Language/Central-pashto/Grammar/Possessive-Adjectives
Introduction
In previous lessons, you learned about personal pronouns in Central Pashto. In this lesson, we will focus on possessive adjectives, which are words used to indicate possession or ownership. Possessive adjectives are an essential part of everyday language and are commonly used in conversations, narratives, and descriptions. This lesson will cover the basic forms of possessive adjectives, their usages, and provide you with some examples for practice.
Possessive Adjectives
In Central Pashto, possessive adjectives are used to indicate possession or ownership by showing a relationship between a noun or pronoun and a person or thing. Possessive adjectives always come before a noun or pronoun, indicating that the noun belongs to or is associated with the subject. In Central Pashto, the forms of possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.
Forms of Possessive Adjectives
The following table shows the different forms of possessive adjectives in Central Pashto:
| Pronoun | Singular masculine | Singular feminine | Plural masculine | Plural feminine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My | زما zma | زما zma | زمونه zmoonə | زمې zme |
| Your (singular) | ته ta | ته ta | تاسو tāsu | تاسې tāse |
| His/Her/Its | هغه، یو، یواکه، وو həǧa, yo, ywakə, waw | هغه، یو، یواکه، وو həǧa, yo, ywakə, waw | هغوی hogwey | هغې، یواکې، وووکې həye, yawake, wowake |
| Our | موږ moǰ | موږ moǰ | موږونه moǰonə | موږې moǰe |
| Your (plural) | تاسو tāsu | تاسو tāsu | تاسونه tāsunə | تاسوې tāse |
| Their | دغه، دوی، دویه، دی dəǧa, dway, dwaye, dəy | دغه، دوی، دویه، دی dəǧa, dway, dwaye, dəy | دغوین dəɣwen | دغې، دیه، دیوې dəye, dwaye, dwawe |
Note: The singular masculine and feminine forms of "My" and "Your" are the same.
Usage of Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives are used to express possession or ownership of a noun. Let's look at the following examples to better understand the usage of possessive adjectives:
- زما کتاب zma kitab - My book
- تاسو پته taasu pata - Your shirt
- هغه ماشین həǧa māšin - His car
- دغې ورځواکونه dəye warz̤awākunə - Their schedules
- موږ د کورپاڼو پلارونه moǰ də kawrpānaw palāronə - Our school uniforms
As you can see, possessive adjectives always come before the noun they modify and agree in gender and number with the noun.
It is also important to note that in Central Pashto, using a possessive adjective is not the only way to express possession or ownership. Another way is to use the construction "da + pronoun/person", which literally means "of + pronoun/person". For example:
- کتاب د زما da zma kitab - The book of mine
- پته د تاسو da taasu pata - The shirt of yours
- ماشین د هغه da həǧa māšin - The car of his
- ورځواکونه د دغې da dəye warz̤awākunə - The schedules of theirs
- کورپاڼو پلارونه د موږ da moǰ də kawrpānaw palāronə - The school uniforms of ours
The usage of possessive adjectives and "da + pronoun/person" is interchangeable in most cases, but the former is more commonly used in everyday speech.
Practice
Let's practice using possessive adjectives and solidify our understanding of their usage. Complete the following sentences using the correct form of possessive adjective:
- زما ___ غوښه وو zma ___ ωoašə waw - My brother is here.
- تاسو ___ لیون taasu ___ lyawn - Your shirt is blue.
- هغه ___ تولد həǧa ___ tōld - His birthday is tomorrow.
- دغې ___ کتابونه dəye ___ kitābonə - Their books are interesting.
- موږ ___ خوندو moǰ ___ k̠awinda - Our school is big.
Answers:
- زما ولړمه zma walərma - My brother
- تاسو آسماني taasu āsmāni - Your (singular)
- هغه پهنه، یو، یواکه، وو həǧa pahəna,yo,ywakə,waw - His
- دغې کتابونه dəye kitābonə - Their
- موږ خونده moǰ xwandə - Our
Conclusion
In this lesson, we covered possessive adjectives in Central Pashto. You learned about their forms, usage, and saw some examples in practice. Remember, possessive adjectives are an essential part of everyday language and are commonly used in conversations, narratives, and descriptions. In the next lesson, we will focus on another important part of Central Pashto grammar.