Simple Descriptions (Adjectives)

Using Adjectives for Simple Descriptions

In this chapter you learn how to describe people, objects, and places in very simple Persian. You already know basic sentence structure and the verb “to be,” so here we focus only on how adjectives work and how to use a few very common ones.

Adjectives come after the noun

In Persian, adjectives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So instead of “a big house,” Persian literally says “house big.”

خانه بزرگ
$khāne-ye bozorg$
“big house”

کتاب خوب
$ketāb-e khub$
“good book”

You will often see a short vowel sound between the noun and the adjective. This sound is written as ـِ and called ezāfe. You will learn the ezāfe in detail later. For now, just notice how it sounds:

کتابِ خوب
$ketāb-e khub$
“(the) good book”

مردِ قدبلند
$mard-e qad-boland$
“tall man”

Using “to be” with adjectives

To say “X is adjective,” you use the noun, plus the adjective, plus the correct form of the verb “to be” that you have learned.

او خوب است.
$u khub ast.$
“He / she is good.”

خانه بزرگ است.
$khāne bozorg ast.$
“The house is big.”

کتاب کوچک است.
$ketāb kuchak ast.$
“The book is small.”

For very common spoken Persian, people often drop “ast” at the end in everyday speech. You will hear:

خانه بزرگه.
$khāne bozorg-e.$
“The house is big.”

This spoken ending “-e” comes from “ast.” Formal and written Persian usually uses “است” ($ast$).

Very common basic adjectives

Here are some very frequent adjectives you can already use to describe things around you.

خوب
$khub$
good

بد
$bad$
bad

بزرگ
$bozorg$
big

کوچک
$kuchak$ or $kuchik$
small, little

جدید
$jadid$
new

قدیمی
$qadimi$
old (not new, for objects)

گرم
$garm$
hot, warm

سرد
$sard$
cold

خوشگل
$khoshgel$
pretty, good-looking (informal)

زشت
$zesht$
ugly

خسته
$khaste$
tired

شاد
$shād$
happy, joyful

غمگین
$qamgin$ or $ghamgin$
sad

سریع
$sari‘$
fast

آهسته
$āheste$
slow, slowly

Example sentences:

او خسته است.
$u khaste ast.$
“He / she is tired.”

آب سرد است.
$āb sard ast.$
“The water is cold.”

هوای امروز گرم است.
$havā-ye emruz garm ast.$
“Today’s weather is hot.”

کتاب جدید است.
$ketāb jadid ast.$
“The book is new.”

Saying “very” and “too”

You can make your description stronger or weaker with simple words like “very” and “too.”

The most common word for “very” is:

خیلی
$kheyli$
very, a lot

خیلی خوب
$kheyli khub$
very good

خیلی بزرگ
$kheyli bozorg$
very big

خیلی خسته هستم.
$kheyli khaste hastam.$
“I am very tired.”

Another word with a similar meaning in many contexts is:

بسیار
$besyār$
very, much (more formal)

If you want to say “too” in the sense of “too much,” you can use:

خیلی
$kheyli$ in everyday speech can also mean “too”

or more precisely:

زیادی
$ziyādi$
too, too much

این خانه خیلی بزرگ است.
$in khāne kheyli bozorg ast.$
“This house is very big / too big.”

این چای زیادی سرد است.
$in chāy ziyādi sard ast.$
“This tea is too cold.”

Saying “not” with adjectives

You already know basic negation. With adjectives it is the same logic. You usually put “نیست” ($nist$) for “is not.”

خانه بزرگ نیست.
$khāne bozorg nist.$
“The house is not big.”

این کتاب خوب نیست.
$in ketāb khub nist.$
“This book is not good.”

او خسته نیست.
$u khaste nist.$
“He / she is not tired.”

In informal spoken Persian you will hear “نیست” pronounced and written as “نیست” or “نیس” ($nis$).

“This … is adjective” and “That … is adjective”

You already know demonstratives “this” and “that.” Combine them with adjectives to describe specific things.

این خانه بزرگ است.
$in khāne bozorg ast.$
“This house is big.”

آن خانه کوچک است.
$ān khāne kuchak ast.$
“That house is small.”

این ماشین جدید است.
$in māshin jadid ast.$
“This car is new.”

آن مرد خسته است.
$ān mard khaste ast.$
“That man is tired.”

You can also say “this big house,” “that small car,” again with the adjective after the noun.

این خانه بزرگ
$in khāne-ye bozorg$
“this big house”

آن ماشین کوچک
$ān māshin-e kuchak$
“that small car”

Describing people in a simple way

To talk about people in a basic way, you can use adjectives about appearance or feelings.

او قدبلند است.
$u qad-boland ast.$
“He / she is tall.”

او قدکوتاه است.
$u qad-kutāh ast.$
“He / she is short.”

او خوشگل است.
$u khoshgel ast.$
“She / he is pretty.”

او زشت نیست.
$u zesht nist.$
“He / she is not ugly.”

من خسته هستم.
$man khaste hastam.$
“I am tired.”

ما شاد هستیم.
$mā shād hastim.$
“We are happy.”

In everyday speech:

من خسته‌ام.
$man khaste-am.$
“I am tired.”

او شاده.
$u shād-e.$
“He / she is happy.”

You will learn details of spoken forms later, so at this level you can use the full forms with “است” and the personal forms of “to be” that you already know.

Two adjectives after one noun

You can also use more than one adjective after a noun. The adjectives simply follow each other. In very simple speech you can just put them in a row, often linked by “و” ($va$, “and”) if you like.

خانه بزرگ و زیبا است.
$khāne bozorg o zibā ast.$
“The house is big and beautiful.”

او خسته و ناراحت است.
$u khaste o nārāhat ast.$
“He / she is tired and upset.”

این کتاب قدیمی و خوب است.
$in ketāb qadimi o khub ast.$
“This book is old and good.”

You do not need to change the adjective endings. Persian adjectives do not change for gender or number at this level.

Short practice examples

Look at these simple description patterns and try to create your own:

این کتاب خوب است.
$in ketāb khub ast.$
“This book is good.”

آن ماشین قدیمی است.
$ān māshin qadimi ast.$
“That car is old.”

آب خیلی سرد است.
$āb kheyli sard ast.$
“The water is very cold.”

او خیلی شاد نیست.
$u kheyli shād nist.$
“He / she is not very happy.”

این خانه کوچک و گرم است.
$in khāne kuchak o garm ast.$
“This house is small and warm.”

Try replacing the noun or the adjective to describe your own room, your city, your family members, or objects that you can see.

Vocabulary table for this section