را

From Arabic رَأَى (raʔā). Compare Maltese ra.

• IPA^(key): /raː/

را • (rā) I (non-past يرى (yrā))

1. (dated) to see

   ما شفت ما ريت ― ma šuft ma rīt ― I didn't see anything. (literally, “I didn't see, I didn't see.”)

2. (imperative) to give

   آرى لي داك الكتاب ― ʔāra li dāk le-ktāb ― Give me that book.

   آراوا دوك الخناشي باش ما ننساهمش غدا ملي نكون ماشي للسوق.

   ʔārāw dūk le-ḵnāši bāš ma ninsāhumš ḡadda milli nkūn māši le-s-sūq.

   Give me those bags so I don't forget them tomorrow when I'm going to the market.

را • (rā)

1. (false verb) used in the sense of “being” + verb, comparable to English “to be doing” – otherwise used in the sense of “being” + adjective: to be

   Synonym: كان (kān)

   راها ڭالسة على الطابلة ― rāha gālsa ʕla eṭ-ṭābla ― She is sitting on the table.

   راني فالطريق ما نجي لعندك.

   rāni f-eṭ-ṭrīq mā nji l-ʕandek.

   I am on the way to come to visit you.

   السي راه تمة ― es-si rāh temma ― The guy is there.

• IPA^(key): /rɑ/

را • (râ)

1. toward me or us (pronominal prefix of the first person)

• رو (ro) (colloquial Iranian), ره (ra) (colloquial Dari)
• و (o) (colloquial Iranian), ه (a) (colloquial Dari)

From Middle Persian lʾd (rāy), from Old Persian 𐎼𐎠𐎭 (ra-a-da, rād, “cause, reason, because of, due to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit together”).^[1]

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

را • (râ)

1. Used to mark certain noun phrases as the direct object. Since it is obligatory for all definite direct objects, it is often called the “definite object marker”, although it can be used for certain indefinite objects as well. See Usage notes.

   دیروز او را دیدم. ― diruz u râ didam. ― I saw him yesterday.

   باید تو را پیدا کنم. ― bâyad to râ peydâ konam. ― I have to find you.

   کتاب را خریدم. ― ketâb râ xaridam. ― I bought the book.

   مردی را کشته بود. ― mardi râ košte bud. ― He had killed a man.

   گربه رو نوازش کردم. (colloquial Iranian) ― gorba ro navâzeš kardam. ― I stroked the cat.

   • 1258, Shaykh Muṣliḥ-ud-Dīn Saʿdī of Shiraz, translated by Wheeler M. Thackston, The Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa’di: Bilingual English and Persian Edition with Vocabulary, Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, published 2008, →ISBN, page 33:

     پدر و مادرش را بخواند و بنعمت بیکران خشنود گردانیدند و قاضی فتوی داد که خون یکی از رعیت ریختن سلامتِ نفس پادشاه را روا باشد.

     pidar u mādar-aš rā bixwānd u ba ni'mat-i bē-kirān xušnūd gardānīdand u qāzī fatwā dād ki xūn-i yakē az ra'īyyat rēxtan salāmat-i nafs-i pādšāh rā rawā bāšad.

     The boy’s mother and father were summoned and appeased with immeasurable wealth, and the judge issued an opinion that it was licit to shed the blood of a subject for the sake of the king’s health.

     (Classical Persian romanization)

   • c. 1390, Hafez, “Ghazal 7”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Hafez]‎:

     صوفی بیا که آینه صافیست جام را
     تا بنگری صفای می لعل‌فام را

     sūfī biyā ki āyina-yi sāfi-st jām rā
     tā bingarī safā-yi may-i la'l-fām rā

     Mystic, come, for the cup has a bright mirror,
     So that you might see the brightness of ruby-hued wine.

     (romanization in Classical Persian)

2. (Dari, Tajik, dated in Iran) to; indicates that the preceding noun phrase is an indirect object.

   Synonym: به (be)

   خدا را شکر. ― xodâ râ šokr. ― Thank God. (literally, “Thanks to God.”)

   او را گفتم. (normal in Dari, poetic in Iran) ― u râ goftam. ― I told him.

3. Follows certain nouns being used adverbially, or as an exclamation.

   خدارا! ― xodâ-râ! ― By God!

   قضا را ― qazâ râ ― by chance

   فردا رو (colloquial) ― fardâ ro ― tomorrow (as an adverb)

4. (archaic, Classical Persian) Used as a genitive particle to mark the possessor; in particular, used with the verb بودن (budan, “to be”).

   ما را این نیست. (archaic) ― mâ râ in nist. ― We do not have this.

   • c. 970, Abū Alī Bal'amī, Persian translation of the Tafsīr of Ṭabarī:

     هیچ خلق را جان نگرفتمی.

     hēč xalq rā jān na-giriftamē.

     I would not have taken the life of anybody.

     (romanization in Classical Persian)

   • 1010, Ferdowsi, شاهنامه [Shahnameh]:

     شنیدم که رستم ز آغاز کار
     چنان یافت نیرو ز پروردگار
     که گر سنگ را او به سر شدی
     همی هر دو پایش بدو در شدی

     šunîdam ki rustam dar âğâz-i kâr
     čunân yâft nêrô zi parwardigâr
     ki gar sang râ ô ba sar šûdê
     hamê har du pây-aš bad-ô dar šûdê

     I have heard that at the beginning, Rustam
     Was given such strength from God
     That if he were upon the top of a rock
     Both his two feet would keep sinking into it.

     (romanization in Classical Persian)

   • c. 1080, Kaykāwūs, Qābūs-nāma:

     عشق را نباید بود.

     išq rā na-bāyad būd.

     One must not belong to love/one must not give oneself up to love.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

   • c. 1390, Hafez, “Ghazal 7”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Hafez]‎:

     صوفی بیا که آینه صافیست جام را
     تا بنگری صفای می لعل‌فام را

     sûfî biyâ ki âyina-yi sâfi-st jâm râ
     tâ bingarî safâ-yi may-i la'l-fâm râ

     Sufi, come, for the cup has a bright mirror,
     So that you might see the brightness of ruby-hued wine.

     (romanization in Classical Persian)

5. (archaic) for the sake of, for; (more loosely) because of

   Synonym: برای (barâ-ye)

   • c. 970, Abū Alī Bal'amī, Persian translation of the Tafsīr of Ṭabarī:

     ترا کار کنم.

     tu rā kār kunam.

     I work for you.

     (romanization in Classical Persian)

   • 1258, Shaykh Muṣliḥ-ud-Dīn Saʿdī of Shiraz, translated by Wheeler M. Thackston, The Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa’di: Bilingual English and Persian Edition with Vocabulary, Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, published 2008, →ISBN, page 33:

     پدر و مادرش را بخواند و بنعمت بیکران خشنود گردانیدند و قاضی فتوی داد که خون یکی از رعیت ریختن سلامتِ نفس پادشاه را روا باشد.

     pidar u mādar-aš rā bixwānd u ba ni'mat-i bē-kirān xušnūd girdānīdand u qāzī fatwā dād ki xūn-i yakē az ra'īyyat rēxtan salāmat-i nafs-i pādšāh rā rawā bāšad.

     The boy’s mother and father were summoned and appeased with immeasurable wealth, and the judge issued an opinion that it was licit to shed the blood of a subject for the sake of the king’s health.

     (Classical Persian romanization)

6. (archaic) concerning, about, of; used for the object of a report or story.
   • 1258, Shaykh Muṣliḥ-ud-Dīn Saʿdī of Shiraz, translated by Wheeler M. Thackston, The Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa’di: Bilingual English and Persian Edition with Vocabulary, Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, published 2008, →ISBN, page 32:

     مردم‌آزاری را حکایت کنند که سنگی بر سر صالحی زد.

     mardum-āzārī rā hikāyat kunand ki sangē bar sar-i sālihē zad.

     They tell the tale of an oppressor who threw a stone at a pious man.

     (Classical Persian romanization)

7. (colloquial) Used as a topic marker for a sentence-initial noun phrase, with certain syntactic restrictions.^[2]

   شیرین و فک می‌کنم برنده شه. (colloquial Tehrani)

   širin o fek mi-konam barande še.

   As for Shirin, I think she might win.

   شیشه رو ترک خوردش. (colloquial Tehrani)

   šiša ro tarak xordeš.

   As for the glass, it cracked.^[2]

(contractions)

• In literary and modern formal Persian من را (man râ, “me; to me”) normally contracts to مرا (ma-râ). The colloquial Iranian form for من را (man râ) is instead من رو (man ro) or منو (man-o). The colloquial Dari equivalent is مَرَه (mara).
• In old-fashioned literary Persian, تو را (to râ, “you; to you”) is traditionally written joined as ترا (to râ). In Iranian Persian, this has no effect on the pronunciation.

(direct object marker)

• را (râ) is obligatory for the direct object if the referent is definite, i.e. has already been identified or is immediately identifiable. In English, this will usually correspond to a personal pronoun; a proper noun; or a common noun preceded by the definite article the, a demonstrative determiner, or a possessive determiner. Verbal infinitives used as nouns are also typically considered to be definite.
• را (râ) can also be used for an indefinite direct object, following the indefinite noun suffix ـی (-i). The nuance of the resulting sequence ـی را (-i râ) is often approximated as “a certain...”, with an emphatic sense.
• The use of را (râ) for indefinite nouns is mostly based on semantic grounds. The particle is commonly used for indefinite direct objects if the action of the verb is unusual or unexpected; if the object is human, as opposed to non-human; and for certain verbs which are felt to be particularly “intense”. For example, را is almost always used for the verb کشتن (koštan, “to kill”) if it is a human that has been killed, and for the verb ترجیح دادن (tarjih dâdan, “to prefer”) if the thing to which one prefers the direct object has been given.^[3]

(Tehrani pronunciation shifts)

• In colloquial Tehrani pronunciation, رو (ro), the colloquial form of را (râ), usually triggers a word-final ـه to be pronounced as ـَه (-a) and not as ـِه (-e) as is otherwise the case. Thus گربه رو (gorba ro, “the cat”, as direct object), but گربه (gorbe, “cat”, in other contexts).

(Early New Persian)

• In Early New Persian (early second millennium), the particle را (râ) was not used for all definite objects, and is also found with apparently indefinite objects.

It has been suggested that animacy or (more specifically) being human were the key triggering factors: one study of the last eleventh-century Qābūs-nāma suggests that most human definite direct objects are marked, but that most inanimate direct objects are unmarked regardless of definiteness.^[4]

Note that such semantic factors are still relevant to the use of the particle را (râ), as mentioned above, although it is now obligatory for all direct objects.

• In Early New Persian, را (râ) is typically repeated for terms in coordination, e.g.:

  c. 970, Abū Alī Bal'amī, Persian translation of the Tafsīr of Ṭabarī:

  ما این محمد را و یاران او را از مکه بیآوردیم.

  mā īn muhammad rā u yārān-i ō rā az makka biyāwardēm.

  We have brought this Muhammad and his friends from Mecca.

  (romanization in Classical Persian)

In modern Persian, only the second را (râ) would be present.

• In Early New Persian, it was often used with a pleonastic particle مر (mar).