The Alphabet
Before we start building sentences, let's learn the Farsi letters used in this lesson. Farsi is written and read from right to left!
- ا (Alef): A vowel carrier for 'a', 'e', or 'o'.
- آ (Alef ba kolah): Sounds like the 'a' in father.
- ب (Be): Sounds like 'b'.
- ت (Te): Sounds like 't'.
- خ (Khe): A guttural 'kh' sound, like in the Scottish word loch.
- د (Daal): Sounds like 'd'.
- ر (Re): A rolled or tapped 'r' sound.
- ز (Ze): Sounds like 'z'.
- س (Sin): Sounds like 's'.
- ک (Kaaf): Sounds like 'k'.
- ل (Laam): Sounds like 'l'.
- م (Mim): Sounds like 'm'.
- ن (Nun): Sounds like 'n'.
- ه (He): Sounds like 'h', but often makes a short 'e' sound at the very end of words.
- و (Vaav): Sounds like 'v', but can also act as an 'oo' or 'o' vowel.
- ی (Ye): Sounds like 'y', but can also act as an 'ee' or 'i' vowel.
Singular Pronouns
Farsi is delightfully gender-neutral! There is only one word for both "he" and "she".
- من : I
- تو : You (singular, informal)
- او : He / She
The Verb "To Be"
In Farsi, the present tense of "to be" (am, are, is) usually attaches directly to the end of the noun or adjective as a suffix.
| Pronoun | Verb Suffix | Meaning |
|---|
| من | ـم | I am |
| تو | ـی | You are |
| او | است | He / She is |
The verb suffix attaches directly to the end of the word:
If a noun ends in a silent ه (which makes an 'e' sound), we add an Alef (ا) before the suffix so the sounds don't blend together:
For "you", the suffix is ـی. We can use this to make statements or ask simple questions:
Finally, for "he" or "she", we use the independent word است instead of a short suffix. Because Farsi does not use gendered pronouns, the exact same sentence works for both "he" and "she":