Adjectives

Adjectives are words that limit or express the qualities of nouns or other substantives. Adjectives agree with the words they modify in gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural), and case (direct and indirect). Based on the feminine form, the plural form, and the indirect case, there are six types adjectives: "weak" adjectives, "strong" adjectives, "intermediate" adjectives, syncopated adjectives, adjectives with masculine singular forms in the direct case that ends in -ی [-áy] or [-ay], and invariable adjectives.

1) "weak" adjectives:

• Masculine gender: The singular form of the direct case ends in a consonant. It stays the same for all the forms, except for the plural form of the indirect case. The plural form of the indirect case is produced by adding -و [-o] to the masculine stem, as shown in the table below.
• Feminine gender: The singular form of the direct case is formed by adding -ه [-a] to masculine form. The singular form of the indirect case and the plural form of the direct case are formed by adding -ې [-e]. The plural form of the indirect case is produced by adding -و [-o] to the masculine stem, as shown in the table below.

("black" - [tor] تُور "big" - [loy] لُوی "sitting" - [naast] ناسْت )

Case	Singular number		Plural number
	masculine	Feminine	masculine	Feminine
Direct	[tor] -تُور , [loy] - لُوی , [naast] - ناست	[tóra] - تُورَه , [lóya ] - لُویَه , [naásta]- ناسْتَه ,	[tor] - تُور , [loy] - لُوی , [naast] - ناسْت	[tóre] - تُورې , [lóye] - لُویې , [naáste ] - ناسْتې
Indirect	[tor] - تُور , [loy] - لُوی , [naast] - ناسْت	[tóre ] - تُورې , [lóye ] - لُویې , [naáste ] - ناسْتې	[tóro] - تُورُو , [ lóyo ] - لُویُو , [naásto ] - ناسْتُو

2) "strong" adjectives:

• Masculine gender: The singular form of the direct case ends in a consonant. The singular form of the indirect case is formed by changing the stem vowel و ([o], [u]) into the long vowel ا [aa] and adding ه [A]. It is the same as the plural form of the direct case. The plural form of the indirect case is formed by adding -و [-o] to the feminine stem, as shown in the table below.
• Feminine gender: The singular form of the direct case is produced from the masculine form by changing the stem vowel و ([o], [u]) into ه [a] and adding the last sound. The singular form of the indirect case is formed from the feminine stem by adding the stressed -ې [-é]. It is the same as the plural form of the direct case. The plural form of the indirect case is formed by adding -و [-o] to the feminine stem, as shown in the table below.

("lying" - [prot] پْرُوت "warm" - [tod] تُود "light" - [ruN] رُوڼ )

Case	Single number		Plural number
	masculine	Feminine	masculine	Feminine
Direct	[prot] - پْرُوت [tod] - تُود [ruN] - رُوڼ	[pratá ] - پْرَتَه [tawdá] - تَوْدَه [raNá] - رَڼَه	[praatә́] - پْراتٌه [taawdә́] - تاوْدٌه [raaNә́] - راڼٌه	[praté ] - پْرَتې [tawdé ] - تَوْدې [raNé ] - رَڼې
Indirect	[praatә́ ] - پْراتٌه [taawdә́] - تاوْدٌه [raaNә́] - راڼٌه	[praté] - پْرَتې [tawdé ] - تَوْدې [raNé ] - رَڼې	[prató ] - پْرَتُو [tawdó ] - تَوْدُو [raNó ] - رڼو

3) "intermediate" adjectives:

Intermediate adjectives combine features of weak and strong adjectives.

• Masculine gender: The singular form of the direct case ends in -ه [-A] or in a consonant. The singular form of the indirect case is produced by adding -ه [-Á]. Therefore, adjectives ending in -ه [-A] have the same singular form for the direct and indirect cases. It is also the same as the plural form of the direct case. The plural form of the indirect case is produced by adding -و [-ó] to the masculine stem, as shown in the table below.
• Feminine gender: The singular form of the direct case is produced by adding -ه [-á] to the masculine stem. (Adjectives that end in -ه [-A] change this sound into -ه [-a]). The singular form of the indirect case is produced by changing -ه [-á] into -ې [-e] in the ending. It is the same as the plural form of the direct case. The plural form of the indirect case is produced by adding -و [-ó] to the masculine stem, as shown in the table below.

("long" - [uGhd] اُوږْد "green" - [zarghún] زَرْغُون "good" - [KhA] ښٌه )

Case	Singular number		Plural number
	masculine	Feminine	masculine	feminine
Direct	[uGhd] - اُوږْد [zarghún] - زَرْغُون [KhA] -ښٌه	[uGhdá] - اُوږْدَه [zarghuná ] - زَرْغُونَه [Kha ] -ښَه	[uGhdÁ ] - اُوږْدٌه [zarghunÁ ] - زَرْغُونٌه [KhA] -ښٌه	[uGhdé ] - اُوږْدې [zarghuné ] - زَرْغُونې [Khe]-ښې
Indirect	[uGhdÁ] - اُوږْدٌه [zarghunÁ ] - زَرْغُونٌه [KhA] -ښٌه	[uGhdé] - اُوږْدې [zarghuné] - زَرْغُونې [Khe] -ښې	[uGhdó ] - اُوږْدُو [zarghunó ] - زَرْغُونُو [Kho ] -ښُو

4) syncopated adjectives:

Syncopated adjectives are adjectives that are abridged as a result of the stem vowel reduction in different forms. These adjectives lose a vowel in their stem. At the same time, they can add the vowel [A] to a stem which has more two consonants.

• Masculine gender: The singular form of the direct case ends in a consonant. The singular form of the indirect case is produced by reducing the stem vowel and adding -ه [-A]. It is the same as plural form of the direct case. The plural form of the indirect case is produced by adding -و [-ó] to the feminine stem, as shown in the table below.
• Feminine gender: The singular form of the direct case is produced by reducing the masculine stem vowel and adding -ه [-á]. The singular form of the indirect case is formed by adding -ې [-é] to the feminine stem. It is the same as the plural form of the direct case. The plural form of the indirect case is produced by adding -و [-ó] to the feminine stem, as shown in the table below.

("red" - [sur] سُور "bitter" - [trikh] تْریخ "sour" - [triw] تْریو )

Case	Singular number		Plural number
	masculine	Feminine	masculine	Feminine
Direct	[sur] - سُور [trikh] - تْریخ [triw] - تْریو	[sra ] - سْرَه [tArkhá] - تٌرخَه [tArwá ] - تٌرْوَه	[srA ] - سرٌه [tArkhÁ] - تٌرخٌه [tArwÁ ] - تٌرْوٌه	[sre ] - سْرې [tArkhé ] - تٌرخې [tArwé ] - تٌروې
Indirect	[srA ] - سرٌه [tArkhÁ ] - تٌرخٌه [tArwÁ] - تٌرْوٌه	[sre] - سْرې [tArkhé] - تٌرْخې [tArwé ] - تٌرْوې	[sro] - سْرو [tArkhó ] - تٌرخُو [tArwó ] - تٌروُو

5) adjectives for which the masculine singular form of the direct case ends in -ی [-áy] or [-ay]:

a) adjectives that end in the stressed -ی [áy]:

• Masculine gender: The singular form of the indirect case and the plural form of the direct case change the ending -ی [-áy] into -ى [-í]. The plural form of the indirect case is formed by adding -و [-ó] to the plural masculine form of the direct case, as shown in the table below.
• Feminine gender: The singular form of the direct case, the singular form of the indirect case, and the plural form of the direct case are all produced by changing the ending to -ۍ [-Áy]. The plural form of the indirect case is formed by adding -و [-ó] to the plural masculine form of the direct case, as shown in the table below.

("small" - [kuchnáy] کُوچْنَی "thin" - [naráy] نَرَی )

Case	Singular number		Plural number
	masculine	Feminine	masculine	feminine
Direct	[kuchnáy] - کُوچْنَی [naráy] - نَرَی	[kuchnÁy] - کُوچْنۍ [narÁy ] - نَرۍ	[kuchní ] - کُوچْنى [narí ] - نَرى	[kuchnÁy ] - کُوچْنۍ [narÁy ] - نَرۍ
Indirect	[kuchní] - کُوچْنى [narí ] - نَرى	[kuchnÁy] - کُوچْنۍ [narÁy ] - نَرۍ	[kuchnío ] - کُوچْنیو  [narío ] - نَریو

b) adjectives that end in the unstressed -ی [-ay]:

• The singular feminine form of the direct case is produced by changing -ی [-ay] into -ې [-e].
• The masculine and feminine singular forms of the indirect case, as well as the masculine and feminine plural forms of the direct case, are produced by adding -ى [-i] instead of -ی [-ay].
• The masculine and feminine plural forms of the indirect case are produced by adding -و [-o] to the plural form of the direct case or to a stem, as shown in the table below.

("new" - [nÁway] نٌوَی "tired" - [stÁRay] سْتٌړَی )

Case	Singular number		Plural number
	masculine	Feminine	masculine	feminine
Direct	[nÁway ] - نٌوَی [stÁRay] - سْتٌړَی	[nÁwe]- نٌوې [stÁRe] - سْتٌړې	[nÁwi] - نٌوى [stÁRi ]- سْتٌړى	[nÁwi ] - نٌوى [stÁRi ] - سْتٌړى
Indirect	[nÁwi] - نٌوى [stÁRi] - سْتٌړى	[nÁwi] - نٌوى [stÁRi] - سْتٌړى	[nÁwio ] - نٌویو [stÁRo ] - سْتٌړو

7) invariable adjectives

Invariable adjectives which end in -ه [-a], -ا [-aa], -ې [-e], -ى [-i], -و [-u], and -و [-o] are indeclinable in all their forms:

"nice" - [Khaaistá ] ښایسْتَه

"violet" - [chuNiaá ] چُڼیا

"close" - [nÁGhde] نٌږْدې

"light blue" - [abí ] ابى

"famous" - [namtú ] نامْتُو

See Also:

• Degrees of Comparison
• Adjective Formation
• Syntax
• Introduction
• Language Phrases