Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Farsi

A short, active path into reading Farsi: learn the Persian script in useful groups, decode words before revealing their pronunciation, follow the verb to the end, and read a small story before opening your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 31 min + 4 optional lookups · ≈ 44 min with everything

Noun lookup: plurals, possession, question words, and family

Optional lookup · ≈ 3 min

What you'll learn

Open this when an ending on a noun blocks your reading; none of it is required for the next story.
ـها-hâ is the most generally useful plural ending.
Short attached endings can mean my, your, his, her, our, or their.
کیki“who” and کِیkey“when” use the same letters; the sentence and optional vowel mark distinguish them.

Useful noun endings: more than one, and whose one

Ending	Job	Example
ـها-hâ	general plural	کتاب‌هاketâb-hâ“books”
ـان-ân	a more limited plural, especially with people and in formal or literary words	مردانmardân“men”
ـم-am	my	کتابمketâbam“my book”
ـت-at	your — one familiar person	کتابتketâbat“your book”
ـش-ash	his, her, or its	کتابشketâbash“his or her book”
ـمان-emân	our	کتابمانketâbemân“our book”
ـتان-etân	your — plural or formal	کتابتانketâbetân“your book”
ـشان-eshân	their	کتابشانketâbeshân“their book”

These attached endings mean my / your / their before a noun. Standalone “mine / yours / theirs” normally uses مال منmâl-e man“mine”, مال توmâl-e to“yours”, and مال آن‌هاmâl-e ânhâ“theirs”.

Question words worth recognising

Question word	Example
کجاkojâ“where”	او کجاست؟u kojâst?“where is he or she?”
چهche“what” · spoken چیchi	چه می‌خواهی؟che mikhâhi?“what do you want?”
کیki“who”	او کیست؟u kist?“who is he or she?”
کِیkey“when”	کِی می‌آیی؟key miâyi?“when are you coming?”
چراcherâ“why”	چرا نه؟cherâ na?“why not?”
کدامkodâm“which”	کدام کتاب؟kodâm ketâb?“which book?”
چطورchetor“how”	حال شما چطور است؟hâl-e shomâ chetor ast?“how are you?”

Family words

خانوادهkhânevâde“family”

پدرpedar“father”

مادرmâdar“mother”

برادرbarâdar“brother”

خواهرkhâhar“sister”

پسرpesar“son; boy”

دخترdokhtar“daughter; girl”

بچهbachche“child”

Where is the house?

خانه کجاست؟

khâne kojâst?

کجاستkojâst joins کجاkojâ“where” to استast“is”.