ـان

Plurals with ـان

Level 2

Things like books and cars take ـها.

How It Works

Words for people, animals and some natural things have a second plural: ـان. It sounds more formal than ـها, and it is common in news and books: شاگردان (students), معلمان (teachers), درختان (trees).

The word ends inPlural endingExample
a consonantـانشاگرد → شاگردان
silent هـگانپرنده → پرندگان
اـیانآشنا → آشنایان

The three endings sound like -ān, -gān and -yān.

Things such as books and cars take ـها: کتاب‌ها. A few body words take ـان too, such as چشمان (eyes).

For people both endings work: معلمان and معلم‌ها both mean teachers. After a number the noun stays singular and takes no plural ending: سه معلم.

The plural of مرد (man) is مردان, and the plural of زن (woman) is زنان.

Examples (5)

  1. شاگردان در مکتب استند.

    The students are at school.

    شاگرد becomes شاگردان.

  2. معلمان اینجا استند.

    The teachers are here.

    معلم becomes معلمان.

  3. درختان باغ بابر سبز استند.

    The trees of Babur's Garden are green.

    Trees take ـان.

  4. پرندگان در آسمان استند.

    The birds are in the sky.

    پرنده ends in a silent ه, so the plural is پرندگان.

  5. آشنایان ما اینجا استند.

    Our acquaintances are here.

    آشنا ends in ا, so the plural is آشنایان.

Common Mistakes

  • Using ـان for a thing.

    کتابان
    کتاب‌ها

    Books and other things take ـها.

  • Adding ـان straight to a silent ه.

    پرنده‌ان
    پرندگان

    After a silent ه the plural ending is ـگان.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ـانLevel 2Plurals with ـان

Learn This First

ـان is a second plural ending, so ـها comes first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.