In English, a noun can be made definite (the book) or indefinite (a book) with the use of a definite or indefinite article ("the" or "a"). Dari does not make use of such articles.
One should note that the terms definite and indefinite in Dari do not exactly correspond to their uses in English.
Normally, a noun in Dari is definite. However, a noun can be made indefinite by adding the suffix ی :
"a book" کتابی
"a girl" دختری
The indefinite suffix is never stressed when speaking.
In informal speech, adding the numeral یک (one), can also be used to make a noun indefinite. Thisیک can be used alone or optionally in combination with the suffix ی:
"a book" یک کتاب
"a book" یک کتابی
If there is an adjective qualifying an indefinite noun, the ی suffix is placed on the adjective rather than the noun, because the adjective is the last word of the word combination:
"a good man" مرد خوبی
"a big mountain" (see Adjectives below). کوه بلندی
If two or more nouns are joined by و (and), the indefinite suffix can be added to the final word only, again because this is the final word of the word combination:
"a pen and a notebook and a book" قلم و کتابچه و کتابی
The indefinite suffix can also be used with plural nouns:
"some gentlemen" آقایانی
"some places" جاهایی
See Also: