'''Persian''' is an ancient language of Indo-European family. You can find many grammatical similarities between Persian and the other languages of this family. However, Persian is similar more to its coeval languages like Latin than to relatively newer languages. For instance, both Latin and Persian have a SOV word order (they both have free word order, though), which is uncommon among most modern European languages (even the descendants of Latin).

Today, Persian is mainly spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain. It has official status in the first three countries but was once the official, court, or literary language of many more places ranging from Turkey through India. At this time, many Persian poets emerged from Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and the regions under the control of Ottoman Empire. It is still appreciated as a literary and prestigious language among the educated elite. Many people in Iran and neighboring countries know Persian fluently even though it's not their mother tongue. It's because Iran (formerly "Persia" until 1935) was historically much bigger before losing many territories, especially to its neighbor Russia (for more information, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Iran Wikipedia: Greater Iran]). After the 1979 revolution, many Iranians migrated to the West and as a result, there are numerous Persian-speaking communities throughout the world, particularly in USA. Persian is the second language of Islam so in many Islamic countries you can find someone knowing Persian.

The local name of the language is '''Farsi''' (officially, ''Farsiye Dari'' (Dari Persian), which means "Official/Court Persian"). The word ''Farsi'' has also entered English mainly because West-migrated Iranians didn't know about the native English name of their language (i.e. ''Persian'') and began to use ''Farsi'', which still prevails although somewhat decreased. Persian has three main dialects: Iranian Persian, Afghanistani Persian and Tajikistani Persian. They are all mutually intelligible and the written language is literally the same.

'''Note''' - The contents of this page are written in ''bookish Persian'' so that you can use them not only in Iran but also in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and other countries. Nevertheless, this page is centered on Iranian Persian; Afghanistani Persian and Tajikistani Persian should have their own pages for a closer coverage.

Pronunciation guide

The Persian writing system derives from that of Arabic, extended with four letters to denote the sounds not found in Arabic. Persian writing system is not an alphabet but an abjad. An abjad has only characters for denoting consonant sounds. Vowels have no specific character; they are indicated either by certain diacritics or by certain consonant characters. Additionally, most letters change shape when they are followed by another letter.

Vowels and diphthongs

{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Transcription !! IPA !! Sound

Regarding their indication in the Persian script:

  • The sounds '''a''', '''e''', '''o''' can be indicated with certain diacritics but they are practically only used in elementary-school books. The vowel '''o''' is sometimes denoted with the consonant '''?''' (v).
  • The sounds '''a''' is always indicated: with '''?''' at word initial and with '''?''' elsewhere.
  • The sounds '''i''' and '''ey''' are indicated with '''??''' at word initial and with the consonant '''?''' (y) elsewhere.
  • The sounds '''u''' and '''ow''' are indicated with '''??''' at word initial and with the consonant '''?''' (v) elsewhere.
  • Consonants

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Character !! Transcription !! IPA !! Sound
  • at word initial can denote: '''a''', '''e''', '''o'''; elsewhere: '''a'''
  • at word initial when followed by ? can denote: '''i''' (mostly) and '''ey'''
  • at word initial when followed by ? can denote: '''u''' (mostly), '''ow''' and '''ave'''
  • As you may note, there are characters that denote identical sounds e.g. ? ,?, ? are all pronounced '''z'''. It's because Persian has preserved the spelling of Arabic loanwords. Each of these characters has distinguished sounds in Arabic but they are all pronounced the same in Persian.

    Syllable

    Persian has the following syllable patterns (C = Consonant, V = Vowel):

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Pattern !! Examples

    These patterns can be encapsulated in CV(C)(C). According to the patterns:

  • A syllable always begins with a consonant sound. Please note that syllables which visually begin with a vowel sound, have a preceding glottal stop merged with their sound. For instance, ''u'' (he, she) is actually said ''ou'' and ''ard'' (flour) is actually said ''oard''.
  • The second component of any syllable is a vowel sound.
  • Each syllable can only have one vowel sound. Therefore, each vowel indicates a syllable.
  • As opposed to English and many other languages, Persian does not allow two or more consonants to begin a syllable. Therefore, loanwords with such a characteristic are always Persianized:

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Word !!Persian !! Pattern

    To help you understand it better, here are some basic words along with their syllabification:

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Word !! Syllabification !! Meaning

    Stress

    The stress is on the last syllable. However, a few adverbs do not follow this regularity. In addition, Persian has a number of enclitics, which simply put, are unstressed endings (English example: <i>'s</i> in <i>Peter's book</i>). Enclitics do not change the stress position of the word to which they attach. Therefore, the stress position does not shift to the last syllable e.g. ''pedaram'' (my father): ''pe.'''dar''''' + enclitic ''-am'' = ''pe.'''da'''.ram'' (rather than expected ''pe.da.'''ram''''')

    '''Note''' - As an aid to beginners, the grave accent can be placed on the first vowel of enclitics to make them distinguishable from suffixes and final letters of words. This method is used here for the genitive enclitic (e / ye), indefinite enclitic (i / yi) and enclitic form of "and" (o).

    Basic grammar

    Persian has a relatively easy and mostly regular grammar. Therefore, reading this grammar primer would help you learn much about Persian grammar and understand phrases better. You should also be able to memorize phrases easier.

    Gender

    Persian is a gender-neutral language. Such languages don't differentiate different grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and have identical pronouns, adjectives, etc. for all of them. For example, Persian has one word for both English "he" and "she", "him" and "her", "his" and "her".

    Articles

    There is no definite article in Persian. A bare noun indicates a definite noun (which includes common and generic nouns) e.g. ''ma?in dar parking ast'': the car is in the garage (literally: car, in garage, is); ''az mar mitarsam'': I'm afraid of snakes (literally: from snake fear-I)

    Indefiniteness is expressed with the enclitic ''-i'' (or ''-yi'' after vowels). It is for both singular and plural nouns. English does not have an exact equivalent for the Persian's plural indefinite article. It's often translated as "some" or "a few" or is simply omitted. The indefinite enclitic is added to the end of the noun phrase: ''ma?ini'' (a car, some car), ''ma?inhayi'' (some cars)

    Plural

    Nouns are pluralized with the suffix ''-ha''. It's the only plural suffix used in spoken Persian. In written Persian, there's another plural suffix ''-an'' (''-gan'' after the vowel ''e'' and ''-yan'' after other vowels) which can only be used for animates and human beings in particular. It is especially useful to restrict the meaning to human beings. For example:

  • ''sar'' means "head", ''sarha'' means "heads" and ''saran'' means "chiefs, heads, leaders"
  • ''goza?te'' means "past", ''goza?teha'' means "the past (events, etc.)" and ''goza?tegan'' means "the people of the past"
  • Arabic loanwords have usually brought their irregular plural forms (technically referred to as "broken plurals") into Persian but they can be avoided and you can use ''-ha'' to pluralize them. In spoken Persian, broken plurals are never used except for very few cases where the broken plural has found an extended meaning. Regarding written Persian of today, the use of broken plurals has greatly decreased and it's prevalent to pluralize words with ''-ha''.

    '''Note''' - In Persian, nouns are not pluralized when preceded by numbers because the number itself indicates quantity e.g. ''yek '''ketab''''' (one/a book), ''do/se/panjah '''ketab''''' (two/three/fifty books).

    Genitive case

    In Persian, the genitive case relates two or more words to each other. The genitive case is marked with the enclitic ''-e'' (or ''-ye'' after vowels). The genitive enclitic is added to all the words that are connected to the head word and complement it. Look at the following examples:

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !To designate !Persian !English !Template

    Accusative case

    The accusative case is indicated with the enclitic ''ra'', added to the end of the noun phrase. Despite being an enclitic, it is written apart from the host word in the Persian script. Examples: ''dar ra bastam'' (I closed the door), ''in filme Hendi ra qablan dide budam'' (I had already seen this Indian film).

    Adjective

    Adjectives have only one form. They agree neither in gender nor in number with the noun they modify. They come after the noun and are related to it with the genitive enclitic: ''pesare xub'': good boy (template: boy-e good), ''doxtarhaye xub'': good girls (template: girl-ha-ye good). As stated before, the indefinite article is added to the end of the noun phrase, so: ''pesare xubi'' (a/some good boy), ''doxtarhaye xubi'' ((some) good girls).

    Comparative

    The comparative form of an adjective is always made by adding the comparative suffix ''-tar'' to the end of the adjective: bad (bad), badtar (worse); kam (little), kamtar (less); ziba (beautiful), zibatar (more beautiful).

    The common pattern to compare A with B is: A + comparative + ''az'' (from) + B + verb

  • <nowiki>[do?mane dana] [behtar] [az] [duste nadan] [ast]</nowiki>: a wise foe is better than a foolish friend (template: foe-ye wise, good-tar, from, friend-e foolish, is). It's a Persian proverb.
  • Superlative

    The superlative form of an adjective is always made by adding the superlative suffix ''-in'' to the comparative: bad (bad), badtar (worse), badtarin (the worse). The superlative comes before the noun e.g. ''behtarin hotel'' (the best hotel), ''behtarin hotele in ?ahr'' (the best hotel of this city)

    Demonstratives

    Demonstrative adjectives come before nouns and like other adjectives, they have only one form. In Persian, we don't say "these books" but "this books". The plural form itself indicates that we are pointing to a plural noun. Basic demonstrative adjectives are ''an'' (distal: that, those) and ''in'' (proximal: this, these):
  • When combined with ja (place), they make adverbs: inja (here) and anja (there)
  • When combined with chon (like), they make demonstratives: chonin (such, like this) and chonan (such, like that)
  • When combined with ham (also; even), they make demonstratives: hamin (this/the same/one/very) and haman (that/the same/one/very)
  • A pronoun (pro-noun) substitutes a noun phrase therefore the quantity (singular or plural) must be indicated. Therefore, demonstrative pronouns agree in number with the noun phrase whose place they take: ''an'' (that), ''anha'' (those), ''in'' (this), ''inha'' (these).

    Demonstrative pronouns are also used as subjective pronouns. For example, the Persian word for "they" is ''anha''. Distal pronouns (an, anha, haman, hamanha) are either used neutrally (i.e. not denoting distance from the speaker) or natively (i.e. indicating remoteness); but proximal pronouns (in, inha, hamin, haminha) are always used natively and indicate proximity to the speaker. English doesn't have such a feature.

    Personal pronouns

    Personal pronouns have two forms. One is their normal form called '''free personal pronouns''' (free in the sense of "not bound, separate") and the other is their enclitic form called '''bound personal pronouns'''. Subjective pronouns of English: "I, you, he, she, etc." are analogous to free personal pronouns but English does not have any equivalent for Persian's bound personal pronouns.

    Persian has formal and informal 2nd and 3rd person. In addition, people of higher ranks like kings usually use 1st person plural (we) rather than 1st person singular (I). So, plural forms can be considered as polite and formal forms of singulars.

    Free

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" ! !colspan="3"|Singular !colspan="3"|Plural ! !Persian !English !French !Persian !English !French !1st !2nd you (informal, plural) !rowspan="2"|3rd

    In spoken Persian, there is also ''?omaha'' used as the plural form of both informal and formal "you" (''to'' and ''?oma'').

    Bound

    Bound personal pronouns have various functions depending on the word class to which they attach. For example, when they are added to the end of a noun (phrase), they express possession e.g. pedaram (my father). We'll learn more about their functions.

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Person !Singular !Plural !1st !2nd !3rd

    Direct object pronouns

    Direct object pronouns are simply made by adding the accusative enclitic ''ra'' to subjective pronouns e.g. man ra (me), u ra (him, her). ''man ra'' has developed a truncated form ''mara'' (omission of ''n'' from ''manra''), which is usually preferred in bookish Persian.

    Indirect object pronouns

    Although Persian has lost the declination system of Old Persian but it does mark different cases with technically called ''ad-positions'' (post/pre-positions). That's why Persian has been able to preserve the ''free word order'' feature:
  • As we learned, the '''accusative''' case is marked with the enclitic ''ra'' (a post-position).
  • The '''dative''' case is marked with the pre-position ''be'' (to).
  • The '''ablative''' case is marked with the pre-position ''az'' (from).
  • English marks none of these cases. For example, if you change the word order of "the father kissed the daughter" (accusative) to e.g. "the daughter kissed the father", the meaning completely changes. The same applies to "the father helped the daughter" (dative) and "the father asked the daughter" (ablative). As with Latin, by changing the word order, just the emphasis changes and the basic meaning is preserved:

  • accusative: pedar '''doxtar ra''' busid, '''doxtar ra''' pedar busid
  • dative: pedar '''be doxtar''' komak kard, '''be doxtar''' pedar komak kard
  • ablative: pedar '''az doxtar''' porsid, '''az doxtar''' pedar porsid
  • Hence, Persian has three different sets of "object pronouns" as per the case. They are made from the adposition of the case and subjective pronouns e.g. ma ra busid (s/he kised us, accusative), be ma komak kard (s/he helped us, dative), az ma porsid (s/he asked us, ablative).

    Possessives

    Persian does not have possessive adjectives as is found in English. In Persian, possession is expressed by adding "bound personal pronouns" to the end of the noun phrase (NP):
  • dustam: my friend (template: friend-am)
  • duste xubam: my good friend (template: friend-e good-am). Please note that English's possessive adjectives also function on the whole NP. The difference is that in English, the possessive precedes NP. Compare <nowiki>[</nowiki>'''duste xub'''<nowiki>]</nowiki>'''am''' with '''my''' <nowiki>[</nowiki>'''good friend'''<nowiki>]</nowiki>.
  • Possession can also be expressed using the genitive case and subjective pronouns. This form is usually used for emphasis and doesn't have an equivalent in English:

  • duste man: my friend (template: dust-e I)
  • duste xube man: my good friend (template: friend-e good-e I).
  • As for possessive pronouns, they are formed by relating ''mal'' (property) to subjective pronouns with the genitive enclitic e.g. ''male man'' (mine), ''in ketab male man ast, na male to'' (this book is mine, not yours)

    Verb

    Learning verb conjugation of Persian is quite easy. The '''infinitive''' always ends in ''-an'' e.g. budan (to be), da?tan (to have). Each verb has two stems: past and present. The '''past stem''' always obtains regularly by removing ''-an'' from the infinitive e.g. raftan (to go) = raft. There isn't such a rule for obtaining the '''present stem''' of verbs but they can be classified into subgroups whose present stem is obtained according to a regular pattern with no or few exceptions. However, a verb whether regular or irregular has one and only one present stem for all persons. Therefore, as opposed to languages like French, Italian and Spanish, Persian does not have irregular verb conjugations. The '''past participle''' forms by replacing the infinitive suffix (''-an'') with ''-e''. In other words, by adding ''-e'' to the past stem e.g. raftan = rafte.

    Conjugative enclitics

    To conjugate verbs in different tenses, conjugative enclitics attach to stems and participles. They only differ in 3rd person singular:

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !  !colspan="2"|Singular !colspan="2"|Plural !  !Past !Present !Past !Present !1st !2nd !3rd

    '''Note''' - Subjective pronouns (I, you, etc.) are not normally used in Persian because each person has a unique conjugative enclitic, which suffices to indicate the person of the verb. For example, in ''raft'''im''''' it is evident that the person of the verb is ''1st person plural'' and therefore, we do not normally say ''ma raftim''. So, Persian is a "pro-drop" language.

    Past simple

    '''Formula''': past stem + past enclitic. Examples:
  • didan (to see): didam (I saw), didi (you /informal/ saw) , did (s/he saw); didim, didid, didand
  • raftan (to go): raftam, rafti, raft; raftim (we went), raftid (you went), raftand (they went; s/he /formal/ went)
  • budan (to be): budam, budi, bud, budim, budid, budand
  • da?tan (to have): da?tam, da?ti, da?t, da?tim, da?tid, da?tand
  • To negate verbs just add the negation prefix ''na'' to the stem: naraftam (I didn't go), nadid (s/he didn't see), nada?tand (they didn't have). The negation prefix take the primary stress.

    Past imperfective

    English does not have a grammatical form that corresponds exactly to this aspect. As an example, in languages having imperfective aspect, "I ran five miles yesterday" would use ''past simple'' form, whereas "I ran five miles every morning" would use ''past imperfective'' form. Romance languages like French, Spanish and Italian have only one imperfective tense, which from the viewpoint of Persian, is the counterpart of "past simple". In contrast, each "past simple", "present perfect", "past perfect", "present simple", etc. have an imperfective tense that are simply made by prefixing "mi" to the stem or participle (depending on the formation of the tense). None of these imperfective tenses has an equivalent in English, though and Romance languages have only an equivalent for the Persian's ''past imperfective''.

    '''Formula''': mi + past simple (i.e. past stem + past enclitic).

  • raftan (to go): miraftam, mirafti, miraft; miraftim, miraftid, miraftand
  • xastan (to want): mixastam, mixasti, mixast; mixastim, mixastid, mixastand
  • The past imperfective is also used in conditional tenses and as with "conditionnel" of French, it is used to make polite expressions (that's why this tense has been mentioned in the primer): yek livan ab '''mixastam''' (French: je voudrais un verre d'eau, English: I'd like a glass of water).

    '''Note''' - Because of a vowel harmony, the negation prefix "na" becomes "ne" before "mi". Therefore, we say ''nemiraftam'' rather than expected ''namiraftam''. However, in Afghanistani and Tajikistani Persian, this change hasn't occurred and they still say ''namiraftam''.

    Present simple

    '''Formula''': present stem + present enclitic. Regarding usage, the ''present imperfective'' has taken the place of this tense. The only exception is da?tan (to have), which is not normally conjugated in the imperfective aspect due to its meaning ("having" something cannot be "imperfective"; you either "have" or "don't have" something). The present stem of da?tan is dar. Now, its conjugation: daram (I have), dari (you /informal/ have), darad (s/he has), darim (we have), darid (you have), darand (they have; s/he /formal/ has).

    The verb budan (to be) has two forms in present simple:

  • The '''full form''' (or ''free form'') is: hastam (I am), hasti (you /informal/ are), (h)ast (he, she, it is); hastim (we are), hastid (you are), hastand (they are; s/he /formal/ is).
  • The '''enclitic''' form (or ''bound form'') is: -am, -i, -ast; -im, -id, -and.
  • The free form is usually for emphasis and it is the bound form, which is normally used e.g. xubam (I am fine), xubi? (Are you fine?; used in greetings).

    Present imperfective

    '''Formula''': imperfective prefix ''mi'' + present simple (present stem + present enclitic). Present stems are placed within slashes / /.
  • neve?tan /nevis/ (to write): minevisam (I write), minevisi (you /informal/ write), minevisad (s/he writes); minevisim, minevisid, minevisand
  • didan /bin/ (to see): mibinam, mibini, mibinad; mibinim (we see), mibinid (you see), mibinand (they see; s/he /formal/ sees)
  • raftan /rav/ (to go): miravam, miravi, miravad; miravim, miravid, miravand
  • As you see, although the stem is irregular but the conjugation is still regular.

    Persian has a "future simple" tense but it is not used in spoken Persian. In spoken Persian, "future simple" is expressed with present imperfective accompanied by a "future" adverb like farda (tomorrow), baodan (later). Example: farda sobh be muze miravim (We'll go to the museum tomorrow morning).

    Present progressive

    An imperfective tense can also express a progressive (continuous) action because a progressive action is incomplete (imperfect). Therefore, for example "minevisam", which is in "present imperfective", besides "I write", can also mean, "I am writing" depending on the context. On this very basis, there is no progressive tense in written Persian but spoken Persian has developed a full set of progressive tenses built upon the imperfetive tenses with the help of the auxiliary da?tan (to have).

    '''Formula''': auxiliary da?tan in present simple + verb in present imperfective. Examples: daram minevisam (I am writing), darad minevisad (s/he is writing).

    Progressive tenses only appear in affirmative sentences and they have no negative form. For negation, the imperfective form of the verb is used. Example: "I'm writing" (daram minevisam), "I'm not writing" (neminevisam, not: daram neminevisam).

    Present perfect

    '''Formula''': past participle + auxiliary ''budan'' (to be) in present simple and in its bound form. Examples:
  • didan (to see): dideam (I have seen), didei (you /informal/ have seen) , dideast (s/he has seen); dideim, dideid, dideand
  • raftan (to go): rafteam, raftei, rafteast; rafteim (we have gone), rafteid (you have gone), rafteand (they have gone; s/he /formal/ has gone)
  • It'd be interesting to speakers of French (and other Romance languages) to know that ''rafteam'' is exactly equivalent to "je suis alle" (literally: I'm gone). The difference is that in Persian the auxiliary verb is always "etre" (budan) and never "avoir" (da?tan).

    As stated before, the negative conjugation is formed with the prefix ''na'': narafteam (I haven't gone).

    Past perfect

    '''Formula''': past participle + auxiliary ''budan'' (to be) in past simple. Examples:
  • didan (to see): dide budam (I had seen), dide budi (you /informal/ had seen), dide bud (s/he had seen); dide budim, dide budid, dide budand
  • raftan (to go): rafte budam, rafte budi, rafte bud; rafte budim (we had gone), rafte budid (you had gone), rafte budand (they have gone; s/he /formal/ had gone)
  • The negative conjugation is formed with the prefix ''na'': narafte budam (I hadn't gone).

    As with "present perfect", ''rafte budam'' literally means "I was gone". If you consider "gone" as an "adjective" rather than a "past participle", you should be able to understand this construction and its meaning.

    Present subjunctive

    '''Formula''': subjunctive prefix ''be'' + present simple (present stem + present enclitic). English doesn't practically have any subjunctive tenses and therefore, Persian's subjunctive tenses cannot be exactly translated into English. Therefore, translations are given in French. Examples:
  • neve?tan /nevis/ (to write): benevisam (que j'ecrive), benevisi (que tu ecrives), benevisad (qu'il/elle ecrive); benevisim, benevisid, benevisand
  • didan /bin/ (to see): bebinam, bebini, bebinad; bebinim (que nous voyions), bebinid (que vous voyiez), bebinand (qu'ils/elles voient)
  • raftan /rav/ (to go): beravam, beravi, beravad; beravim, beravid, beravand
  • In English we say "I want to go" but in Persian "to go" does not appear in "infinitive" but in present subjunctive: mixaham beravam. We can assume that there is a relative pronoun ''ke'' (that) after "I want" that causes the second verb to appear in the subjunctive (similar to French ''que'') i.e. mixaham [ke] beravam (French: je vuex qu'aille). In any case, this construction is used very much and you should learn it well. Another example: mitavanam bebinam (I can see).

    Wrapping up

  • Persian has a limited number of simple (single-word, light) verbs (about 100, in common use). The majority of Persian verbs are non-simple verbs made with these simple verbs. For example, ''kardan'' /kon/, which is equivalent to French "faire" both in usage (making new verbs: faire attention, faire un voyage, etc.) and in basic meaning (to do, to make), has been used to make thousands of verbs from nouns, adjectives and loanwords. Examples: rang kardan (to dye; ''rang'': color), baz kardan (to open; ''baz'': open), sefid kardan (to whiten; ''sefid'': white), danlod kardan (to download; ''danlod'': download). Therefore, by just knowing the present stem of kardan (/kon/) you can conjugate a countless ever-growing number of verbs. Some useful verbs: telefon kardan (to phone), kopi kardan (to copy), safar kardan (to travel), negah kardan (to look, to watch), gu? kardan (to listen), park kardan (to park), komak kardan (to help), tamiz kardan (to clean).<br /> '''Important note''': Although kardan basically means "to do, to make" and is so useful, but be careful not to use it alone because when used alone, it has a very bad meaning (vulgar: to have sexual intercourse) in the common language. For "to do", we say "anjam dadan" and for "to make" we say "saxtan". The present stem of dadan is /deh/, and that of saxtan is /saz/.
  • The non-verbal part of a non-simple verb is called '''preverb''' (e.g. "telefon" in "telefon kardan"). When conjugating non-simple verbs, the preverb sits aside and the conjugational elements are added to the verbal part (you should find it quite logical). Example: telefon mikonam (I phone), telefon nemikonam (I don't phone), telefon kardam (I phoned), telefon nakardam (I didn't phone).
  • Bound personal pronouns can substitute direct object pronouns. They attach to the end of the verb e.g. "I saw you": '''''to ra''' didam'' versus ''didam'''at'''''. In fact, it's the normal way and full (free) forms like '''''to ra''' didam'' are used for emphasis.
  • To make a question, just change the tone of your voice e.g. didi (you saw), didi? (did you see?), raftei (you have gone), raftei? (have you gone?).
  • Phrase list

    Basics

    ; Hello, Hi : Salam (????) ; How are you? : Hale ?oma chetor ast? (???? ??? ???? ???), less formal: chetorid? (??????), xubid? (?????) ; Fine, thank you. : xubam, xeyli mamnun (????? ???? ?????) ; What is your name? : esmetan chi'st? (?????? ????) ; My name is ~ . : esmam ~ ast (???? ~ ???) ; Nice to meet you. : xo?baxtam (???????) ; Please. : lotfan (????) ; Thank you. : xeyli mamnun (???? ?????), mersi (????) : '''Note''' - ''xeyli mamnun'' literally means "many thanks" but it's the common way of saying "thank you" ; You're welcome. : xahe? mikonam (????? ??????) ; Yes. : bale (???) ; No. : na (??) ; Excuse me (getting attention or begging pardon) : bebax?id (??????), maozerat mixaham (????? ????????) ; I'm sorry. : bebax?id (??????), maozerat mixaham (????? ????????) ; Goodbye : xodahafez (???????) ; See you : formal: mibinametan (??????????), informal: mibinamet (????????) ; I can't speak Persian [well]. : Nemitavanam [xub] Farsi harf bezanam (????????? ??? ??????? ??? ????) ; Do you speak English? : Mitavanid Engelisi harf bezanid? (????????? ??????? ??? ?????) ; Is there someone here who speaks English? : Inja kasi Engelisi midanad? (????? ??? ??????? ???????) ; Help! : komak! (???) ; Look out : formal: Movazeb ba?id (????? ?????), informal: Movazeb ba? (????? ???) ; Good morning. : sobh bexeyr (??? ????) ; Good evening. : asr bexeyr (??? ????) ; Good night. : ?ab bexeyr (?? ????) ; I don't understand. : nemifahmam (????????), motevajjeh nemi?avam (????? ???????) ; Where is the toilet? : dast?uyi koja'st? (??????? ?????)

    Problems

    ; Leave me alone. : Mixaham tanha ba?am (???????? ???? ????) ; Don't touch me! : Be man dast nazanid (?? ?? ??? ?????) ; I'll call the police. : Polis ra xabar mikonam (???? ?? ??? ??????) ; Police! : Polis (????) ; Stop! Thief! : Ahay dozd! (???? ???) ; I need your help. : Be komaketan niyaz daram (?? ?????? ???? ????) ; It's an emergency. : zaruri'st (???????) ; I'm lost. : gom ?odeam (?? ??????) ; Go away! : Boro kenar! (??? ????) ; I lost my bag. : sakam ra gom kardeam (???? ?? ?? ???????) ; I lost my wallet. : kifam ra gom kardeam (???? ?? ?? ???????) ; I'm sick. : Halam bad ast (???? ?? ???) ; I've been injured. : Zaxmi ?odeam (???? ??????) ; I need a doctor. : Doktor mixaham (???? ????????) ; Can I use your phone? : Mi?avad az telefonetan estefade konam (?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ???)

    Numbers

    '''Note''' - There are two ways to express "and" in Persian. One is with the enclitic '''o''' (or '''yo''' after vowels) and the other is with the word '''va'''. The enclitic '''o''' is the common way (and the sole way in spoken Persian).

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" ! # ! Persian ! # ! Persian ! # ! Persian ! # ! Persian

    ; number ~ (''train, bus, etc.'') : ?omareye ~ (??????? ~) ; half : nesf (???) ; less : kamtar (????) ; more : bi?tar (?????)

    Time

    ; now : aloan (????) ; later : baodan (????) ; before : qablan (????) ; morning : sobh (???) ; afternoon : baod-az-zohr (????????) ; evening : qorub (????) ; night : ?ab (??)

    Clock time

    ; one o'clock AM : yeke sobh (?? ???) ; two o'clock AM : doe sobh (?? ???) ; noon : zohr (???) ; one o'clock PM : yeke baod-az-zohr (?? ????????) ; two o'clock PM : doe baod-az-zohr (?? ????????) ; midnight : nime?ab (???????)

    Duration

    ; ~ minute(s) : daqiqe(ha) (????????)) ; ~ hour(s) : saat(ha) (???????) ; ~ day(s) : ruz(ha) (?????) ; ~ week(s) : hafte(ha) (???????) ; ~ month(s) : mah(ha) (??????) ; ~ season(s) : fasl(ha) (??????) ; ~ year(s) : sal(ha) (??????)

    '''Tip''' - In Persian, nouns are not pluralized when a number precedes them. The plurality is clear from the "number". Therefore, we say, for example:

  • one/three/fifty day: yek/se/panjah ruz (??/??/????? ???)
  • three to five week: se ta panj hafte (?? ?? ??? ????)
  • Days

    ; today : emruz (?????) ; yesterday : diruz (?????) ; tomorrow : farda (????) ; this week : in hafte (??? ????) ; last week : hafteye goza?te (?????? ?????) ; next week : hafteye ayande (?????? ?????)

    ; Sunday : yek?anbe (??????) ; Monday : do?anbe (??????) ; Tuesday : se?anbe (???????) ; Wednesday : chahar?anbe (????????) ; Thursday : panj?anbe (???????) ; Friday : jomoe (????) ; Saturday : ?anbe (????)

    '''Tip''' - In Iran, weeks begin with "Saturday" and end with "Friday". So, the holiday is "Friday" and the weekend starts from "Thursday".

    Months

    Iran uses a solar calendar with the New Year on the vernal equinox (March 21 on the Gregorian calendar). Years begin with "spring" and end with "winter". The first six months have 31 days, and the last five have 30 days each. The final month has 29 or 30 depending on whether or not it is a leap year. Leap years are not as simply calculated as in the Gregorian calendar, but typically there is a five year leap period after every 7 four-year cycles. Year 0 of the calendar corresponds to 621 in Gregorian.

    {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" !Persian !Transcription !English !???? !bahar !spring !??????? !tabestan !summer !????? !payiz !autumn !?????? !zemestan !winter

    Gregorian month names are borrowed from French.

    ; January : ?anviye (??????) ; February : Fevriye (?????) ; March : Mars (????) ; April : Avril (?????) ; May : Me (??), also Mey (??) ; June : ?uan (????) ; July : ?uiye (?????), also Julay (?????) ; August : Ut (???), also Agust (?????) ; September : Septam(b)r (???????) ; October : Oktobr (?????) ; November : Novam(b)r (??????) ; December : Desam(b)r (??????)

    Writing time and date

    The staring point of the Iranian solar calendar is Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. Short date format is ''yyyy/mm/dd'' (or ''yy/mm/dd'') and the long date format is ''dddd, dd MMMM yyyy''. For example, today (Monday, August 11, 2008) is:
  • short date format: 1387/05/21 (or 87/05/21)
  • long date format: do?anbe, 21 Mordad 1387
  • Time is written like English e.g. 8:34 (?:??).

    Colors

    ;black : siyah (????), also me?ki (????) ;white : sefid (????) ;gray : xakestari (???????) ;red : qermez (????), also sorx (???) ;blue : abi (???) ;yellow : zard (???) ;green : sabz (???) ;orange : narenji (??????) ;purple : arqavani (???????) ;brown : qahvei (???????)

    Transportation

    Bus and train

    ; How much is a ticket to ~? : belite ~ cheqadr ast? (???? ~ ???? ???) ; One ticket to ~, please. : lotfan yek belit baraye ~ (???? ?? ???? ???? ~ ) ; Where does this train/bus go? : in qatar/otobus koja miravad? (??? ????/?????? ??? ??????) ; Where is the train/bus to ~? : qatare/otobuse ~ kodam ast? (????/?????? ~ ???? ???) ; Does this train/bus stop in ~? : in qatar/otobus dar ~ miistad? (??? ????/?????? ?? ~ ????????) ; When does the train/bus for ~ leave? : qatare/otobuse ~ key harkat mikonad? (????/?????? ~ ?? ???? ??????) ; When will this train/bus arrive in ~? : in qatar/otobus key be ~ miresad? (??? ????/?????? ?? ?? ~ ??????)

    Directions

    ; How do I get to ~ ? : chetor beravam be ~ (???? ???? ??) ; ...the train station? : istgahe qatar (??????? ????) ; ...the bus station? : istgahe otobus (??????? ??????) ; ...the airport? : forudgah (???????) ; ...downtown? : markaze ?ahr (???? ???) ; ...the youth hostel? : mehmanxane (??????????) ; ...the ~ hotel? : hotel (???) ; ...the American/Canadian/Australian/British consulate? : sefarate Amrika/Kanada/Ostoraliya/Engelestan (????? ??????/??????/????????/????????) ; Where are there a lot of... : koja ~ ziyad peyda mi?avad? (??? ~ ???? ???? ??????) ; ...hotels? : hotel (???) ; ...restaurants? : resturan (???????) ; ...bars? : NOT FOUND IN IRAN ; ...sites to see? : jaye didani (??? ?????) ; Can you show me on the map? : mi?avad ruye naq?e ne?an bedahid? (?????? ??? ???? ???? ?????) ; street : xiyaban (??????) ; Turn left. : bepichid daste chap (?????? ??? ??) ; Turn right. : bepichid daste rast (?????? ??? ????) ; left : chap (??) ; right : rast (????) ; straight ahead : mostaqim (??????) ; towards the ~ : be tarafe (?? ???) ; past the ~ : baod az (??? ??) ; before the ~ : qabl az (??? ??) ; Watch for the ~. : donbale ~ begardid (????? ~ ??????) ; intersection : chaharrah (???????) ; north : ?omal (????) ; south : jonub (????) ; east : ?arq (???) ; west : qarb (???) ; uphill : sarbalayi (????????) ; downhill : sarpayini (????????)

    Taxi

    ; Taxi! : taksi (?????) ; Take me to ~, please. : lotfan mara bebar ~ (???? ??? ??? ~) ; How much does it cost to get to ~? : ta ~ cheqadr mi?avad? (?? ~ ???? ??????) ; Take me there, please. : lotfan mara bebar anja (???? ??? ??? ????)

    Lodging

    ; Do you have any rooms available? : otaqe xali darid? (???? ???? ?????) ; How much is a room for one person/two people? : otaq baraye yek/do nafar chand ast? (???? ???? ??/?? ??? ??? ???) ; Does the room come with ~ : otaq ~ darad? (???? ~ ????) ; ~ bedsheets? : malafe (?????) ; ~ a bathroom? : hammam (????) ; ~ a telephone? : telefon (????) ; ~ a TV? : televizyun (????????) ; May I see the room first? : mi?avad avval otaq ra bebinam? (?????? ??? ???? ?? ?????) ; Do you have anything quieter? : jaye aramtari darid? (??? ??????? ?????) ; ~ bigger? : bozorgtar (??????) ; ~ cleaner? : tamiztar (??????) ; ~ cheaper? : arzantar (???????) ; OK, I'll take it. : ba?e, hamin ra migiram. (????? ???? ?? ???????) ; I will stay for ~ night(s). : ~ ?ab mimanam (~ ?? ???????) ; Can you suggest another hotel? : mi?avad hotele digari ra pi?nahad konid? (?????? ??? ????? ?? ??????? ????) ; Do you have a safe? : sandoqe amanat darid? (????? ?????? ?????) ; ~ lockers? : komode qofldar? (??? ??????) ; Is breakfast/supper included? : hazine ?amele sobhane/?am ham mi?avad? (????? ???? ??????/??? ?? ??????) ; What time is breakfast/supper? sobhane/?am che saati ast? (??????/??? ?? ????? ???) ; Please clean my room. : lotfan otaqam ra tamiz konid (???? ????? ?? ???? ????) ; Can you wake me at ~? : mi?avad mara saate ~ bidar konid? (?????? ??? ???? ~ ????? ????) ; I want to check out. : mixaham tasviye konam (???????? ????? ???)

    Money

    ; Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars? : Dolare Amrika/Ostoraliya/Kanada qabul mikonid? (???? ??????/????????/?????? ???? ???????) ; Do you accept British pounds? : Ponde Engelis qabul mikonid? (???? ?????? ???? ???????) ; Do you accept credit cards? : karte eotebari qabul mikonid? (???? ??????? ???? ???????) ; Can you change money for me? : mitavanid pulam ra cheynj konid? (????????? ???? ?? ???? ????) ; Where can I get money changed? : Koja mitavanam pulam ra cheynj konam? (??? ???????? ???? ?? ???? ???) ; Can you change a traveler's check for me? : mitavanid teravel ra barayam naqd konid? (????????? ????? ?? ????? ??? ????) ; Where can I get a traveler's check changed? : Koja mitavan teravel naqd kard? (??? ??????? ????? ??? ???) ; What is the exchange rate? : nerxe arz cheqadr ast? (??? ??? ???? ???) ; Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)? : aberbank koja'st? (???????? ?????)

    Eating

    ; A table for one person/two people, please. : Yek miz baraye yek/do nafar, lotfan. (?? ??? ???? ??/?? ???) ; Can I look at the menu, please? : mitavanam menu ra bebinam? (???????? ??? ?? ?????) ; Can I look in the kitchen? : mitavanam a?pazxane ra bebinam? (?????? ???????? ?? ?????) ; Is there a house specialty? : qazaye xanegi darid? (???? ????? ?????) ; Is there a local specialty? : qazaye mahalli darid? (???? ???? ?????) ; I'm a vegetarian. : giyahxar hastam. (???????? ????) ; I don't eat pork. : gu?te xuk nemixoram. (???? ??? ????????) ; I don't eat beef. : gu?te gav nemixoram. (???? ??? ????????) ; I only eat halal food. : faqat gu?te halal mixoram. (??? ???? ???? ???????) ; Can you make it "lite", please? (less oil/butter/lard) : mi?avad kamcharba? konid? (?????? ??????? ????) ; fixed-price meal : qaza ba qeymate sabet (??? ?? ???? ????) ; a la carte : qaza ba qeymate joda joda (??? ?? ???? ??? ???) ; breakfast : sobhane (??????) ; lunch : nahar (?????) ; tea (meal) : asrane (??????) ; supper : ?am (???) ; I want ~ . : ~ mixaham (????????) ; I want a dish containing ~ . : qazayi mixaham ke ~ da?te ba?ad (????? ???????? ?? ~ ????? ????) ; chicken : morq (???) ; beef : gu?te gav (???? ???) ; fish : mahi (????) ; ham : ?ambone xuk (?????? ???) ; sausage : sosis (?????) ; cheese : panir (????) ; eggs : toxme morq (??? ???) ; salad : salad (?????) ; (fresh) vegetables : sabziye taze (???? ????) ; (fresh) fruit : miveye taze (?????? ????) ; bread : nan (???) ; toast : nane tost (??? ???) ; noodles : re?te (????) ; rice : berenj (????) ; beans : lubiya (?????) ; May I have a glass of ~ ? : yek livan ~ mixastam. (?? ????? ~ ?????????) ; May I have a cup of ~ ? : yek fenjan ~ mixastam. (?? ????? ~ ?????????) ; May I have a bottle of ~ ? : yek ?i?e ~ mixastam. (?? ???? ~ ?????????) ; coffee : qahve (????) ; tea (drink) : chay (???) ; juice : abmive (??????) ; (bubbly) water : abe maodani(ye gazdar) (?? ????? (??????)) ; water : ab (??) ; beer : abjo (????) (NOTE: There is no alcohol beer in restaurants) ; red/white wine : ?arabe sorx/sefid (???? ???/????) (NOTE: There is no alcohol wine in restaurants) ; May I have some ~ ? : kami ~ mixastam. (??? ~ ?????????) ; salt : namak (???) ; black pepper : felfele siyah (???? ????) ; butter : kare (???) ; Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server) : bebax?id (??????) ; I'm finished. : xordanam tamam ?od. (?????? ???? ??) ; It was delicious. : xo?mazze bud. (?????? ???) ; Please clear the plates. : lotfan, bo?qabha ra tamiz konid. (???? ??????? ?? ???? ????) ; The check, please. : surat-hesab, lotfan. (????????? ????)

    Bars

    '''Remember that the possession, sale and service in Iran is illegal.''' ; Do you serve alcohol? : ma?rub serv mikonid? (????? ??? ???????) ; Is there table service? : lavazeme miz (kard, qa?oq, changal, etc.) ham vojud darad? (????? ??? ?? ???? ????) ; A beer/two beers, please. : yek/do ta abjo, lotfan. (??/?? ?? ????? ????) ; A glass of red/white wine, please. : yek gilas ?arabe sorx/sefid, lotfan. (?? ????? ???? ???/????? ????) ; A pint, please. : yek livan, lotfan. (?? ?????? ????) ; A bottle, please. : yek ?i?e, lotafn. (?? ????? ????) ; ~ (''hard liquor'') and ~ (''mixer''), please. : likore ~ ba ~, lotfan. (????? ~ ?? ~? ????) ; whiskey : viski (?????) ; vodka : vodka (????) ; rum : ram (???) ; water : ab (??) ; club soda : limunade gazdar (??????? ??????) ; tonic water : sevenap (??????) ; orange juice : abporteqal (?????????) ; Coke (''soda'') : nu?abe (??????) ; Do you have any bar snacks? : mazze darid? (??? ?????) ; One more, please. : yeki digar, lotfan. (??? ????? ????) ; Another round, please. : yek dore digar, lofan. (?? ??? ????? ????) ; When is closing time? : saate chand mibandid? (???? ??? ????????)

    Shopping

    ; Do you have this in my size? : az in andazeye man darid? (?? ??? ???????? ?? ?????) ; How much is this? : chand ast? (??? ???) ; That's too expensive. : xeyli geran ast. (???? ???? ???) ; Would you take ~? : ~ mipasandid? () ; expensive : geran (????) ; cheap : arzan (?????) ; I can't afford it. : pula? ra nadaram. (???? ?? ?????) ; I don't want it. : nemixahama?. (??????????) ; You're cheating me. : darid be man kalak mizanid. (????? ?? ?? ??? ???????) ; I'm not interested. : xo?am nemiayad. (???? ???????) ; OK, I'll take it. : ba?e, in ra barmidaram. (????? ??? ?? ?????????) ; Can I have a bag? : kise darid? (???? ?????) ; Do you ship (overseas)? : be xarej post mikonid? (?? ???? ??? ???????) ; I need ~ : ~ mixastam (~ ?????????) ; ~ toothpaste. : xamirdandan ~. (?????????) ; ~ a toothbrush. : mesvak ~. (?????) ; ~ tampons. : tampon ~. (??????) ; ~ soap. : sabun ~. (?????) ; ~ shampoo. : ?ampu ~. (?????) ; ~ pain reliever. (''e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen'') : mosakken ~. (????) ; ~ cold medicine. : ~ daruye sarmaxordegi. (????? ??????????) ; ~ stomach medicine. : ~ daruye deldard. (????? ??????) ; ~ a razor. : tiq ~. (???) ; ~ an umbrella. : chatr ~. (???) ; ~ sunblock lotion. : zedde aftab ~. (???????) ; ~ a postcard. : kart-postal ~. (??????????) ; ~ postage stamps. : tamr ~. (????) ; ~ batteries. : batri ~. (?????) ; ~ writing paper. : kaqaz ~. (????) ; ~ a pen. : xodkar ~. (??????) ; ~ English-language books. : ketabe Engelisi-zaban ~ (???? ????????????) ; ~ English-language magazines. : majalleye Engelisi-zaban ~ (?????? ????????????) ; ~ an English-language newspaper. : ruznameye Engelisi-zaban ~. (????????? ????????????) ; ~ an English-English dictionary. : Farhange Engelisi be Engelisi ~. (????? ??????? ?? ???????)

    Driving

    '''Notice''' - In Iran, there are no car rental agencies. Most of the time, you would need to rent a car with a driver from an "a?ans" (taxi agency) who will drive you around. The agencies often have set daily/weekly rental prices which you should make sure to ask for!

    ; I want to rent a car. : mixastam yek ma?in keraye konam (????????? ?? ????? ????? ???) ; Can I get insurance? : mitavanam bime begiram? (???????? ???? ?????) ; stop (on a street sign) : ist (????) ; one way : yektarafe (?? ????) ; yield : rah bedahid (??? ?????), ejazeye obur bedahid (??????? ???? ?????) ; no parking : park mamnuo (???? ?????) ; speed limit : soroate mojaz (???? ????) ; gas (petrol) station : pompe benzin (??? ?????) ; petrol : benzin (?????) ; diesel : gazoil (???????)

    Authority

    ; I haven't done anything wrong. : kari nakardeam. (???? ????????) ; It was a misunderstanding. : sue tafahom bud. (??? ????? ???) ; Where are you taking me? : mara koja mibarid? (??? ??? ???????) ; Am I under arrest? : bazda?t hastam? (??????? ????) ; I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen. : ?ahrvande Amrika/Ostoraliya/Engelis/Kanada hastam. (?????? ??????/????????/??????/?????? ????) ; I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate. : mixaham ba sefarate/konsulgariye Amrika/Ostoraliya/Engelis/Kanada tamas begiram. (???????? ?? ?????/???????? ??????/????????/??????/?????? ???? ?????) ; I want to talk to a lawyer. : mixaham ba yek vakil harf bezanam. (???????? ?? ?? ???? ??? ????) ; Can I just pay a fine now? : mi?avad jarime ra naqdan pardaxt konam? (?????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???)fr:Guide linguistique persan