This article describes the grammar of the standard Tajik language as spoken and written in Tajikistan. In general, the grammar of the Tajik language fits the analytical type. Little remains of the case system, and grammatical relationships are primarily expressed via clitics, word order and other analytical constructions. Like other modern varieties of Persian, Tajik grammar is almost identical to the classic Persian grammar, although there are differences in some verb tenses.
Nouns
Nouns are not marked for grammatical gender, although they are marked for number. Natural gender is usually distinguished by a change of word, like English, e.g. мурғ (murgh) 'fowl' and хурӯс (khurūs) 'rooster'. Alternatively the modifiers 'нар' (nar) for male or 'мода' (moda) for female can be pre or post-posed to the noun, e.g. хар-и нар (khar-i nar) 'male donkey' and хар-и мода (khar-i moda) 'female donkey'.
The article does not exist, although the definite direct object is marked by a suffix, -ро (-ro). The use of this suffix is mandatory when a previously referenced object is being talked about.
Nouns may exhibit several suffixes. Of these suffixes, the plural marker is found first, followed by any possessive markers followed by the direct object marker. For example, in the following noun:
китобҳоятонро
kitobhoyatonro
This may be understood as [kitob [-ho pl [-yaton 2nd person pl. [-ro direct object marker] ] ] ], translation: "your (pl.) books"
Number
Two forms of number exist in Tajik, singular and plural. The plural is marked by either the suffix -ҳо (-ho) or -он (-on), although Arabic loan words may use Arabic forms. While -ҳо can be used with any noun, the suffix -он is primarily used with animate nouns and has the variants -ён (-yon) which is used with words ending in -ӣ, ӯ or -о, -вон (-von) for words ending in у, and -гон (-gon) which is used with words ending in -а. For example, the singular for 'horse' is асп (asp), and the plural, 'horses' can be either аспҳо (aspho) or аспон (aspon). Typically, the -он (-on) ending is reserved for animate objects, although this is not always true. For example, body parts that come in pairs, such as даст (dast), meaning "hand" and чашм (chashm), meaning "eye" are pluralized as дастон (daston) and чашмон (chashmon), respectively. ҷазира (jazira, island) – ҷазираҳо (jaziraho, islands) бунёдгаро (bunyodgaro, fundamentalist) – бунёдгароён (bunyodgaroyon, fundamentalists) парранда (parranda, bird) – паррандагон/паррандаҳо (parrandagon/parrandaho, birds)
For words ending in ӣ, the ӣ is shortened to и before suffixes
моҳӣ (mohī, fish) – моҳиён/моҳиҳо (mohiyon/mohiho, fish[es])
Irregular plurals from Arabic exist in a fair number of words, though—due to the lesser influence of Arabo-Islamic learning in modernity—these tend to be less widely used in Tajik than in other varieties of Persian. мӯъҷиза (mū'jiza, miracle) – мӯъҷизаҳо/мӯъҷизот (mū'jizaho/mū'jizot, miracles)
Adjectives
There is no agreement of the adjective, or modifier with the head word. Adjectives do not take the plural markers -он or -ҳо. Typically, adjectives follow the nouns they modify, and are linked with the izafet construction (called izofa in Tajik), for example: китоби хуб (kitobi khub, good book) and китобҳои хуб (kitobhoi khub, good books). However, the superlative typically precedes the noun. For example,
кӯҳи баланд (kūhi baland, tall mountain) кӯҳи баландтар (kūhi balandtar, taller mountain) баландтарин кӯҳ (balandtarin kūh, tallest mountain)
Comparative forms use the suffix '-тар' (-tar), while superlative forms use the suffix '-тарин' (-tarin).
Izofa-construction
The izofa-construction (from изофа, اضافه, meaning 'addition') is the name given to the combination of a head word and a modifier (for example an adjective) using the unstressed enclitic, -и, (-i). In the plural, the enclitic is placed after the plural marker.
Pronominal enclitics and the definite marker are placed at the end of the izafet-construction, for example, китоби хубам (kitobi khubam), "my good book".
Pronouns
Forms of the personal pronouns with English language equivalent(s).
The 2nd person plural, шумо also finds use as the polite form of the 2nd person. In written Tajik, this polite usage is distinguished by the capitalisation of the term шумо, for example, Шумо кай меоед? (shumo kay meoed?), trans. "when are you coming?" vs. шумо кай меоед?, trans. "when are you (all) coming?" ***Note in Northern Dialects of Tajik, the plural form of шумо is шумоён (shumoyon) and is conjugated as кай шумоён меоедетон? (kay shumoyon meoyedeton?) or when are you all coming?