Adjectives Without Gender or Number Agreement

Level 2

کتابِ خوب and کتاب‌های خوب both use خوب. The plural ending goes on the noun, not on this adjective.

How It Works

Change the noun, keep the adjective. Compare کتابِ خوب, “a good book,” with کتاب‌های خوب, “good books.” The noun becomes plural; خوب stays the same. The plural ending ـها ends in /ā/, so its ezafe link is pronounced -ye and written ی in کتاب‌های.

The same pattern works with different plural endings: دوستِ خوب and دوستانِ خوب. Do not add another plural ending to خوب to make it agree.

Meaning still matters. An adjective can itself be used as a noun in another construction, and that noun can have a plural form. That is a different use; it does not create agreement on an ordinary adjective after a noun.

For people, دخترِ خوب and پسرِ خوب use the same adjective. A word can tell you someone’s gender, but the adjective does not acquire a matching grammatical ending.

Examples (4)

  1. کتابِ خوب

    a good book

    The adjective follows the noun through ezafe.

  2. کتاب‌های خوب

    good books

    ـها pluralizes کتاب; خوب does not change.

  3. دوستانِ خوب

    good friends

    The adjective stays خوب after a plural in ـان.

  4. دخترِ خوب / پسرِ خوب

    the good girl / the good boy

    The adjective does not change for the person’s gender.

How It Connects

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

Adjectives Without Gender or Number AgreementLevel 2

Learn This First

Put the plural marking on the noun and keep an ordinary attributive adjective in its own form.