Original Dialogue: Asking Where the Metro Is | Farsi Grammar

This explicitly original dialogue follows a visitor asking for a metro station, checking a turn, and repairing one misunderstood direction. It applies familiar A1 material—کجا, location phrases, polite imperatives, and هستن—inside a realistic street exchange.

The exchange is everyday polite Iranian Persian. Respectful second-person plural verbs such as بروید and بپیچید coexist naturally with spoken هستن; politeness and colloquial reduction are separate dimensions. For a reusable inventory of direction phrases, see Giving Directions and Instructions.

The complete original dialogue

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This dialogue was created for this guide. The speakers are strangers, so the visitor uses ببخشید and plural address. The local speaker gives short, ordered landmarks rather than an unnaturally long map description.

مسافر: سلام، ببخشید. ایستگاه مترو کجاست؟ — رهگذر: همین نزدیکی است. مستقیم بروید تا به بانک برسید. — مسافر: بعد از بانک به راست بپیچم؟ — رهگذر: بله. دو تا ورودی کنار داروخانه هستن. — مسافر: ببخشید، گفتید قبل از بانک یا بعد از بانک؟ — رهگذر: بعد از بانک. ورودی‌ها روبه‌روی پارک هستن. — مسافر: پس، از همین خیابان مستقیم بروم؟ — رهگذر: بله، پنج دقیقه پیاده است. — مسافر: خیلی ممنون از راهنمایی‌تان. — رهگذر: خواهش می‌کنم.

mosâfer: salâm, bebakhshid. istgâh-e metro kojâ-st? — rahgozar: hamin nazdiki ast. mostaqim beravid tâ be bânk beresid. — mosâfer: ba'd az bânk be râst bepicham? — rahgozar: bale. do tâ vorudi kenâr-e dârukhâne hastan. — mosâfer: bebakhshid, goftid qabl az bânk yâ ba'd az bânk? — rahgozar: ba'd az bânk. vorudi-hâ rube-ru-ye pârk hastan. — mosâfer: pas, az hamin khiyâbân mostaqim beravam? — rahgozar: bale, panj daqiqe piyâde ast. — mosâfer: kheyli mamnun az râhnamâyi-tân. — rahgozar: khâhesh mi-konam.

Traveler: Hello, excuse me. Where is the metro station? — Passerby: Very close by. Go straight until you reach the bank. — Traveler: Should I turn right after the bank? — Passerby: Yes. There are two entrances next to the pharmacy. — Traveler: Sorry, did you say before the bank or after the bank? — Passerby: After the bank. The entrances are opposite the park. — Traveler: So should I go straight along this street? — Passerby: Yes, it's a five-minute walk. — Traveler: Thank you very much for your help. — Passerby: You're welcome.

The English version says “there are” and “it’s a five-minute walk,” but Persian has not inserted equivalents of English dummy there or it. Persian location clauses organize information around the place and located item instead.

Opening with کجا

سلام، ببخشید. ایستگاه مترو کجاست؟

salâm, bebakhshid. istgâh-e metro kojâ-st?

Hello, excuse me. Where is the metro station? (polite street question)

ایستگاهِ مترو is an ezafe phrase: “station of the metro.” The ezafe after consonant-final ایستگاه is pronounced -e but not written. کجاست combines کجا with enclitic ـست; the question word naturally occupies the predicate position near the end.

English begins with where. Persian does not have to front کجا. The ordinary order is the entity being located followed by the location question: ایستگاه مترو کجاست؟

A route with an endpoint

همین نزدیکی است. مستقیم بروید تا به بانک برسید.

hamin nazdiki ast. mostaqim beravid tâ be bânk beresid.

It's very close by. Go straight until you reach the bank. (polite directions)

همین narrows نزدیکی to the immediate area: “right nearby.” مستقیم modifies the motion verb. The first بروید is a polite plural imperative; تا... برسید supplies the endpoint, “until you reach....” The two بـ forms have different verbs, not a repeated preposition.

از اینجا مستقیم بروید و از چهارراه رد شوید.

az injâ mostaqim beravid va az chahâr-râh rad shavid.

Go straight from here and cross the intersection. (polite instruction)

Coordination with و lets a speaker give two ordered actions without repeating the addressee. In ordinary speech, intonation carries the sequence.

Confirming the turn

بعد از بانک به راست بپیچم؟

ba'd az bânk be râst bepicham?

Should I turn right after the bank? (confirmation question)

The speaker uses first-person subjunctive بپیچم as a confirmation: “is that what I should do?” It is not a first-person command. The landmark phrase comes first because it anchors the instruction; the action remains at the end.

بله، سر چهارراه به راست بپیچید.

bale, sar-e chahâr-râh be râst bepichid.

Yes, turn right at the intersection. (polite instruction)

سر چهارراه means “at the intersection,” not literally “the head of the intersection.” It is a conventional spatial phrase.

هستن and located items

دو تا ورودی کنار داروخانه هستن.

do tâ vorudi kenâr-e dârukhâne hastan.

There are two entrances next to the pharmacy. (everyday spoken Persian)

The counted noun stays singular: دو تا ورودی. کنار داروخانه gives the location, and plural هستن agrees with the two entrances. In edited writing, هستند is standard; conversational هستن is natural even when the same speaker politely addresses a stranger with ـید verbs.

ورودی‌ها روبه‌روی پارک هستن.

vorudi-hâ rube-ru-ye pârk hastan.

The entrances are opposite the park. (everyday spoken Persian)

Now ورودی‌ها is definite and discourse-old: the entrances have already been introduced. English needs the; Persian uses context and, here, the plural form rather than a definite article.

Repairing one detail

ببخشید، گفتید قبل از بانک یا بعد از بانک؟

bebakhshid, goftid qabl az bânk yâ ba'd az bânk?

Sorry, did you say before the bank or after the bank? (clarification repair)

This is an efficient repair because it isolates the uncertain contrast. The visitor does not pretend to understand and does not restart the whole route. گفتید respectfully reports what the other person said; یا presents the two possible hearings.

بعد از بانک، نه قبل از آن.

ba'd az bânk, na qabl az ân.

After the bank, not before it. (concise clarification)

The reply may be a fragment because the missing route is shared information. آن avoids repeating بانک. In more colloquial speech a speaker may say نه قبلش (informal).

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A good clarification question repeats only the uncertain slot: قبل یا بعد؟ راست یا چپ؟ این ورودی یا آن یکی؟ This is more natural than translating a long English apology word for word.

Distance as a pedestrian frame

بله، پنج دقیقه پیاده است.

bale, panj daqiqe piyâde ast.

Yes, it's a five-minute walk. (careful-spoken)

Persian compresses what English expands. پنج دقیقه پیاده literally combines duration and manner; the idiomatic translation is “a five-minute walk.” No dummy pronoun corresponding to English it is required.

خیلی ممنون از راهنمایی‌تان.

kheyli mamnun az râhnamâyi-tân.

Thank you very much for your help with the directions. (polite)

The clitic ـتان respects the stranger. In casual speech between peers, راهنماییت would address one person informally.

Common Mistakes

1. Fronting کجا like English

⚠️ کجا ایستگاه مترو است؟

kojâ istgâh-e metro ast?

Possible only with an unusual marked or echo-like focus; neutral Persian normally places کجا after the entity being located.

✅ ایستگاه خط دو کجاست؟

istgâh-e khatt-e do kojâ-st?

Where is the Line 2 station?

2. Pluralizing a counted noun

❌ دو تا ورودی‌ها کنار پارک هستن.

Incorrect — the noun remains singular directly after دو تا.

✅ نزدیک میدان دو تا ورودی مترو هست.

nazdik-e meydân do tâ vorudi-ye metro hast.

There are two metro entrances near the square.

3. Using an infinitive instead of an instruction

❌ بعد از پل به راست پیچیدن.

Incorrect — an instruction needs the finite imperative بپیچید, not an infinitive.

✅ بعد از پل به چپ بپیچید و مستقیم بروید.

ba'd az pol be chap bepichid va mostaqim beravid.

Turn left after the bridge and go straight.

4. Treating هستن as singular formal agreement

❌ ورودی اصلی کجا هستن؟

Incorrect agreement — a singular entrance takes است/هست; هستن is plural.

✅ آسانسور این ایستگاه کجا هست؟

âsânsur-e in istgâh kojâ hast?

Where is the elevator in this station? (spoken neutral)

Key Takeaways

Put the entity first and کجا in predicate position: ایستگاه کجاست؟
Give a route as short actions plus landmarks: مستقیم بروید؛ بعد از بانک به راست بپیچید.
A counted noun remains singular, while هستن can agree with the plural quantity in speech.
Use a focused choice question to repair one uncertain detail.
Translate compressed frames idiomatically: پنج دقیقه پیاده است means “it’s a five-minute walk.”

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