What it means
اسم (esm) has two senses. As a grammar term it means “noun.” In daily speech it also means “name,” as in someone’s first name. Borrowed from Arabic (root s-m-w, “to name”), it is one of the first words a Persian learner picks up.
How to use it
- اسم تو چیه؟ (esm-et chiye?) “What’s your name?”
- این یک اسم خاص است (in yek esm-e khâs ast) “this is a proper noun”
- اسم و فامیل (esm-o fâmil) “first and last name”
How it appears in Persian sentences
An esm can be subject or object. In کتاب روی میز است (ketâb ru-ye miz ast) “the book is on the table,” both کتاب (ketâb, book) and میز (miz, table) are esm. Persian nouns don’t carry grammatical gender and have no articles, which makes them simpler than the noun systems in French or German.
Cultural note
The double meaning matters socially. When an Iranian asks اسمت چیه؟, they’re asking your name, but in a classroom the same word means “noun.” Persian first names often carry meaning (مهرداد, مریم, آرش), so a parent picking an esm for a نوزاد is choosing both a label and a small wish.
References
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