The sounds behind the letters

A word can contain sounds that its spelling doesn’t show. Learn the six vowel sounds and which ones you’ll need to supply when reading.

≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Farsi is read from right to left.
A vowel is the open part of a syllable: you can hold “aaa” without blocking the air. A consonant narrows or stops the air, as b does when your lips close.
Start with the vowels. Some have their own letters. Others usually aren’t written at all.
The vowels â, i and u are normally written with letters, although یy / i and وv / u / ow are not always vowels.
The vowels a, e and o are normally omitted: سگsag“dog” is written s + g. You add the a when you say it.
You can add marks to show the short vowels. Most books leave them out, so you need to know the word and use the sentence to work it out.
A final ه may be h or e depending on the word; learn it with the word.

I; me

مَن

man

Say man slowly. Your lips close for m, the air flows freely for a, and your tongue blocks it for n. That makes m and n consonants and a the vowel. The small mark above م writes that a.

Start by reading from the right and looking for a vowel you can see. You don’t need to know all the letters yet. In آبâb“water”, the opening آâ gives you the vowel. In سگsag“dog”, you only see s and g. You have to know the word to put the a between them.

Six vowel sounds to listen for

Vowels are sounds like the a in cat or the ee in see. Farsi has six. Read across each row to see the sound, how it is written, and a word that uses it.

Sound	How it appears	Example
â — a long open vowel, near the a in father	آ at the start; usually ا elsewhere	آبâb“water”
i — ee in see	ی	شیرshir“milk; lion”
u — oo in food	و	دودdud“smoke”
a — a short front vowel, near cat	normally hidden; the teaching mark is ـَ	سگsag“dog”
e — e in bed	normally hidden; the teaching mark is ـِ	دلdel“heart”
o — a short rounded vowel	normally hidden; the teaching mark is ـُ	گلgol“flower”

The short-vowel marks have names: fathe for a, kasre for e, and zamme for o. If you see tashkil or harekat-gozâri elsewhere, they’re talking about adding these marks.

Why a vowel can disappear from the spelling

Small marks can show a, e and o while you’re learning. Compare the marked word with its everyday spelling: the sound stays even when the mark goes.

سَگsag“dog — with the a marked”

سگsag“dog — normal spelling”

The small stroke disappears, but the word is still pronounced sag. Learn the sound and spelling together.

One letter can do more than one job

You’ve seen ی and و used for vowel sounds. They can also spell other sounds. Learn the sound with the whole word, rather than giving each letter one fixed reading.

مرد

mard — a man; or mord — died

The surrounding words tell you which missing short vowel makes sense.

کی

ki — who; or key — when

A dictionary or teaching text may add a short-vowel mark when needed.

خانه

khâne — house

Here final ه is e.

ماه

mâh — moon; month

Here final ه is h. Treat the pronunciation as part of the word.

Try adding the missing vowel

Look at the letters and use the hint for the missing vowel. Have a go, then check the answer.

سگ
s + hidden vowel + g
Show answer +Hide answer −
سگsag“dog”
دل
d + hidden vowel + l
Show answer +Hide answer −
دلdel“heart”
گل
g + hidden vowel + l
Show answer +Hide answer −
گلgol“flower”

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Farsi chapters ↗