مال
Whose It Is with مال
مال من stands alone and means mine; for my pen, say قلم من.
How It Works
مال means belonging to. Put it before the owner to say whose a thing is: این قلم مال من است (This pen is mine).
| Say | Meaning |
|---|---|
| مال من | mine |
| مال تو | yours |
| مال او | his or hers |
| مال ما | ours |
| مال شما | yours (polite) |
| مال احمد | Ahmad's |
Ask whose with کی: این مال کی است؟ (Whose is this?) A short answer is مال من (It is mine).
The thing comes first, then مال and the owner, then است: آن موتر مال احمد است. For my pen, with the noun, say قلم من or قلمم.
The owner can be a pronoun, a name or a noun: مال من, مال احمد, مال معلم. To say it is not mine, use نیست: مال من نیست.
The word مال also means property and goods. In this pattern it means belonging to.
Examples (5)
- این بایسکل مال من است.
This bicycle is mine.
مال من says whose the bicycle is.
- آن موتر مال احمد است.
That car is Ahmad's.
مال احمد names the owner.
- این چای مال کی است؟
Whose tea is this?
کی asks for the owner.
- این خانه مال ما است.
This house is ours.
مال ما means ours.
- این کتاب مال او نیست.
This book is not his.
نیست makes the sentence negative.
Common Mistakes
Using مال من before a noun for my.
مال من کتاب اینجا است.کتاب من اینجا است.مال من means mine, with no noun. For my book, say کتاب من.
How It Connects
Learn This First
مال goes before the pronoun that shows the owner, like مال من, so the pronouns come first.
Related Patterns
- ـم، ـت، ـشMy, Your and His or Her Endings
ـم, ـت and ـش say whose a noun is, as an ending.
Level 2 - Joining a Noun and Its Owner
The ezafe joins a noun to its owner in a phrase.
Level 1 - چه، کی، کجاWhat, Who and Where
کی is the question word for who and whose.
Level 1 - ـمان، ـتان، ـشانOur, Your and Their Endings
ـمان, ـتان and ـشان are the endings for more than one owner.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice مال in Bubblegum
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