Object Clitics on Verbs

Level 3

دیدمش can mean I saw that person. The verb ending identifies the observer; the final clitic identifies the person seen.

How It Works

Find the two people. In دیدمش, دید is the past stem, ـم identifies the speaker as the observer, and ـش identifies a third-person object. In دیدمت, the observer is still the speaker, but ـت identifies the familiar singular listener as the object.

Compare a full object. دیروز سارا را دیدم names Sara separately. Once Sara is clear, دیروز دیدمش can refer to the same event. In this basic comparison, the clitic supplies the referring object. A short form does not identify a previously unknown person by itself.

Written cliticObject reference
ـمme
ـتyou, familiar singular
ـشthat person or thing
ـمانus
ـتانyou, plural or respectful
ـشانthem

Keep the construction clear. In کتابش, ـش names an owner. In دیدمش, it names the object of seeing. Neither is a new subject ending. Learn the full form and its pronunciation rather than treating every final م or ش as the same grammatical job.

Read actual speech. Everyday Iranian commonly uses plural forms such as دیدمشون for written دیدمشان. Spoken clauses can also repeat an object with a clitic. That doubling is a separate contextual pattern, not proof that the sentence contains two different people as objects. Compound verbs can host clitics in other attested positions; this entry teaches the simple postverbal pattern.

Examples (4)

  1. دیروز سارا را دیدم.

    I saw Sara yesterday.

    The named object appears separately with را.

  2. دیروز دیدمش.

    I saw that person yesterday.

    The verb’s ـم marks the observer and the final ـش marks the object; context identifies the person.

  3. من دیدمت.

    I saw you.

    The first-person subject ending and familiar singular object clitic refer to different participants.

  4. دیروز دیدمشون.

    I saw them yesterday.

    Common everyday ـشون corresponds to written ـشان.

How It Connects

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

Object Clitics on VerbsLevel 3

Learn This First

Separate the verb’s subject ending from the object clitic. Recognize the existing clitic shapes while assigning them a new argument role. Understand the separate referring direct-object construction used for comparison.