LESSON

Hello!

In this lesson, we will learn about basic greetings and introductions in

Farsi. We will also learn about personal pronouns, the possessive con-
struction, and using some simple verbs. But let's warm up with some
common phrases.

In order to get a head start with reading and writing and not get en-
tangled in the alphabet, it is a good idea to learn the shape of each new
word as a whole and not try to break words up into letters in the first
place. Get a pack of index cards, and write each word you learn on one
side of a card and its pronuncialion and meaning on the other side. Re-
view the cards frequently until you can recognize the words and their
meanings iust by looking at their Farsi written form. Then, as you ac-
cumulate more cards, you can take out the ones that you know and go
back to them from time to time for review. As you build up vocabulary
and review the alphabet, you will notice that you are also picking up
how the alphabet works.

Also remember that Farsi goes from right to left. First read the Farsi col-
umn on the right, then check the pronunciation in the middle, and only
after that should you look at the English translation on the left.

I A . U O C A B U L A RW
YA R M - U P

Hello! /selam!/ !c[

How are you? /hale Somade-tor rAt.ii,dL=
ast?f,/h"le Soma f.ii -cjt-cf.',','rl
de-torefl fo-l:l'a'
What is your name? /esme Somadist?1, 6f . ", . ", .H.
r . e- j
/esme Somaliye?l t++ W.e,-!
Pardon me. / Excuse /bebaxSid.f .O*.tf+ erl't:.i.t
me. /bebexSin/
Good-bye. /xodahafez.f, fxodafez.f .lil.ri sliL-l,.li
As mentioned earlier, there are consistent differences in Farsi be-
tween the written, or formal,language and the spoken, or informal,
language.The pronunciation and spelling of the same words dillt'r .cp)Kl.: :r:+.^.^' @

5
depending on the usage style chosen. For instance, the pronurtt i,r
tion and spelling of verbs differ depending on the style. In all vo /daglas./ :/Sebnem/
cabulary lists (including the glossaries),both the written/formal :rrtrl f( !.r.-lr; dju,ir+ :cl^l_l
spoken/informal pronunciation and spelling will be provided for tlrr'
same word, with the formal one coming first. In the dialogues, thr' /bebexS-in (bebexS-id)
?i :framinf
informal style, pronunciation, and spelling will prevail, as they do irr .g*Xl.l fi+ cgtii ,',r.NA
oJAi^^,,| :d+t.'
everyday communication. In order to help the learner, the written/
formal spellings of all verbs appearing in the dialogues will be giverr /esmebun hest aqaye jim daglas./ :/Sebnem/
in parentheses at their first occurrence. In the grammar examples, fOi*i t-"li tu:.r :clrl_,r
the spelling will be mainly written/formal unless the example is a
direct quote from the dialogue, where an informal spelling and pro /dust-e Soma hest-enf :framinf
nunciation were used. .,i3*a C;^;A-# fr^.r1.:OJ4l :-+;
/iSun dust-e Soher-e mren hest-en./ :/Sebnem/
I B. DIATOGUE f(S;.r') CJ*Jd OlJd q,55 :cll^l_,r
Shabnam runs into Ramin at Tehran Mehrabad airport. She is picking /key be tehran mi-res-en (mi-res-end)/ :framinf
up an old friend of her husband's, Mr. fim Douglas,who is arriving any
.(.yS.,.)+fu O_rlg4 cs.::j; rr"t+.'$_r: cr-15 :d+;
minute now from Canada.|im is a Middle East scholar and knows Farsi
well, but this is his first visit to Iran in about fifteen years' /(izi ne-mun-de. bayed be-zud-i peyda-5un :/Sebnem/
be-5-e(be-5ev-ad).i

!ex* .ij+.l' ..Ljl=lii..-,. A ;l1.++ ,,rp"l,r

:/Sebnem/ /besiyar xob. xodah afez.f :framinf
/selam!/
l^.'i -dlt=leL .li'-i-t=lii :f:$
folA :cl+.1-,1
/selam! hale Soma le-tor-e?f :framinf fxodahafez.f :/Sebnem/
rr.rs I j+li .ori; .iJr iF :#+l
f("J*i
rtr"ut;'i3; Shabnam: Hello!

xeyli memnun. xanum xub :/Sebnem/ Ramin: Hi! How are you?
fmnnxubam.
hestan (hastend)| Shabnam: I am fine. Thank you very much. Is your wife fine?

J*!"b!l t -l .(#-),^ 4li :Cl^l_r Ramin: Yes, thanks. Are you waiting for someone here?
"*;S f( rll."n; O+\3;
Shabnam: Yes, our friend is coming to Iran from Canada
:ltaminl today.
fba,le,mersi.Somainja montrezerekesi
hestin (hestid)f Ramin: From Canada? How nice!What's his name?

L fuj.t-.1JJ!.4\ :fil-i Shabnam: Douglas.

r-ll;l e+ bElS -,11
'(+t .s') r\r Ramin: Pardon?
fbe,le, emruz dust-e ma ez kanada be iran :/Sabnem/ His name is Mr. |im Douglas.
Shabnam:
mi-ya-d (mi-a-yed)./
Ramin: Is he vour friend?
9+1; u *f+*l !..i .i a-sf l.tElSjf :.JJ^IJ
Ehabnam: He's my husband's friend.
lezkanada? dexub! esm-e-5unfi-ye?l :framinf

htron t
 Ramin: When is he arriving in Tehran?
Shabnam: to
Any time now. He must show hel
up soon. !
Ramin: Tehran o
Ail right. Good_bye. Itehranl
how dl_rd o

Shabnam: Good_bye. /te-torl

what JA+
/til, ltel
Comprehensionpractice (physical) condition 5'c+
[huU
the fo,owingquestions
basedon the dialogue lady, wife, Mrs., Ms. cjt
flrJ* you justprac_ fxanomf
,lxanuml
good
p3'rti.,trili
A.Ramin wants to know how lxubl
Shabam is. What does he say?
very a lot 9F
fOi."A + a lxeylil
lli .f !p)-, . y fo ,:ti l*.i -.JU. f friend, friends J+i
t t setMr'Douglas's ldustl,/dustan/ arll,UJ 5r,r.,UJ
,Tl""J"liil: name,
howdoes
heaskshabnam husband
"1fr]} /Soharl
old -'j3,.&
fgj*-e L,,*, gr'.,,_r.l.y fiJ[r.ii# .y /qedim-il
-]$L bjrf l^.i .l someone (4ti
fiJ$*a s*,.,s lkasil
c. How do you sayyes,thanksin when ,s-,5
Farsi?
keyl
.s+,y,4li.f !+_n€.V thanks #
.l;i1.ls.l /mersi/
D.How do you saygood_bye thanks, grateful
(tr-)-+
in Farsi?
/memnun/
. \ui{ii .\" !+ d € .f waiting o_1,;
l;'iLrlri .t fmontezerf
E.What does,.)-, mean? l. a,t
JFu4

ID. KEYPHRASES
I C. UOCABUI.ARY
Hello.ffint.)
These are the new words /selam eleykom./
used in the diarogue. Note Good day. f5.+J.e fX*
that they are in /ruzbe-xeyr./
order. n"^"^ii, to readthesetabres .-*i+ i_l_.r
ll"r#"'alphabetical from right Goodmorning.
/sobh be-xeyr.f .Jli+ e*-
sir, mister,Mr. Goodafternoon/evening.
laqul
l_il f asr be-xeyr.f .JH'A+),-L
from/of Goodnight.
lerl jl /5eb be-xeyr./
name
.Jr*i+ s:i
How are you? (fmt.)
lesm/ /hal-etan(,e-tor_e? foJr4. OL]Il.s
today e-J f,
/haletun te-tor_e?f
/emruzf
Iran is-1,.! How are you? (infinl.)
/hal-etde-tor-e/ foJr.Li crjt-r.
liranl
cll*l Are you well? (infmt.)
must /hal-et xub-e?l
lbaya,dl !+.;i cdt.r
soon +l+ Are you well? (infinl)
lxub-i?l
lbe-zudil f.+A
very well, all right
csr_ri+ Is you husbandwell?
/5oher-etan ! rtl o.rOlSy+,.i
/besiyar xob/ tJJi Jt+.,+ VmL) xub-end?l
yes
lbale/ How is your husband?
4Ji (infmt.) lhal-eSoher-etun OIJA-d -cjL=
ft-tor-e?f foJr+
What is your name?
(f^t.l
What is your name?
(f*t.l
Whatis yourname?
(infmt.l
What is his/her name?
(fr"l.l
What is his/her/its
/esm-eSomati-ye?l fq;1,",i -il
I F. GRAMMAR rD
/esm-etanli-ye?/, UJt*.tl/UE ..,l Farsi Personal Pronouns
!a-s
/esm-etun lJ'-ye?l ..3
Personal pronouns are words that are used to refer to people or things
fqJ= d!or.,,l
/esm-et ti-ye?l dt without using their names. subject pronouns are used in the subject
position of the sentence-i.e., the beginning of the sentence-to refer to
the person who performs the action described in the sentence.In Eng-
/esm-e5anli-ye?1, Uj^if-l/6LS.^.,1 lish, personal subject pronouns are the words I, you, he, she, it, we, you,
/esm-ebunti-ye?l f't;;
and they. English also has a set of object pronouns- me,yott, him, her, it,
fqJs., fi.o-l tts,yott, and them-and a set of possessivepronouns- mine, yours, his,
/esm-eb &ye?l t.C v '

name?(infml.l hers, its, ours,yours, and theirs.There is also a set of possessivedetermin-

ers in English-my, your, his, her, its, our, your, and their. The pronoun
My name is Shabnam. /esm-e men 4.1+.i g* .ill
system in Farsi is far simpler; it only includes the pronouns listed in the
Sebnem-e./
table below.
His name is Ramin. lf*L) /esme-Sunramin-e./ .4+lJ OJr$4$l
His name is Ramin. /esm-ebramin-e./ .4+lJ Uif-l F A R SPI E R S O NPAR
LONOUNS
(infmt.l
I, mg, my lma:nl U.
I E . C U T T U RTEO P I CI
you, your (sg.) lt;l Jl
he/ehe1it,him,rhea ful,lanl ol r J ) t':
i
Greetingsin the PersianCulture his/her/its l

Greetings are very important in the Iranian culture. Family members we, us, our l^l tl
lj

and colleagues always greet each other when they meet. It is also very
you, your (pl.) lSornal lrl
important to greet people before you start talking to them. Greeting in \ \.0

the Persian culture is almost a ritual, and it might take longer than it
does in Western societies.During a family or a formal gathering, it is
common to see the same two people asking each other how they are
more than once.This is a form of acknowledging the person's presence
and letting him or her know that you care.
)ust starting talking to someonebefore greeting him or her is considered
rude. Using plural pronouns (e.g.,plural youl and plural forms of verbs
to refer to individuals, especiallyelders,is a sign of respectand is used in
formal and semiformal situations. This would be like referring to some-
one you respect as they, and say things like They are here to mean that he
or she is here. Friends use singular pronouns and verbs to refer to each
other. Farsi does not have gender,which means that there is no distinc-
tion between he and she.This is in fact a source of confusion for Farsi
speakerslearning a languagelike English, which has this distinction.
th"y, them, their;
he/she, hisyher lan-hal; li{anl Ol4l .t*.1
{lss.fuLl
Notice that there are two forms for the third person singular (he/she/it),
namely,Jl Vun and gi (1""1).The first of thesi formg (:li ir used to refer
to people (male or female), and the second form (gl1 is used for nonhu-
mans. Also note that there are two forms for the third person plural,
rhey-tgii (lan-hall and ULU fli5an/). The first one ($i) is used to refer
to more than one person (they).The secondone (Ut4l) is used to refer to
r single person in a more formal, respectful way; while the meaning of
Ot4lis singular, it is listed as a plural pronoun becauseit is used with a
plural,form of the verb. In spoken language,Ol4l is often pronounced
OJ4l/isun/).
Look at these examples that use personal pronouns.
?rL.J d OlJd e.;.,J Ol4l
/llan key be tehran mi-res-end/
When does he arrive in Tehran?

--------- -t- - - --- --"'

brron t ,7
f lJ --r dfr ,):-'li'ol++l l;; Here are the present tense forms of the verb gJj
Vbud-anl,to be). .D
/5oma inja montezer-e kas-i hrest-idf 6-
Are you waiting for someone here? T H EV E R BO i - X ( / b u d - a n / , t o b e ) t N T H Ep R E S E N
TTENSE

..',.r1ij+-l' Jl
(I) am rst g
/u Sebnem rest./ ftast-arnl &jr 2
She is Shabnam. (you) are (sg) t - G)
ftest-il CrJ-rA 2ncl c
'*r:*.. ..t^.*;-. ";-**-..,*--' -d""ll1i-i *:;d
Construction
Possessive (he/.she/it) is fhestf,lastl 'E
*"-;;
Possessiveconstructions,like my book,her name,or fohn's bag, arethose (we) are lhast-iml rst
that tell us who something belongs to. In Farsi, the possessoris men- (you) are (p/.
tioned last in a possessiveconstruction (literally, "book my"). The noun
/hast-id/
+-il ,"a* at
and,sg.fmt,l
group that expresseswhat belongs to the possessoris mentioned first **,.1:---"--!.*,,,,,,,.*..-.....-....,.,,-,,,,:--
c
5
and is connectedto the possessorwith the vowel /e/, which is roughly (thuy) are / (he /h*;i:;di $i-.ic 3rd
equivalent to the English ol This vowel does not normally show up in /she) is (sg.fr"t.l
writing, but it is marked in the examples below

POSSESSIVE ON
CONSTRUCTI Note:The infinitiveformsof verbsin Farsiare madewith the paststem
of
the verb. That is why the verb LJiJ,t is conjugatedas
13"1, etc., in the
table above-that is, usinga very differentroot form. verb forms and the
my name /esm-e mren/ U^ -f*l presentand paststemsare discussed in lessons4 and 5.
your name {sg.} /esm-e to/ J'l. r*l can seerthe stem cr^.6 (/hest/) is given a suffix based on per-
his/her na(ne, /esm-e uf , f esrn-eanf lt"r"
'i{-ngy__ c.li.l*l c-91,p-l
The verbs,''' Jr! (lha.stfi and dr.,rl (restll both mean js, but the former
tt has an existential meaning-that is, it is used in the same situations
our name /esm-e ma/ L. _e.rl
where English speakersuse there is/are. For example:
your name (pl. /esm-e Soma/ 6 -e*l
or sg.tfml,l .,',*i q,rl.is.! t+ll
/inja yek ketab hest./
their name, There is a book here.
his/her nirme /esm-e anha/, djl&l .p*l r$i.p*l
(sg.f"rtl /esm-e iSan/ But:
.r'r..,f ,,,j1 crrLjS

The Present Tense /ketab xub est./

The book is good.
Verbs are words that talk about actions.For example,in the sentenceShe
talked to him, the word talked is the verb. Verbs in Farsi are inflected for You may have noticed that word order in Farsi is different from English.
tense and person. This means that depending on the time of the action ln Farsi, the verb usually appears at the end of a sentenceand follows
and the person who performed it, we add prefixes and suffixes to the the object,whereas in English it usually appearsearlier and precedesthe
verb. Prefixesare meaningful units that are attachedto the beginning of obiect, as in the examples below:
words, and suffixes are those that are attached to the end of words. .J1r lJ cl.lt ;.t1.i
The present tense of the verb gi31 (/bud-en/, to be) is conjugated as fol- flebnem ramin ra did./
lows. (When we list all the possible forms of a verb in a certain tense for Shabnam saw Ramin.
all persons,we say that we are conjugating that verb.) .d*i i$,,r.
/men Sebnem hestem./
lrm Shabnam.

--*-----^^---".-i
lilon r io
I
i
 I
I
This is a very useful verb becausemany verbs in Farsi are created by
..jj cl.l: -i fD

combining this verb (and a few other verbs likeJhis) with another word. o
/to ramin hesti./ For example, the verb fo live inFarsi is OUS JS-,1'7"endegi krerdan/),
You are Ramin.
which, if translated literally, would mean to do living or to do life in
.,',ul d+ Jl English.
/u jim est/ UsageNote: In spokenlanguage,the third personsingularf6r6 JS .rr
He is |im. (/mi-kon-ed/) is pronounced ajS ,r-o (/mi-kon-e/).Thesameis true of all
..'r:jlb+l t- verbs,i.e., the suffix/-ad/ in writtenform turns into /-e/ in spokenform.
Alsonotethat when a word endsin the vowel/-e/, it is writtenwith e. This
/ma inja hestim./
We are here. ls notthe sameas the suffix4, which is the spokenform of the verbdr-,|.

.+$-i OlJi Ji l.',.i' In Farsi, it is also possible to completely drop the subject of a sentence,
becausethe verb already carries information about the subject. For ex-
/5oma der tehran hrestid./
You are in Tehran. ample, instead of saying:

. ri'i..,i [ElS Ji 141l .eK.r *Ss-l OlJi Jr rJ

/anha dar kanada hrestend./ /mren drer tehran zende-gi mi-kon-em./
They are in Canada. I live in Tehran.

VocabularyNote:Theword JJ (/dar/) meansin or at. we can say:

UsageNote:TheworOlJ (/ra/)in the first exampleis an objectmarker.We .f'6.r #s-t cll-li-,1:

w i l l t a l k a b o u tt h i s m a r k e rl a t e r . /der tehran zende-gimi-kon-em./
I live in Tehran.
The verb.',,.r1 (/rest/,is). in spoken language turns into the suffix 4
tJ^ -e.^,lflesm-emen ramin-e/,My name is Ramin),as Dropping the subject is quite common in Farsi.
V.h,".g.,4+lJ
opposed to.'t!Nl Cl*^l-,; Ll .e-,1 (/esm-e men ravmin est/, My name
is Ramin). IG. REAI'IlIG
The present tense of verbs other than cJij (/bud-en/, to be) is a little
different. Like Uljr, the present stem of other verbs takes a suffix based Read the following sentencesabout Shabnam. Try to get comfortable
on person; unlike cJU, the gresent stem also takes the prefix cs' (/mi- with the way the words look. As mentioned at the beginning of the les-
Eon,when learning the Farsi alphabet, it helps to recognize words as a
ll.,Fo, example,the verb OJ'F (/kerd-ren/, to do), with the present stem
whole, in addition to knowing how to put the letters together, to figure
cls (Aon/), has the following forms.
out how to pronounce the words.
Thke a look at the present tense forms of the verb cli-lS (/kerd-ery', to do).

g!'UJ g.ofur3.r(.rp"f-).i*,j| #
i J . J S ( / k a r d - a n / , t o d o ) l N T H EP R E S E N
T H EV E R B TETNSE t1*+.d-r^,,| dr .P-'
.dr..,ldU i1.o-F-'.i .dr..l g.e -FJ-
(I) do /mi-kon-rem/ rs; i
Hello. I am Shabnam.Ramin is my friend. fim is my husband's
(you)_lo(se,) /mi-kon-i/ i
"'g; frlend. My husbandis Mani.
jjs;
(he/shelit) does /mi kon-ed/
(we) do /rni;korr-im/ F+;
',ir"
f*"lor d;- /mi-kon-id/ I I I . C U T T U RTEO P I C2
ss.fui.l
' At the airports in Iran, it is quite common to seegroups of family mem-
t*"rt i", trr"lrrr"l /mi-kon-end/
ri'it.r..c
brrs or friends carrying flowers and waiting to greet their guests.Prob-
does(sg.ftnl.l rbly the most notable difference for a Western visitor on arrival is how

rb

10! hron r
 women dress.According to the dress code enforced since the ry79Iq- (r)
(f) L,,i dl.- - ea.Ir-r-.r .D
lamic revolution in Iran, women must fully cover their hair and bod-
' (o) o-'

ies. Depending on their beliefs.and social class, women wearra range

.5s; otJ(i L-i .,1j1,.. .C.F 0^ -.ill
of styles of clothing, from the traditional black sheet called -!$ (/da- f0irls .,.o I

dor/) to a shorter overall-called 3SL. (lmantol, from the French word i

manteaul-together with a colorful scarf. You will probably find most
.tj (1) i)^ ,,, .i, .+\ -+
Iranians friendly and yet formal. Men often shake hands and sometimes (v)
lightly kiss their male friends and relatives on the cheeks. Women do
.+F Jt+.r+-.ill
the same with other women. Women don't typically shake hands with ..Lit-ls, -c.r
men or kiss them in public. Some women, depending on their religious
beliefs, do shake hands with men, but usually only in a private setting.
People often introduce themselves by their last names. When introduc- C. Use the words in parenthesesto state individuals'names. The first one
ing other people, individuals tend to say that person's title before his is done for you as an example.
or her last name. SaFng one's own title is unusual. You can learn more
cr-,| ,pl; g,o p*l s1. e.!nl_; glo f-'l (Cl+l: ,g") .\
about Iran and Iranian culture by visiting http://persia.org/.
(#,t*i) .Y
(d+ 6rl) .f
Exercises
(;u 6ou+l). t
The exercisesare enumerated using Hindi numerals, which are used in
Farsi. Unlike the alphabet, numerals go from left to right, iust like they
do in English. Here is a list to help you remember what they are:

. 't Y f t o 1 V A 1 \.
Vocabularyilote:3 (/va/) meansond.
or2345678910

A. Complete the following sentenceswith the correct present tense form Look back at the first dialogue in this lesson. Ramin wants to know
of the verb oJ-#. when |im will arrive in Tehran. He asks,f.ti*,,;X^ OlJ6j 4+ .'$ (/key be
tehran mi-res-end|). Can you conjugate the verb g !"t by comparing
t-sJ.tl,.1. . \
it to the verb gJ-.f discussed above?
olJi -,PL.6 .t we arrive--(t)-- I arrive
Jr t4.li .f
c.rl-1..1 (o)
you arrive you arrive
ir" iti. tl .t
they arrive ti'oJ he/she/it arrives (f)
crf - -
O.. db'JJ ji .o
li.ilS Jr l- .1
A]ISWERKEY
B. Complete the following dialogue using the words below. There are more ComprehensionPractice
words in the list than required.
A. r. B.z. C.3. D.r. E. hello
4r.F oJ.lh p- dru_9J (#-.;lc !jl+
_.p lil-l.ri
t (Y) L.$ dt* ! ('l) -,-il1
 Exercises LESSON
A.

r'r,"f . f $i*rA Y tji'"t '\ +"4.1

ft$'*A '1 .j.^,O .o

qL? . f' .,*,,,J^ .f t\\

Welcome,
Jl .o "1 !F.\
lt
liit=lri .V Jlut

C. In this lesson,we will learn about kinship terms in Farsi. We will also
learn more about possessiveconstructions.The other grammatical terms
/ .a..5 rl p-ll .f / .4-it$ t^.$ f-l .Y
that we cover are plurals of nouns and the object marker l; (lrall.
.d$l ^J+ -ol .*.'l .d-,1 p'r.l.$Ge-l

/ .4^i+.i: Cr*"I-,r1-ojl .o / .4$l- Otfol.*l .1 2A. UOCABUTARY

WARM-UP
d-,1 p.r'r'.i:Cl^l-,rLf-l c!,,,1.,jU Otll fl ;,
boy, son lpesarl J

suitcase r'ro6,,,'t16,
l(a-medanl, /demedun/ v J ' . c v

c
D. family /xanevade/,/xunevade/ o.ll-9,r-gs o.llg-ls
.\ home, house 4iJA sa.lli
ei--l G^ .t e-,J d fxanef, fxunef
'a l'
'

.|rr-,1 ,r.o . o (#J g.o . \ girl, daughter ldoxterl

}J5.J

r-'-,1 art .Y company lEerketl

cisJ$
work, job katl -,11s
I N D E P E N D E NC
THATLENGE where kojal b3
, i,(
bag, briefcase, kifl
For this section,you need to prepare and maintain a language jour-
purse, wallet
nal. At the end of each lesson,you are instructed to perform an in-
dependent task and write the results in the iournal. These tasks are car, vehicle, machine /maiin/ ObuiL
deslgned to give you more exposure to Farsi as used in real-world
contexts,and completing them can be extremely rewarding and fun.
28. DIATOGUE
To start, take another look at the introduction to the Farsi alphabet,
and also visit http://www.omniglot.com/writing/persian.htm for an |im has arrived in Tehran and Shabnam will be driving him home.
alternative introduction to the alphabet. Then try writing a greeting They have already met and are now walking toward Shabnam's car.
dialogue of your own using the words and phrasesyou learned in this Listen to their conversation that is taking place on the way to the
lesson.Seeif you can spell your own name in Farsi.

Drl1iJi-dL:, .cgr,oldF OlJi ar efi,r+

fo-1A*l

ljim,be tehran xoi amad-i. hal-e xunevade-et :/Sebnem/

de-tor-e?/

-*-l

I 14i
I
Farsi
 ,.sl*i t rrg .+F a^i .UJ,i^.,r-tf :tl+
Shabnam: How about your wife? Where is she? E
o
.($b_l .f) +:_XJi^ ,',rcri
,Jt*l fim: Susan works at a'high school. What does your son o
do? 3
lxeyli mamnun. heme xub-end. xanum-em :ljiml JD
xeyli be-het selam mi-res-un-e (mi-res-an-ad) Shabnam:
=
/ My son goes to the university. =
9(.1S.,. Jq 4jS G- JtS .&
+ Oyf cuiiS :d+" fim: His name's Farhad, isn't it?

/doxter-et el'an de kar mi-kon-e (kar mi- :/Sebnem/ Shabnam: Yeah. Well, here's the car. put your suitcase in the
kon-ed)/ back.
.{iS (J-oJtS clsJj g .,s:: iJyl dJ|(+ :fi}+ fim: It's so heavy! I,ll put my briefcasein the back,too.

/nikol el'an tu-ye ye Serket kar mi-kon-e./

Shabnam. Very well. Let,sgo home.
:liiml
fdd+3 gjl f-r:t+ c+jjt'i. :il+^
. ! t

Comprehension practice
/xanum-et de-tor-e?un koja-stf :/Sabnem/
A.What doesthis phrasemean?crJ.oi
LiF
-Jq .{S c/ JIS Oli".lr"i a; _! Ol_l_r* :ir+ r. thanks z. welcome
f6.r JLS4" l.ii 3. very well
B. Where does fim's daughter work?
f suzan der ye drebir-estan kar mi-kon-e. peser- :ljiml
cSJ.i.! -,1.r olK,i:fr Jr .y c.lE--r+.re5,;_;.t. \
"di;:5:;::; :.$ .l
C. What does Shabnam's son do?
dsJ"i .ol3.i:l.roJ (t' .Y
/peser-em mi-r-e (mi-rev-ed) daneb-gah/ :/iebnem/ * -1. ,I OE-,r*.).! +t . \
.+iS.f _,,tS .6.r -iS
fd eoja_j Uitr-l :fuj+
D. How does fim say /f's so heavylin Farsi?
/esm-ebferhad-e, na-?l :ljiml
cjl$.g+.iL gpl ,41 qrF.oJi
*Jt iS .r .dq..+Lt_y.y I4rS! J.l5 .t
* :i$ .+t eJlis:t^
.,.,.i-. JIK+ (l_l) :_,,
E. How does Shabnamsay Let,sgo homein Farsi?
/are. xob dige, in ham ma5in. demedun-et :/iebnem/
ro (ra)be-gozar'e.qa,b.f .4iJA eJj .f .0ruiL * ,.lll .f .r.,r .s Jl+.+ . \
.' . '-i-' rJfK cr^* JJ iS lrisi J' i,i :d+
/de-qedr seng-in-e! kif-em ro hem mi-gozar :ljiml 2C. UOCABUTARY
-am'eqab./
Remember that the words are arphabeticallyorganized
.dJA (t"-ry) d-D .+F Jl+..^+ :i$ basedon the Far_
si alphabet and that you should read these tables from right
to left. Also
/besiyar xob. be-r-im (be-rrev-im) xune./ :/iebnem/ note that the irregular Farsi verbs are followed by their
piesent stems in
parentheses(seelesson4).

Shabnam: Welcome to Tehran, fim. How's your family? yeah

larel oJl
now
|im: Thanks a lot. Everybody's fine. My wife sends you f'reI'anf ovl
her warmest regards. university
/daneS-gah/ olK.qf.r
Shabnam: What does your daughter do now? to attend a university/
/danelgah racftaenf iliit ol3;if.r
Nicole works at a company now. to go to a university
fim:
','j

'ul Farsi
lessonz
_.--_--*--+---
i

i17
I
I
to go (lrolis the present lrreft-anl(lrol\ (-r-l)os-.r uncle (father's brother) f'a,muf -* =
o
n
stem) mother o
lmaderl ;oL 3
to send regards/ /selam resand-ren/, eg.rrl*^r.; p)-, .K-,1; -;.rL
JD
grandmother /mader bozorgf =
to say hello /selam resund-ren/ rJJrj-J 6\ =.
grandchild lnevel o;1t
heavy lsalng-inl o6i"
spouse /hemser/ _;ir
, .,-t-.
back l'e,qa-bl
Spelling the lettersl-ri are pronounced
Note:ln mostcases, /xa/,the letter-r
to work (/kon/ is /kar kerd-acnl(lkonll (O5) oi-F -.rts beingsilent.Forexample,the worO-}AlF (sister)is pronounced/xahar/.
the present stem)

to put (lgozarl is (lgozarll (ttK)

fgozait-renf 0,1^ili< 2 E . C U T T U RTEO P I CI
the present stem)

lna,l 4i
FarsiKinshipTerms
As you can see in the vocabulary sections above,kinship terms in Farsi
one, a lyekl,lyel 4r c r-5-r
are quite descriptive and detailed. Farsi speakersdistinguish between
relatives on the father's side and those on the mother's side. In particu-
lar, where English usesonly one word, cousin,to describea group of rela-
2D. KEY PHRASES tives, Farsi uses eight. You can see four of them in the previous section:
,r;lr -r.*d (/peser"dayi/), ,r;l: -Jiil fldoxter d,ayill,all-:, -r.+.r (/peser
niece, nephew (brother's /berader zadef, eo)l-,yJilj
xale/), and +JLi _Jii3 (/doxtar xale/). Now.trl to guesswhat these terms
child, sister's child) /xaher zadef ortl-,;.pljA
mean: J^c-I.*-i flpeser'emu/), -fc ;iif (/doxter'emu/), arc u+rr
t.t
large, great, big, grand
4
6J-)+ (/peser'emme/), and 4-ee Jiii (/doxtar'emme/). Right! These are the
lbozorgl
cousins on your father's side, whereas the first four terms refer to the
father lpederl J+i cousins on your mother's side. In-laws each have their own term, too.
grandfather /peder bozorgf ..(-l:-l! For example, where English has the single word father-in-law, Farsi has
two, Oj Jld ilpeder zenfl and -rA:i Jld ilpeder Sohrer/),to refer to
father-inlaw (wife's /pedar znnf , crj -liL ,ttj -t\ wife's father and the husband's father, respectively. What do you think
father), mother-in-law fmader zenf UJ Jllj (/barader zenll means? Yes,you guessedit. It means wife's
(wife's mother) brother, a brother-inlaw. But be careful. Order matters. If you switch the
father-in-law (husband's /peder Soher/, ,-,ltry-l* order of the words, the meaning changes.-,yJl-,,p 91 (lzaln berader/)
means brother's wife, a sister-in-law.
father), mother-in-law /mader Sohar/ .;AJ- JJLo
(husband's mother) It should be mentioned that the use of the word c.tj to mean wife is
cousin (mother's /pesar dayil, s,r+l.t
h colloquial and informal. The more formal form is p-:li flxanom/), as
used in lesson r. Therefore, in all of the above expressions,Oj can be
brother's son, mother's /doxter dayil ,r;ll +ii.l
brother's daughter) replaced with r'JA.

cousin (mother's sister's /peser xalef, ,+ll-,A

son, mother's sister's /doxter xale/ 4Jta .;il'i 2 F . c R A MM A R
daughter)
Possessive
Construction
with Possessive
Endings
aunt (mother's sister) lxalel 4lti
In lesson 1, we talked about the possessiveconstruction in Farsi. We
uncle (mother's brother) ldayil cs+h learned that Farsi speakers can say tF )+l flpesar-e man/) for my
woman, wife (infmll lzenl J') son or ii!.& ->A-fi(/5ohar-e Sebnem/) for Shabnam'shusband.There
is a shorter way to form possessiveconstructions in Farsi if the pos-
aunt (father's sister) f'errrrr'ef AtA sessoris mentioned as a pronoun. Look at the following examples.

Lesson
z
 them. There are, however, some exceptions,like child/children. We call =
.D
U S EO FP O S S E S SEIN
VDEINGS
these exceptional nouns irregular. Farsi is similar. Most nouns can be
al

3
made plural by adding the suffix ta (A"D to them. Most nouns referring I
I =
my son /peser-em/ tFi j(: to human beings .urr.-ulrobe made plural by adding the suffix gl ganl)
3
d,f r-+-l :z to them. The irregular plural forms in Farsi usually come from Arabic.
your (sg.) son fpesar-ntf , al
:ci Look at the following examples of regular plurals'
/pesar et/
/ Ul
*" lll-)
i>
:F SOME P L U R AFLO R M S
N O U NASN DT H E I R
his son/her son /peser-re5/,
/pesrer ei/ l
PLU
RAL SINGULAR
our son /peser emarr/ LJLJA+t i

your (p/. or /pesrer-etan/

,'rti r-.rr-r
v 4
il
1'
spouses /hamser-ha/, ell-,P.ca spouse fha,msarl ;*laA

sg.full.l son /hremseer-an/ Ol Ji-'r^A

their son, /pesar-eSan/ OE.l't

7
D boys, fpeser-haf, ,\Y* ;; ip;';'l ,*d
sons /pesrer anI OIY* son
his son/her
(sg.fml.l son houses lxane-haf lA +.lli houie fxanef a:U.

men lrnard-hal, etl't;'o man lrrrerdl a;^

per-
As you can see,in this construction, instead of using the complete /mard-an/ UlJ;,r
L (/ma/), L"l (/Soma/)' and
1*.rrv""n"r, we are uulng their
sl
,on'ul pronouns c-F (lmenl), i 11to11, (luh,
shortened versions, which attach directly bags lkif-hal tA dS brs k|f I .is
-;
to the ends of nouns. These short forms are called possessive endings and mothers cla_;lL mother lrnadarl JJK
frnada;r-haf,
are listed separatelYbelow frnadar-anf gl.;.tL

P O S S E S SEI N
VDEINGS

SINGULAR Definite and Indefinite llouns 3n6 l-,; lral

PLURAL
i
6Ob : my
2- A definite noun is a noun that is supposed to be known to both the
our f-elrnanf , c)-9^: |arnl I

speaker and the hearer at the time of the conversation; an indefinite

l-mrnl noun isn't. For example,when a speakersays"'I met a man,"the speaker
d.r - rcLl -
your f-etanf, tJ-il t 6OU your l-a;tl, is mentioning the man for the first time and therefore usesthe indefinite
"
(rg.) l-etl article o before man, treatirrg man as an indefinite noun. The speaker
lpt. or l-etunl
sg.fml.l may then say,"Themanwas my old math teacher."This time, becausethe
'6'- speakerhas mentioned the man before, man is treated as a definite noun
their, l-eftanf, cJF t 6cJH t his/ l-a:(|, cfi =
her/it and takes the definite article thebefore it. Farsi is similar. An indefinite
his/her /-e5un/ l-uil
noun is followed by the indefinite suffix C9.For example, the word J-i
(sg.fml)
(lmnrdll means man, so if you want to say that a man came,you say:

." ;';';'; ;;';;':;';';; ';; ..ul qgr-;,.

;";,;,. ,;.;;; ;.,,; ;;; ;,.;;,
/merd-i amed./
s p e l l i n gi n e a c hc a s e . A man came.

In written Farsi, definite nouns don't have any markers. In spoken

Plurals o; (l ell'
language, a definite noun ends with the definite suffix
oJ1n
The word building is a singular noun that has a plural form, buildings, noieximple, in spoken and informal Farsi, the man would be

I referring to more than one building. A noun is a word that

refers to a person,place,or thing and can be the subject of a
typically
sentence. In
-s or -esto
(/merd-e/), but in formal written Farsi, it would iust
'iherefore,
be ':-.2'
the sentence The man came in spoken Farsi would be:
(/merd/)'

English, most nouns can be made plural by adding the suffix

1----
I r , 5 5 0 n2 121
Farsi
 .fe3l ol-,p (tl.) ,!.1'lr =
to have /dabren/ (ldarll o
n
/merd-e umed./ o
3
and in written language it would be: S p e l l i n gN o t e :l f t h e w o r d b e f o r et h e w o r d , ' , . " f g p 6 l 5i n l , t h e n w e o n l y JD
write dr^1. Forexample,insteadof writing: =
3
..r.ol .r-.2o
.,''",1 L +-p fr-,:.1 3l
/merd amed./
/u duts-e xub-e ma est./
Recall that many /a/ sounds turn into lulbefore lml and /n/ in spo- He's our good friend.
ken Farsi.
we write:
If a noun is the obiect of a sentence (the person or thing that un-
dergoes the action in the sentence), then it must be followed by the .CJ-IU HJs fr^,,jJ -91
object marker, t) (lrall.In written language,using the object marker,
l-1, after indefinite nouns is optional. In spoken language, l-1 is pro- and we say:
nouncedJ) (lroll. Look at the following examples: /u dust-e xub-e mast./

.e+ d sil-t csr.l.

/merd-i ra/ro mi-bin-am./ 2 H . C U T T U RTEO P I C2
I see a man.
As mentioned in Lesson r, it is important for Farsi speakersto use peo-
.eJ# d l_,1ry ple's titles when speaking to or about them. The most common titles
/merd ra mi-bin-em./ are these:
I see the man. (written)
.f+ d JJ ori
/merd-e ro mi-bin-a-m.l Pfof3ssor losyall --rti*f
- :'--:l
I see the man. (spoken) Mr. - luqayel cgl,il .
,'" .'. -!
t.t .
PronunciationNote:/-e/ turns into /-a/ before/ro/. For instance,in the Ms.,Mrs.,Miss ix11om e/ -ts. i
(/merd-e/) is pronounced/mard-a/ becauseit
lastexampleabove,o)-.,pc
l-,1(/ra/).
precedes Dr.,
_doctol /doktoy' -r3s3
engineer /mohendes/ (.}ra:
2G. REAI'ITIG
The most common titles are agtil Taqa-ye/,Mr.) and $s (xanom-ef ,
Read the following passage about Shabnam, her husband, and their
Ms.), which can be used before a-nyman's or woman's name. For exam-
friend )im. Are there any words that you don't recognize? Underline
ple, if someone'slast name is -,lE (beharll,you can addressthat person
as Jh 6L!l yaqa-ye behar/) or Jh p.ils. flxanom-e behar/), depending
on whether that person is a man or a woman. .lE-l (/ostad/,professor,
:
.eJlJ-,;'a-e-ir .#./ #$j OlJi )J A.,',.*l r+.,irJ. -e-l master) is a title given to professors as well as to any skilled craftsper-
jl
e.F-r.cr*"i.t.1E-,-lJ c.s5+ )Jyl .''''"f .lL e 'la-e--e-,1i son or artist. Ui,rJlF (/mohendes/, engineer) is a title for people who
:u-l-il Jl #+..',.r1 eJ+Jl .e-l ..r.,J
cs+ctl;l +r lrElSjI have an engineering degree, and JrlS.l fldoktor/, doctor) is for people
who have a doctorate degree.One can also use gl-51or iB bufote these
.&*t-o -gF.rI;A ..',.uJJJl .JlS./ J$j
: titles. For example, if Jkl iB nur a doctoral degree,you can refer to
her as Jk+ J3SJ p.rLr (/xanom-e doktor behar/, Dr. Ms. B_ahar),and if
My name is Shabnam. I live in Tehran. I have a husband. My hus- . Jk+ cgl3l is an engineer,you can call him-.1Q CJ,,\ieo .gtil yaqa-yemo-
band's name is Mani. Today one of my husband's old friends is handes behar/, Engineer Mr. Bahar).
coming to Iran from Canada. His name is |im. fim lives in Toronto.
It's also common in Farsi to address or refer to relatives by naming
He is a very good friend of ours.
their relationship to us. For example, one might refer to his or her un-
cle or aunt as ,r.rL -5r"c (/amu mani/, Uncle Mani) or irr-,i aJLs Txale
Sebnem/, Aunt Shabnam).
-__--%--
22i Farsi z
Lesson
I
 eglrns) .Y €
ll yilrr Lililrr rilrilt.ttil.. wr.ll ttl wrilll lrl tr.lr.t lo sonleone you love, you (ql- rJlK.4 .D
n
r rrn \rrf tlrr.;x.rrtfn'rn.unr,rrrrrllolkrw it with the word c.lb fljanf. for o
sill 3
rfr\f ,rn(f ', Ob ./t- ()r ULF p$ ."., roughly be translated as d,earMani JD
,rrrrfrlrrrr Shtilnvtm,but it's not quite as formal as "dear" sounds in Eng- (J =.
=
lish. You usually use g$ in an informal conversation, not as the open- (.* .-r. e_.fAr) .r
ing of a letter.
,-i1l
Exercises
A. Use the short version of possessivepronouns in the following phrases.

;jl -UJ'.iL.\ :0^ -Ol* .\ coniugate the present tense form of theaerb q+a fldiden/, to see).Re-
:kJ --.r! .t ;t-1i.dlL- .f calt ihit the present stem of the verb OliJ is L)# (/bini, see).Fill in the
blanks with the correct form of the verb. The first one is done for you'
:-f .-riL .1 ;L -_Fi3 .o
t .f+cr't-rn .\
\..-l o _FY
B. Fill in the blanks using the words given. There are more words in the list
than required. This is a vocabulary exercise,so you need to make sure Ul .1 rl .f
that your selectionsyield meaningful sentences.

ptlsK .r le glr,^'r ciSJ$ olr4+ q l-1 A l I S T I I I E RK E Y

(.,til
ComprehensionPractice
.'l A.z. B.3. C.z. D .r . E '3
.Y
Exercises
.r A.
.t
o OtiILr .f rj,iif,iil- 91 Ui,!J.$L.Y fll+.1
c!_,!L .1 gL-:ii.r.o O1',,S-2{.1
s.r -iS '! _! f.J-t .1
B.

rJlK d .o 4" .1 l-l .Y Ol.r"c;.Y Lr gl.t"; . \

C. For each of the items below, use the words in parenthesesto make two
sentences,one with a singular indefinite object on the line labeled lill
ds-s.1
and one with a plural definite obiect on the line labeled $. Follow the C.
example. 'f+# c/ lJ csit''iL 'r.ill
:(f+i.r^ eei$) .er# cr. l-,2b UrdL .e.l "l
.er# is+ lJ rr45 .sijl .qJ- eJlK c*l-tuil+.'-iJl .\
.qrit fJlK cr l-l l't gl4 .+
.er# cr' lJ Ll LigS .tf

(e++.r 6dc"'iu)' \
.-ill D.
SiliGjl'
(J
tx# .,4 .1 +p*.f .o f*rr.r^ .€ r+.r .Y ci+ c/ .Y

Lessonz
I I N D E P E N D E N€TH A I I E N G E : LESSO

3
t
r' . . i
to reading papsager,inthis lesson about Shabnam and her
l"ftl the
fu-ily. Then take your language iournal and,try to write a sirnilar
paragraph in Farsi'about your own family. Be patient and creativ-e,
and try to include as marrf femily rnernbers as you c;ut in your para-
graph. Alternatively, you may draw your family tree and write eaeh
persorCsname beside his or her relationship to you. Wherels My Room?

In this lesson,we will learn some names of rooms, some basic obiects,
and colors. We also go over yes/no questions, demonstratives, and adfec-
tives, and work a little with numbers.

3 A . U O C A B U T A RWYA R M - U P
bedroom lotaqxabl c;l3A $Ef
kitchen f a6-pnz-xanef, 4jrij$l 6+:tijf..li
/a5-pez-xune/
there lan-jal, lun-ial t+r:l ,t+rl
liiil
here lin-ial
After you, Here /beferma-ydl, O#!-j,q,+l-Jfu
you are. fbefa,rma-yinl
how many Ita':ndtal
tr+
t'
bathroom /hemmam/, /hemum/ fit='l'ts'

restroom /drest-5u-yi/ ts+Jpii-i

upstairs, downstairs /tabeqe-ye balal, ir#L/YU,.6 aiaL
/tebaqe-ye payin/
pretty lqa:ia:ngl .ft;ii

3 B. IDIAtoGUE
Shabnam and fim have arrived home. |im will stay at the Payamis's
house during his visit. Listen to their conversation as Shabnam shows
|im around the house.
.(-"J-*) Lr 4iri * OJI.+Ji
O*Jt^-,1rr1.\. :t$

/xob. in hrem xune-ye ma. befermayrn :/Sebnem/

(befermayid)./