Plural Possessive ـمان / ـتان / ـشان

Plural Possessive Endings

Level 2

کتابمان is our book, کتابتان is your book, and کتابشان is their book. A plural owner does not require several owned things.

How It Works

Written formMeaningCommon everyday form
کتابمانour bookکتابمون
کتابتانyour bookکتابتون
کتابشانtheir bookکتابشون

The owner and the owned noun have separate number choices. کتابمان can mean one book owned by us. کتاب‌هایمان means our books: ـها marks several books, and ـمان identifies us as the owners.

After final /e/, common standard spellings include خانه‌مان and خانه‌تان. Keep the stem and its ending in one word with a half-space rather than interpreting the clitic as a separate pronoun.

شما can address one person respectfully as well as a group. In کتابتان, the clitic alone does not tell you how many listeners there are.

Keep written and spoken examples internally consistent. Do not replace a formal owner clitic with a spoken reduction simply because a message is short.

Examples (4)

  1. کتابمان اینجاست.

    Our book is here.

    The owners are plural; the book need not be.

  2. خانه‌تان زیباست.

    Your house is beautiful.

    ـتان can address one person respectfully or a group.

  3. کتاب‌هایشان روی میز است.

    Their books are on the table.

    ـها marks plural books and ـشان marks their owners.

  4. کتابمون اینجاست.

    Our book is here.

    Common everyday -mun corresponds to written ـمان.

How It Connects

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

Plural Possessive ـمان / ـتان / ـشانLevel 2Plural Possessive Endings

Learn This First

Identify the owner with ـمان، ـتان، ـشان; mark the owned noun’s plural separately when needed.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.