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

How sentences work

2 sections

How a sentence tells you who did what

≈ 2 min

What you'll learn

The ordinary story order is doer → thing affected → verb.
راrâ comes after the person or thing that receives the action, whenever the writer has a particular one in mind — which includes someone a story has just introduced as “a bird.” Grammars call this an object marker.
A short unwritten e links a noun to its description or owner; this is ezafe, a name meaning “addition” or “attachment.”
سگ کوچکsag-e kuchek“small dog” is literally dog-e small.
There is no separate word for “the”; context often supplies it.

For a simple action, collect the whole scene and put the verb last.

The fox saw the bird.

روباه پرنده را دید.

rubâh parande râ did.

روباهrubâh“fox” · پرنده راparande râ“the bird” · دیدdid“saw”. The colours show the jobs even though English orders them differently.

Ezafe (“addition”): the linking sound spelling usually hides

سگsag“dog” + کوچکkuchek“small”

سگ کوچکsag-e kuchek“small dog”

The e is heard after dog but is not written.

خانهkhâne“house” + منman“I; me”

خانه‌ی منkhâne-ye man“my house”

After final ه pronounced e, the link sounds like -ye. This lesson writes it as خانه‌ی منkhâne-ye man; Persian publishers also use other spellings for the same sound.

Find the verb and the links

روباه پرنده را دید.
The final word is the action.
Show answer +Hide answer −
روباه پرنده را دید.rubâh parande râ did“The fox saw the bird”
سگ کوچک
The linking vowel is heard but not written.
Show answer +Hide answer −
سگ کوچکsag-e kuchek“small dog”
خانه‌ی من
Show answer +Hide answer −
خانه‌ی منkhâne-ye man“my house”