kharidi?
Which shop did you buy these from? (specific plural object)
The object marker follows the entire demonstrative pronoun: اینها را. It is not inserted between این and plural ـها. Because demonstratives identify their referent deictically, objects built with them are normally specific and naturally take را.
Human and nonhuman agreement
Human plural referents normally trigger plural agreement: آنها آمدند “They came.” With nonhuman plurals, formal and careful written Persian often uses singular agreement, especially when the set is construed collectively. Modern speech also uses plural agreement when individual objects are salient. Both choices are real, but they present the set differently.
آنها دیروز به دفتر آمدند.
ân-hâ diruz be daftar âmadand.
They came to the office yesterday. (human plural; neutral standard)
این چراغها خراب است.
in cherâgh-hâ kharâb ast.
These lights are broken. (formal/careful standard; inanimate plural with singular agreement)
این چراغها خراباند و باید عوضشان کنیم.
in cherâgh-hâ kharâb-and va bâyad avaz-eshân konim.
These lights are broken, and we need to replace them. (neutral modern usage; individual lights are salient)
Agreement does not turn این into a plural determiner. See Inanimate Plurals and Singular Verb Agreement for the semantic and register factors.
Colloquial اینا and اونا
Everyday Tehran Persian regularly reduces standard اینها to اینا inâ and آنها to اونا unâ. These are independent plural pronouns, not standard noun-modifying determiners.
اینا رو بذار روی میز، اونا رو بده به سارا.
inâ ro bezâr ru-ye miz, unâ ro bede be sârâ.
Put these on the table and give those to Sara. (informal, regional: Tehran)
اونا امشب نمیان.
unâ emshab nemiyân.
They aren't coming tonight. (informal, regional: Tehran; human reference)
In standard prose, write اینها را and آنها امشب نمیآیند. A transcript or informal dialogue can preserve اینا رو and اونا ... نمیان, but these forms should not leak into unmarked narration.
A short contrastive exchange
کدام لیوانها را بشویم؟
kodâm livân-hâ râ beshuyam?
Which glasses should I wash? (careful spoken standard)
اینها را بشوی؛ آن لیوانها تمیز است.
in-hâ râ beshuy; ân livân-hâ tamiz ast.
Wash these; those glasses are clean. (careful standard; pronoun first, noun-modifying demonstrative second)
The reply illustrates both structures without redundancy: اینها replaces the noun, while آن modifies overt لیوانها.
Common Mistakes
1. Using plural اینها before an overt noun
❌ اینها کتابها گران است.
Incorrect — noun-modifying این remains unpluralized.
✅ این کتابها گران است.
in ketâb-hâ gerân ast.
These books are expensive. (formal/careful standard agreement)
2. Pluralizing a counted noun
❌ آن سه کتابها را خریدم.
Incorrect — after سه, the counted noun stays singular.
✅ آن سه کتاب را خریدم.
ân se ketâb râ kharidam.
I bought those three books.
3. Putting را inside the demonstrative pronoun
❌ این را ها خریدم.
Incorrect — plural ها belongs to اینها, and را follows the whole pronoun.
✅ اینها را خریدم.
in-hâ râ kharidam.
I bought these.
4. Using colloquial اونا as an unmarked written determiner
❌ اونا دانشجوها فردا میآیند.
Incorrect — اونا is a stand-alone pronoun; before an overt noun, use آن.
✅ آن دانشجوها فردا میآیند.
ân dâneshju-hâ fardâ mi-âyand.
Those students are coming tomorrow. (standard)
Key Takeaways
- Before a noun, این and آن do not change for number: این کتابها, آن سه کتاب.
- Standing alone, standard plural اینها and آنها can refer to people or things; آنها also functions as “they.”
- Human plural referents normally take plural agreement; inanimate plurals allow standard singular agreement and, when individuated, plural agreement.
- را follows the complete demonstrative phrase or pronoun: این کتابها را، اینها را.
- Colloquial Tehran اینا، اونا belong to informal speech and normally stand alone.
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Start learning Farsi →Related Topics
- Demonstratives این and آنA1 — Use invariant این and آن before singular and plural nouns, and distinguish their determiner and standalone pronoun functions.
- Regular Plural with هاA2 — Form and use the productive Persian plural -hâ with people and things, standard ZWNJ spelling, and clearly labeled colloquial reduction.
- 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.
- 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.
- Plural and Colloquial Pronoun FormsA2 — Distinguish standard آنها and ایشان from demonstrative اینها and everyday Tehran اینا، اونا، and ایشون, with appropriate reference and agreement.
- Quantifier and Numeral SyntaxA2 — Build Persian quantified noun phrases with prenominal numbers, singular counted nouns, optional counting words, partitives, and meaning-based agreement.