When navigating wholesale trade, supermarket supply chains, or formal business reports, you will frequently need to group items into broad collective categories. In Farsi, this is often done using the formal plural suffixes ات and جات.
The Formal Plural Suffix (ات)
Borrowed from Arabic, the suffix ات is heavily used to pluralize formal words, administrative terms, and business concepts. It attaches directly to the end of consonant-ending words.
| Singular Base | Plural Category (ات) |
|---|---|
| سفارش (order) | سفارشات (orders) |
| محصول (product) | محصولات (products) |
| Please check their orders for the new products. | لطفاً سفارشاتشان برای محصولات جدید را چک کنید.lotfan sefâreshâteshân barâye mahsulâte jadid râ chek konid. |
| We decided to stop the imports of these products. | ما تصمیم گرفتیم که واردات این محصولات را متوقف کنیم.mâ tasmim gereftim ke vâredâte in mahsulât râ motevaqqef konim. |
The Category Suffix (جات)
When dealing with broad categories of food, produce, or commodities—especially when the base word ends in a vowel—Farsi uses the variant suffix جات. This creates a collective category emphasizing "types of" a certain good rather than just a simple plural.
| Singular Base | Plural Category (جات) |
|---|---|
| میوه (fruit) | میوهجات (fruits) |
| شیرینی (sweet) | شیرینیجات (sweets) |
| ترشی (pickle) | ترشیجات (pickles) |
| They put the fruits and pickles inside the boxes. | آنها میوهجات و ترشیجات را داخل جعبهها میگذارند.ânhâ mive-jât va torshijât râ dâkhel-e ja'be-hâ migozârand. |
| We no longer buy snacks and sweets for the shop. | ما دیگر برای مغازه تنقلات و شیرینیجات نمیخریم.mâ digar barâye maghâze tanaghollât va shirini-jât nemikharim. |
| They buy fresh vegetables every day. | آنها هر روز سبزیجات تازه میخرند.ânhâ har rooz sabzijât tâze mikharand. |
Specialized Collectives
Many essential supermarket groups and abstract nouns are Arabic loanwords that inherently end in ات. You do not need to memorize their singular forms; instead, treat them as standalone wholesale category nouns. Examples include لبنیات (dairy products), حبوبات (legumes), تنقلات (snacks), and اطلاعات (information).
| Let's talk about the imports of our dairy products. | بیایید دربارهی واردات لبنیاتمان صحبت کنیم.biyâyid darbâre-ye vâredât-e labaniyâtemân sohbat konim. |
| They intend to start the exports of their legumes. | آنها قصد دارند که صادرات حبوباتشان را شروع کنند.ânhâ qasd dârand ke sâderât-e hobubâteshân râ shoru' konand. |
| Did you read the new information regarding legumes and sweets? | آیا اطلاعات جدید راجع به حبوبات و شیرینیجات را خواندید؟âyâ ettelâ'ât-e jadid râje' be hobubât o shirinijât râ khândid? |