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### The Alphabet

Before we jump into plurals, let's learn the new letters used in this lesson:

- **پ** (Pe): Sounds like 'p'.
- **ش** (Shin): Sounds like 'sh'.
- **گ** (Gaaf): Sounds like a hard 'g', as in 'go'.
- **ف** (Fe): Sounds like 'f'.
- **ق** (Ghaaf): A guttural 'gh' sound made in the back of the throat, similar to a French 'r'.

### Plural Pronouns

Now let's expand our sentences to talk about groups of people.

- **ما** : We
- **شما** : You (plural, or singular formal)
- **آنها** : They (informal)
- **ایشان** : They (formal)

### The Plural Verb "To Be"

Just like the singular forms, the plural present tense of "to be" attaches directly to the end of a noun or adjective as a suffix.

| Pronoun | Verb Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ما | ـیم | We are |
| شما | ـید | You (all) are |
| آنها / ایشان | ـند | They are |

When attaching to words ending in consonants, the suffix connects directly. If a word ends in a silent **ه** or the vowel **ی** (common in nationality words), we add an Alef (**ا**) before the suffix so the sounds remain distinct.

Let's see these rules in action:

{{item:770837}}

{{item:770840}}

For "they", you can use **آنها** for everyday speech:

{{item:770843}}

For a more respectful or formal "they", use **ایشان**:

{{item:770850}}

You can link sentences together with **و** (and) to talk about multiple subjects at once:

{{item:770851}}

{{item:770857}}

{{item:770856}}

Plural pronouns and copula (mâ, -im)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

suffix

verb

Singular pronouns and copula (man, -am)

Subject pronoun omission

Singular demonstratives (in, ân)

Plural demonstratives (inhâ, ânhâ)

Independent copula (hastam, hast)

Negative present copula (nistam, nist)

Yes/No questions (âyâ)

Regular plurals (-hâ)

Animate plurals (-ân)

Indefiniteness (yek)

Indefinite marker (-i)

Describing nouns (-e / -ye)

Possession (-e / -ye)

Singular possessives (-am, -at, -ash)

Plural possessives (-emân, -etân, -eshân)

Basic prepositions (dar, be, az, bâ)

Spatial prepositions (ru-ye, zir-e...)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yek, do, se...)

Numbers and singular nouns

Numbers 11 to 20 (yâzdah, davâzdah...)

Counting by tens to 100

Telling time (sâ'at)

The verb to have (dâram)

Negative to have (nadâram)

Basic word order (SOV)

Infinitives and present stems (-an)

Present indicative (mi-)

Negative present indicative (nemi-)

Compound verbs

Question words (che, kojâ)

How many (chand)

The definite object marker (râ)

Object pronouns (man râ, to râ)

Singular commands (be-)

Formal and plural commands (be- ... -id)

Negative commands (na-)

The present subjunctive (be-)

The negative present subjunctive (na-)

Must (bâyad)

Might (shâyad)

Wanting to do something (khâstan)

Being able to do something (tavânestan)

Forming the past stem

The simple past of to be (budan)

The simple past tense

Negative simple past (na-)

Attached object pronouns on verbs (-am, -at, -ash)

Comparative adjectives (-tar)

Basic conjunctions (va, ammâ, yâ)

Giving reasons (chon)

Adverbs of frequency and degree (hamishe, hargez, kheyli, kam)

Everyday actions (kâr kardan, bâz kardan)

Non-human plural subjects

Indefinite pronouns (kasi, chizi, jâyi)

Negative indefinite pronouns (hich-kas, hich-chiz, hich-jâ)

Reciprocal pronouns (hamdigar, yekdigar)

Reflexive pronouns (khod-)

Reflexive direct objects (khod râ)

Emphatic pronouns (khod)

The quantifier every (har)

The quantifier all (hame)

The quantifier some (ba'zi)

Another and other (-i digar)

Which (kodâm)

How much (cheghadr)

Comparisons of equality (mesl-e)

Superlative adjectives (-tarin)

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Ordinal numbers (-om)

Pre-nominal ordinal numbers (-omin)

Fractions and percentages

Prepositions of theme (dar mored-e)

Prepositions of time (ghabl az, ba'd az)

Preposition of exclusion (bedun-e)

Resultative conjunctions (banâbarin, pas)

Hortative construction (biyâ, biyâyid)

The present progressive tense (dâram mi-)

The past continuous tense (mi-)

Negative past continuous (ne-mi-)

Past continuous of to have (dâshtam)

The past progressive tense (dâshtam mi-)

The past participle (-e)

Present perfect tense (-e-am, -e-ast)

Negative present perfect (na-)

Present perfect of compound verbs

Question	Answer
we	ما
Iranian	ایرانی
We are Iranian.	ما ایرانی‌ایم.mâ irâni-im.
you (plural)	شما
French	فرانسوی
You all are French.	شما فرانسوی‌اید.shomâ farânsavi-id.
they	آنها
German	آلمانی
They are German.	آنها آلمانی‌اند.ânhâ âlmâni-and.
American	آمریکایی
and	و
English	انگلیسی
I am American and he is English.	من آمریکایی‌ام و او انگلیسی است.man âmrikâyi-am va u engelisi ast.
they (formal)	ایشان
Canadian	کانادایی
They are Canadian. (formal)	ایشان کانادایی‌اند.ishân kânâdâyiyand.
We are employees and they are drivers.	ما کارمندیم و آنها راننده‌اند.mâ kârmandim va ânhâ rânande-and.
They are professors. (formal)	ایشان استادند.ishân ostâdand.
They are artists and you all are mechanics.	آنها هنرمندند و شما مکانیکید.ânhâ honarmandand va shomâ mekânikid.
Russian	روسی
I am English and you are Russian.	من انگلیسی‌ام و تو روسی‌ای.man engelisi-am va to rusi-i.
She is Canadian and we are American.	او کانادایی است و ما آمریکایی‌ایم.u kânâdâyi ast va mâ âmrikâyi-im.
They are Iranian and you all are German.	آنها ایرانی‌اند و شما آلمانی‌اید.ânhâ irâni'and va shomâ âlmâni'id.
He is French.	او فرانسوی است.u farânsavi ast
They are Russian. (formal)	ایشان روسی‌اند.ishân rusi-and.
also, too / both ... and / together / each other	همham
I am also Iranian.	من هم ایرانی‌ام.man ham irâni-am.
We are also German.	ما هم آلمانی‌ایم.mâ ham âlmâniyim.