Iranian · Nastaliq
Persianفارسی
110M speakers · Middle East
250 terms
salām
Hello
The universal Persian greeting, from the word for peace.
chetori
How are you? (casual)
The friendly way to ask how someone is; formally, hāl-e shomā chetor ast.
khubam
I am fine
The standard reply to how are you — khub (good) plus -am (I am).
mersi
Thanks (casual)
Borrowed from French, the everyday casual thank-you in Iran.
mamnun
Thank you
A warm standard thank-you; kheyli mamnun — thank you very much.
khāhesh mikonam
You're welcome; please
Means both you're welcome and please — a pillar of Persian politeness.
lotfan
Please
The direct word for please when making requests.
bebakhshid
Excuse me; sorry
Used to apologize or politely get attention.
mota'asefam
I am sorry
A sincere apology or expression of sympathy.
khodāhāfez
Goodbye
The standard farewell — may God protect you.
be omid-e didār
Hope to see you again
A warm farewell, literally in hope of meeting.
baleh
Yes
The polite yes; āreh is the casual version.
āreh
Yeah (casual)
The informal yes among friends.
na
No
The simple no; nakheyr is the formal version.
esm-e man
My name is
Introduce yourself with esm-e man ... ast.
khoshbakhtam
Nice to meet you
Said on meeting someone new — literally I am fortunate.
befarmāid
Please, go ahead
The all-purpose courtesy — come in, sit down, help yourself, after you.
ta'ārof
Taarof (ritual politeness)
The famous Persian dance of courtesy — offering, declining, insisting — that shapes every exchange.
ghorbānat beram
Term of endearment (lit. may I be your sacrifice)
An affectionate exaggeration sprinkled through warm Persian talk, often shortened to ghorbānat.
yek
One
The number one.
do
Two
The number two.
se
Three
The number three.
chahār
Four
The number four — Chahārshanbe Suri is the fire festival on the eve of the year's last Wednesday.
panj
Five
The number five.
shesh
Six
The number six.
haft
Seven
The number seven — the haft-sin table of Nowruz holds seven symbolic items.
hasht
Eight
The number eight.
noh
Nine
The number nine — written like the word for no but pronounced noh.
dah
Ten
The number ten.
sad
Hundred
The number one hundred.
hezār
Thousand
The number one thousand — hezār dāstān, a thousand tales.
emruz
Today
The present day.
fardā
Tomorrow
The day after today.
diruz
Yesterday
The day before today.
alān
Now
At this moment.
sā'at
Hour; clock; watch
An hour of time, or the clock that measures it; sā'at chand ast — what time is it?
daghighe
Minute
Sixty seconds of time.
hafte
Week
Seven days — the Iranian week runs Saturday to Friday.
māh
Month; moon
A month of the calendar — and the moon itself; māh-e man, my moon, is sweet talk.
sāl
Year
Twelve months; sāl-e no — the new year that begins at Nowruz.
khānevāde
Family
The family — center of Persian life and Friday lunches.
mādar
Mother
Mother; māmān in everyday talk.
pedar
Father
Father; bābā in everyday talk.
barādar
Brother
A male sibling — cognate with the English word brother.
khāhar
Sister
A female sibling.
pesar
Son; boy
A male child or boy.
dokhtar
Daughter; girl
A female child or girl — cognate with daughter.
mādarbozorg
Grandmother
Grandmother — literally great mother.
pedarbozorg
Grandfather
Grandfather — literally great father.
hamsar
Spouse
Husband or wife — a gender-neutral, respectful word.
bacheh
Child
A young person; bacheh-hā — kids.
dust
Friend
A friend; dust dāshtan, to like or love, is built on this word.
mard
Man
An adult male.
zan
Woman; wife
An adult female; also means wife in everyday speech.
āghā
Mr.; sir
The respectful address for a man — āghā-ye Ahmadi, Mr. Ahmadi.
khānom
Mrs.; madam; lady
The respectful address for a woman.
hamsāye
Neighbor
A person living nearby — treated with famous Persian hospitality.
āb
Water
Water — the first word of many Persian proverbs and place names.
chāy
Tea
Tea — brewed strong over the samovar and sipped through a sugar cube.
ghand
Sugar cube
The sugar cube held between the teeth while sipping tea, Iranian style.
nān
Bread
Bread — sangak, barbari, lavāsh — fresh from the neighborhood bakery.
panir
Cheese
White cheese — nān-o-panir with herbs is the classic Persian breakfast.
berenj
Rice (uncooked)
Rice grain — cooked it becomes polo or chelo, crowned with crispy tahdig.
polo
Polo (Persian rice dish)
Steamed rice mixed with herbs, beans or fruit — sabzi-polo, zereshk-polo and more.
tahdig
Tahdig (crispy rice crust)
The golden crust from the pot's bottom — the most fought-over bite at the table.
kabāb
Kebab
Grilled meat — chelo-kabāb with saffron rice is Iran's national dish.
ghormeh sabzi
Ghormeh sabzi (herb stew)
The beloved green herb stew with kidney beans and dried lime — many call it Iran's true national dish.
khoresh
Stew
Any Persian stew served over rice — fesenjān, gheymeh, ghormeh sabzi.
sabzi
Herbs; greens
Fresh herbs — a plate of sabzi-khordan accompanies every proper meal.
mive
Fruit
Fruit — offered to every guest from a heaping bowl.
sib
Apple
The apple — one of the seven S items on the Nowruz table.
anār
Pomegranate
The ruby fruit of Persian poetry, eaten on Yaldā night.
gusht
Meat
Meat of any kind.
morgh
Chicken
Chicken — zereshk-polo bā morgh is wedding-feast food.
māhi
Fish
Fish — served with herb rice on the New Year table.
shirini
Pastry; sweets
Sweets and pastries — boxes of them travel to every visit and celebration.
ghahve
Coffee
Coffee — the word café-glacé and Turkish-style ghahve-khāne (coffeehouse) come with it.
gorosne
Hungry
Needing food; gorosna-am — I am hungry.
teshne
Thirsty
Needing water.
khāne
House; home
The home — khāne-ye khodetān ast, it is your own home, says the host.
shahr
City
A city — Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, each a world of its own.
khiābān
Street
A city street or avenue.
meydān
Square (plaza)
A public square — Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan is among the world's grandest.
bāzār
Bazaar
The covered market — labyrinths of carpets, spices and copper, beating heart of the old city.
forushgāh
Store
A shop or store, modern counterpart of the bazaar stall.
masjed
Mosque
A Muslim house of worship — Iran's tiled domes are world treasures.
esfahān
Isfahan
The city of blue domes and bridges — Esfahān nesf-e jahān, Isfahan is half the world.
madrese
School
A school for children.
dāneshgāh
University
A university — literally the place of knowledge.
bimārestān
Hospital
The place where the sick (bimār) are treated.
māshin
Car
An automobile; Tehran traffic is an adventure of its own.
otobus
Bus
Public bus transport.
metro
Metro (subway)
The underground rail — Tehran's metro is among the region's largest.
tāksi
Taxi
A cab — shared darbast taxis crisscross every Iranian city.
forudgāh
Airport
Where planes land — the place of coming down.
safar
Trip; journey
Travel — safar bekheyr, have a good journey!
kojā
Where
Question word asking about place.
chi
What (casual)
The everyday what; che / chist in formal speech.
ki
Who
Question word for people — context separates it from key (when).
key
When
Question word asking about time.
cherā
Why
Question word asking for a reason — also means yes! in answer to a negative question.
chetor
How
Question word asking about manner.
chand
How many; how much
Asks quantity or price — chand ast? how much is it?
kodām
Which
Question word for choosing among options.
kuh
Mountain
A mountain — Damāvand, Iran's mythic peak, rises over Tehran.
daryā
Sea
The sea — the Caspian in the north, the Persian Gulf in the south.
rudkhāne
River
A river — Isfahan's Zāyande-rud flows under ancient bridges.
derakht
Tree
A tree — cypress trees stand for grace in Persian gardens and poems.
gol
Flower
A flower — gol-e sorkh, the rose, queen of Persian gardens and verse.
bāgh
Garden
The Persian garden — chārbāgh design inspired paradise gardens worldwide; the word paradise itself is Persian.
āsemān
Sky
The sky above.
khorshid
Sun
The sun — shir-o-khorshid, lion and sun, is the old emblem of Persia.
setāre
Star
A star — cognate with the English word star itself.
havā
Weather; air
The weather or the air — havā khub ast, the weather is good.
bārān
Rain
Rain — a beloved name and the music of Persian ballads.
barf
Snow
Snow — Tehran's Alborz peaks wear it half the year.
bahār
Spring (season)
Spring — the season of Nowruz, when the Persian year begins anew.
tābestān
Summer
The hot season.
zemestān
Winter
The cold season — opened by Yaldā, its longest night.
kavir
Desert
The desert — central Iran's starlit salt plains.
gorbe
Cat
The cat — the long-haired Persian cat carries the country's name worldwide.
sag
Dog
A dog.
parande
Bird
A bird — the nightingale (bolbol) sings to the rose in Persian poetry.
shir
Milk; lion; tap
One famous word, three meanings: milk, lion, and faucet — context is everything!
sar
Head
The head — and the start of countless idioms, sar-e kār, at work.
cheshm
Eye
The eye — saying cheshm also means yes, at your service, upon my eye!
dast
Hand
The hand — dastet dard nakone, may your hand not ache, is how you thank a cook.
pā
Foot; leg
The foot or leg.
del
Heart (emotional)
The heart of feeling — delam barāt tang shode, my heart has tightened for you: I miss you.
ghalb
Heart (organ)
The anatomical heart — del carries the feelings, ghalb does the pumping.
dahān
Mouth
The mouth.
dandān
Tooth
A tooth — cognate with dental.
gush
Ear
The ear; gush kardan — to listen.
salāmati
Health
Good health — raised as a toast: be salāmati, to your health!
bimār
Sick
Ill, unwell; mariz is the everyday synonym.
doktor
Doctor
A physician — also the respectful title for any PhD holder.
dāru
Medicine
Medication from the dārukhāne, the pharmacy.
dard
Pain
Pain or ache — sar-dard, headache; del-dard, stomachache.
khāb
Sleep; dream
Sleep — and the dream you see inside it; khāb-e khosh, sweet dreams.
kār
Work
Work or job; sar-e kār — at work.
edāre
Office
An office or government bureau.
pul
Money
Money — counted in tomans in daily life, rials on paper.
tomān
Toman (currency)
The everyday currency unit — one toman equals ten rials, a constant mental math.
gheymat
Price
The cost of something — open to friendly bargaining in the bazaar.
mo'allem
Teacher
A schoolteacher, an honored figure.
dāneshju
University student
A student at university — literally a seeker of knowledge.
mohandes
Engineer
An engineer — like doktor, used as a respectful title.
ketāb
Book
A book — Iranians wrote some of the world's most loved poetry into them.
fārsi
Persian (language)
The Persian language — sweet fārsi, called shekar (sugar) by its poets.
irān
Iran
The land of Persia — home of Cyrus, Hafez and the Persian garden.
nowruz
Nowruz (Persian New Year)
The New Day — the spring equinox new year, celebrated for thirteen days with haft-sin, visits and renewal.
haft-sin
Haft-sin table
The Nowruz spread of seven items starting with S — sabzeh, senjed, sib, sir, samanu, somāq, serkeh.
yaldā
Yalda night
The winter solstice night — families stay up with pomegranates, watermelon and Hafez poems.
hāfez
Hafez (poet)
The 14th-century poet of Shiraz — his divān sits beside the Quran in Iranian homes, opened for fortunes.
she'r
Poetry; poem
Poetry — the soul of Persian culture, quoted in everyday conversation.
farsh
Carpet
The Persian carpet — gardens woven in wool, the pride of Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan looms.
honar
Art
Art and craft — miniature painting, calligraphy, tilework.
musighi
Music
Music — the tār, setār and santur carry the classical radif tradition.
raghs
Dance
Dance — joyous circling at weddings and family parties.
arusi
Wedding
A wedding — nights of music, dance and sofreh-ye aghd ceremony.
mehmāni
Party; gathering
A dinner gathering — the mehmān (guest) is, as Iranians say, God's friend.
mehmān-navāzi
Hospitality
The famed Persian hospitality — guests are honored, fed and never let go hungry.
samāvar
Samovar
The tea urn bubbling all day in Iranian homes — borrowed from Russia, perfected in Iran.
raftan
To go
To go — miravam, I go; boro, go!
āmadan
To come
To come toward the speaker; biā — come!
khordan
To eat; to drink
To eat — and casually to drink too; ghazā khordan, to have a meal.
nushidan
To drink
To drink — the formal verb; khordan covers it in everyday talk.
didan
To see
To see; mibinamet — see you!
shenidan
To hear
To hear or listen.
goftan
To say
To say or tell; begu — tell me!
harf zadan
To talk
To speak or converse — literally to strike words.
khāndan
To read; to sing
To read — and to sing; āvāz khāndan, to sing a song.
neveshtan
To write
To write — Persian flows right to left in elegant nasta'ligh script.
dādan
To give
To give; bede — give it!
gereftan
To take; to get
To take, catch or obtain — also to take a taxi or a photo.
kharidan
To buy
To purchase — kharid, shopping, is the noun.
forukhtan
To sell
To sell — the forushande (seller) calls prices in the bazaar.
khābidan
To sleep
To sleep; khāb, sleep itself.
bidār shodan
To wake up
To awaken from sleep.
kār kardan
To work
To work — kardan (to do) builds hundreds of compound verbs like this.
kardan
To do
To do — the engine of Persian compound verbs: fekr kardan, bāzi kardan, komak kardan.
fekr kardan
To think
To think — literally to do thought.
dānestan
To know (facts)
To know information; midānam — I know.
dānesh
Knowledge
Knowledge — the root of dāneshgāh (university) and dāneshju (student).
tavānestan
To be able to
Can, to be able; mitavānam — I can.
komak kardan
To help
To assist someone; komak! — help!
dust dāshtan
To like; to love
To like or love — dustet dāram, I love you, built on the word for friend.
bozorg
Big; great
Large in size or great in stature — bozorg-sāl, elder.
kuchak
Small
Little in size.
khub
Good
Good — the most common positive adjective in Persian.
bad
Bad
Not good — badi, badness, and bad luck all cluster here.
āli
Excellent; great
Excellent — the enthusiastic compliment Iranians reach for constantly.
ghashang
Beautiful; pretty
Lovely — ghashangh-e as a suffix of endearment: jigaram ghashang!
garm
Warm; hot
Warm in temperature — and warm in welcome, pestiriz-e garm, warm reception.
sard
Cold
Cold in temperature.
tāze
Fresh; new
Fresh — tāze-vāred, a newcomer; nān-e tāze, fresh bread.
jadid
New (modern)
New or modern, contrasting with ghadimithe old.
ghadimi
Old; ancient
Old in age — for things; for people, use pir or salmand.
shirin
Sweet
Sweet — also the immortal heroine of the Khosrow-o-Shirin love epic.
talkh
Bitter
Bitter in taste; talkh-kām, bitter-fated.
tond
Spicy; fast
Hot and spicy for food — or fast in pace; tond-ro, fast-walker.
por
Full
Full — por-shoda-am, I am full (after eating).
khāli
Empty
Empty; bosh-e khāli — an empty bottle; vacant.
sābet
Fixed; stable
Stable or established — also used for a landline (sābet) versus mobile.
sobh
Morning
Morning — sobh bekheyr, good morning!
shab
Night
Night — shab bekheyr, good night!
lebās
Clothes
Clothing, garments.
kafsh
Shoe
Shoes — removed at the door before entering Iranian homes.
miz
Table; desk
A table or desk.
sandāli
Chair
A chair for sitting.
sofre
Tablecloth; spread
The cloth laid on the floor for meals — to eat on sofre is to eat together.
darkhāst
Request
A request or application — darkhāst dādan, to make a request.
telefon
Phone
A phone — telefon kardan, to make a call.
kāmpiyuter
Computer
A computer — also rāyāne in formal Persian.
internet
Internet
The internet — central to modern Iranian daily life.
eshgh
Love
Passionate love — the fuel of Sufi poetry and Persian song.
shādi
Joy; happiness
Joy and celebration — shad bash, be joyful!
gham
Sorrow; grief
Deep sorrow — the bittersweet motif of Persian classical music.
tars
Fear
Fear; midārsam — I am afraid.
heyajān
Excitement
Excitement — heyajan-angiz, exciting.
omid
Hope
Hope — be omid-e didar, in hope of meeting, closes many letters.
azizam
My dear
Term of endearment for anyone beloved — parent, child, friend, spouse.
jigaram
My liver (term of endearment)
Literally my liver — in Persian culture the liver, not heart, is the seat of deepest love.
sabr
Patience
Patience — sabr kon, be patient; a prized Persian virtue.
dustān
Friends
Friends — the plural of dust; used warmly in addresses.
kucheh
Alley; lane
The narrow alley of old neighborhoods — kucheh-bāzāri, a child raised in the alleys.
āsānsor
Elevator
The elevator — from the French ascenseur.
sākhteman
Building
A building or structure.
pārk
Park
A public park — families flock here on Friday, Iran's day off.
tamiz
Clean
Clean — tamiz kardan, to clean.
kasif
Dirty
Dirty, unclean.
arzān
Cheap
Inexpensive — harza is the informal version.
gerān
Expensive
Expensive — also dear and heavy; gerān-qeymat.
sabz
Green
Green — the color of Islam, spring and Persian gardens.
sorkh
Red
Red — sorkh-pust, a red-faced person from the cold or excitement.
ābi
Blue
Blue — the color of Iran's iconic tiled domes.
zard
Yellow
Yellow — the color of saffron, Iran's precious spice.
za'farān
Saffron
The world's most precious spice — Iran grows most of it; rice, desserts and tea all glow with its gold.
eydi
Nowruz gift money
The crisp new banknotes gifted to children at Nowruz — eagerly awaited!
jang
War
War — a word heavy with the memory of the Iran-Iraq War.
solh
Peace
Peace — the root of salam, the greeting.
tārikhe
History; date
History — and also the calendar date; Iran's history stretches back three millennia.
jangal
Forest
A forest — the green jungles of Gilan and Māzandarān fringe the Caspian.
darband
Darband (mountain trail)
The beloved mountain gorge north of Tehran — Tehranis hike here for fresh air and tea.
sobhāne
Breakfast
Breakfast — nān-o-panir-o-chai, bread, cheese and tea.
nāhār
Lunch
The midday meal — traditionally the main meal.
shām
Dinner
The evening meal — also the name of the city Damascus in Persian.
khaste nabāshi
May you not be tired
Said to anyone finishing a task — a unique Persian expression of acknowledgment.
safar bekheyr
Have a good trip
The warm send-off for any traveller — may your journey be good.
mamnun az inke
Thank you for...
The phrase that begins a heartfelt expression of gratitude.