Plural Nouns

Dari has two main plural endings:

ها (in informal speech, this is often pronounced-"aa") is the plural ending for inanimate nouns:

کتاب ها) کتابها)

"books"

توپ ها) توپها)

"guns"

This ending is generally written attached to the word, although it is sometimes written separately from the word, as shown in the parentheses above.

آن is the plural ending for animate nouns

آقایان

"gentlemen"

سربازان

"soldiers"

In informal speech, this rule is not always observed. "Ladies" can take the animate ending, or more often the inanimate:

"Ladies and Gentlemen" خانم ها و آقایان

In addition, some animate plural nouns, especially words borrowed from foreign languages, often take the inanimate ending, probably because they are then easier to pronounce:

"Russians" روس ها

"Democrats" دموکراتها

See Also:

• Gender of Nouns
• Class of Nouns
• Number of Nouns
• Spelling Rules for Plural Nouns
• Plurals of Words Borrowed from Arabic
• Definite and Indefinite Nouns
• Special Spelling Rules for the Indefinite Suffix
• Special Functions of the Indefinite Suffix
• Proper Nouns
• Verbal Nouns
• Foreign Words Adopted in Dari
• Arabic Elements