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
Words
1 section9
Farsi words you may already half-know
Optional lookup · ≈ 3 min
What you'll learn
- 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.
- You can skip this section on a first pass if learning the script already feels like enough.
When you meet توto“you”, you do not have to remember it from nothing. If you know Spanish tú or Italian tu, the familiar sound gives you something to connect it to. The examples below explain whether that likeness comes from an ancient shared source, a word being passed between languages, or simple coincidence.
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. |
Did the stories help the Farsi words stick?
Recall the Farsi meaning or word first; the historical explanation is a bonus.
- 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.