Use familiar sounds to remember words

Some Farsi words may remind you of words you already know. Those connections can help you remember them; this optional chapter explains which are real connections.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Some Farsi words sound like words you may know from English, Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese.
Connecting a new word to a familiar sound can make it easier to remember.
Sometimes the two words came from the same much older word; sometimes one language passed a word to another.
Two words can also sound alike by accident, so each example below tells you which kind of connection it is.
If you’ve got enough to take in with the letters, skip this chapter and come back later.

When you meet توto“you”, it might already sound familiar. Think of Spanish tú or Italian tu. Having something to connect it to can help. Sometimes the words are related, sometimes one language borrowed from another, and sometimes they just happen to sound alike. We’ll say which.

Words that stayed similar as languages changed

Farsi	A familiar sound and why it matches
توto“you — familiar singular”	Spanish tú, Italian tu, and Portuguese tu came from the same much older word as Persian to. One modern language did not borrow it from another. Register varies by language and region.
استast“is” · هستhast“exists; is”	English is, Spanish es, Italian è / essere, and Persian ast grew from the same ancient verb. Spanish está looks tempting too, but it came from a different verb meaning “stand.”
نامnâm“name”	English name, German Name, and Persian nâm are later forms of the same ancient word.

Words that moved from one language to another

Farsi word	How an English word is connected
بازارbâzâr“market”	English borrowed bazaar from Persian with barely a change.
پردیسpardis“garden; campus”	English paradise ultimately comes from an Old Iranian expression for a walled enclosure or garden.
نارنجnârenj“bitter orange”	The ancestor of English orange began in India, passed through Persian and Arabic, and then entered European languages. Modern Persian usually calls the sweet orange پرتقالporteghâl.
دریاdaryâ“sea” · اقیانوسoqyânus“ocean”	دریاdaryâ is the native everyday word. Persian اقیانوسoqyânus and English ocean ultimately point back to the same Greek word, reached by different routes.

See what you remember

Try the word or its meaning first. You don’t need to remember the history.

What does توto mean?
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توto“you — familiar singular”. It shares an ancient source with Spanish and Italian tu.
Which Farsi word means “market” and reached English almost unchanged?
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بازارbâzâr“market; bazaar”.
Does خانهkhâne“house” come from the title خانkhân?
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No. They only sound similar; the words do not share an origin.

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