Chapter 5 of 17 · Explore the Farsi path
The script · Chapter 5 of 17
Where words and sentences break
Learn the marks for pauses, questions and speech. Then look at a small gap inside words, so you don’t mistake part of a word for a new one.
≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- Persian has no capital letters, so a name looks like any other word.
- Speech is normally wrapped in «…», not in the quotation marks English uses.
- The comma ، and the question mark ؟ are mirrored so they lean with the script; the full stop is the same dot you already use.
- You’ll also see a small gap called a half-space between parts of a word.
- A half-space is not a space: the pieces on either side of it are one word.
Marks for pauses, questions and speech
These marks help you see where a sentence ends or someone starts speaking. Most do jobs you already know from English, even when the shape looks different.
| Mark | Name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| «…» | گیومه | encloses direct speech, where English uses quotation marks |
| ، | ویرگول | a comma, drawn the other way up |
| ؟ | علامت سؤال | a question mark, mirrored |
| . | نقطه | a full stop, exactly as in English |
| ! | علامت تعجب | an exclamation mark, exactly as in English |
Only two of these are unfamiliar shapes. Notice that the mirrored marks sit at the left end of the sentence, because that is where a right-to-left sentence finishes.
The cat said, “The water is here.”
گربه گفت: «آب اینجاست.»
gorbe goft: “âb injâst.”
A colon introduces the speech and «…» encloses it. The full stop stays inside, as it does in English.
A small gap inside one word
A half-space keeps two parts of a word from joining their letters. The parts still belong together. Compare it with a full space, which separates words.
Read the marks, not just the letters
- روباه گفت: «سلام.»
Which part of the line was spoken aloud?
Show answer +Hide answer −
Only what sits inside «…»: سلامsalâm “hello”. The whole line is “The fox said, ‘Hello.’” - How does the writing show you that a word is somebody’s name?
Show answer +Hide answer −
It does not. Persian has no capital letters, so the sentence around the word is the only clue. - How many words are in آنها?
The gap is narrower than a space.
Show answer +Hide answer −
One: آنهاânhâ “they”, joined by a half-space.