Formal animate plurals (-in)

The Formal Plural Suffix -ین

In Farsi, you are already familiar with standard plural suffixes like ها and ان. In formal written Farsi—such as official notices, news reports, and announcements—you will frequently see the plural suffix ین.

This suffix is borrowed from Arabic and is applied exclusively to Arabic loanwords referring to people (animate nouns). Because ین is highly formal, words using it are usually surrounded by formal verbs and polite vocabulary.

  • حاضر (attendee) becomes حاضرین (attendees)
  • متخلف (violator) becomes متخلفین (violators)

Official Notices

You will often encounter this plural form in public service announcements and official settings, particularly when addressing a group like مراجعین (clients/visitors). In these contexts, you will frequently see formal adjectives like گرامی (esteemed/dear) and verbs like خودداری کردن (to refrain).

News and Reports

This suffix is heavily used in journalism and official reports to group people by their roles or current states, such as مجروحین (the injured), ناظرین (the observers), معترضین (the protesters), and مخاطبین (the audience).