مالِ

Whose It Is with مالِ

Level 2

این کتاب مالِ من است means this book is mine. مالِ introduces the owner in this ownership statement.

How It Works

Name the owner. مالِ من means “mine,” مالِ تو means “yours,” and مالِ سارا means “Sara’s.” Keep the ezafe connection after مال even when ordinary text leaves the vowel mark unwritten.

In این کتاب مالِ سارا است, the phrase این کتاب names the thing, مالِ سارا identifies the owner, and است completes the statement. A possessive noun phrase such as کتابِ سارا instead means “Sara’s book”; it is not a complete ownership statement by itself.

Ask مالِ کی است؟ to ask whose it is. An everyday Iranian version is مالِ کیه؟, using the common spoken copula. Keep that contraction labeled rather than copying it into formal prose.

The construction concerns belonging. The noun مال has other uses, including property or goods, so interpret it inside the phrase rather than assuming every occurrence is the same pattern.

Examples (4)

  1. این کتاب مالِ من است.

    This book is mine.

    The ownership phrase follows the named thing.

  2. این کیف مالِ سارا است.

    This bag is Sara’s.

    A name can identify the owner after مالِ.

  3. این خانه مالِ ما نیست.

    This house is not ours.

    نیست negates the ownership statement.

  4. این مالِ کیه؟

    Whose is this?

    Common everyday copula -e joins کی in the question.

How It Connects

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

مالِLevel 2Whose It Is with مالِ

Learn This First

Use مالِ followed by an owner for a statement of belonging, and distinguish it from an ezafe noun phrase.