Adjectives of presence and absence (bâ-, bi-)

In Farsi, you can easily turn a noun into an adjective by using the prefixes با- (with) and بی- (without).

Adjectives of Presence (با-)

To say that someone or something has a particular quality, add با- to the beginning of a noun. For example, adding با- to سواد (literacy) gives you باسواد (educated), and adding it to استعداد (talent) gives you بااستعداد (talented).

Adjectives of Absence (بی-)

To describe the absence of a trait, use بی-. This functions like the English suffix "-less" or the prefix "un-". For instance, attaching بی- to رحم (mercy) creates بی‌رحم (ruthless), and attaching it to معنی (meaning) creates بی‌معنی (meaningless).

Describing Character and Conditions

These prefixes are highly productive and can attach to almost any abstract noun to describe a person's character or the state of an object.