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When sharing gossip or recounting an incident (**ماجرا**), Persian speakers naturally drop into the spoken register. Just like written verbs and object markers, common Persian function words—prepositions, conjunctions, and quantifiers—shrink down to snappy, reduced forms in everyday speech.

### Locations and Articles

The number "one" (used as the article "a"), along with the prepositions for "in" and "on", are almost always reduced in Tehrani speech. Note that the written word **در** (in) is completely swapped for **تو** (or **توی**) in spoken Persian.

| Written | Spoken | English |
|---|---|---|
| یک | یه | a / one |
| در | تو / توی | in / at |
| روی | رو | on |

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### Conditions and Causes

When setting up a condition or explaining a reason, the conjunction **اگر** softens, and the formal preposition **برای** is swapped entirely for its colloquial equivalent.

| Written | Spoken | English |
|---|---|---|
| اگر | اگه | if |
| برای | واسه | for |

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### Adverbs and Questions

Finally, adverbs and question words get the same relaxed treatment. The formal **دیگر** loses its final consonant, and **چه** changes its vowel.

| Written | Spoken | English |
|---|---|---|
| دیگر | دیگه | anymore / other |
| چه | چی | what |

{{item:785222}}

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### Casual Storytelling

When telling a story, Iranians use colorful conversational words that don't always translate directly to formal English. Watch out for **الکی** (fake, or doing something "for no reason") and **بی‌خیال** (forget about it, never mind).

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Spoken Persian: connector words (یه, واسه)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

suffix

verb

Singular pronouns and copula (man, -am)

Plural pronouns and copula (mâ, -im)

Subject pronoun omission

Singular demonstratives (in, ân)

Plural demonstratives (inhâ, ânhâ)

Independent copula (hastam, hast)

Negative present copula (nistam, nist)

Yes/No questions (âyâ)

Regular plurals (-hâ)

Animate plurals (-ân)

Indefiniteness (yek)

Indefinite marker (-i)

Describing nouns (-e / -ye)

Possession (-e / -ye)

Singular possessives (-am, -at, -ash)

Plural possessives (-emân, -etân, -eshân)

Basic prepositions (dar, be, az, bâ)

Spatial prepositions (ru-ye, zir-e...)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yek, do, se...)

Numbers and singular nouns

Numbers 11 to 20 (yâzdah, davâzdah...)

Counting by tens to 100

Telling time (sâ'at)

The verb to have (dâram)

Negative to have (nadâram)

Basic word order (SOV)

Infinitives and present stems (-an)

Present indicative (mi-)

Negative present indicative (nemi-)

Compound verbs

Question words (che, kojâ)

How many (chand)

The definite object marker (râ)

Object pronouns (man râ, to râ)

Singular commands (be-)

Formal and plural commands (be- ... -id)

Negative commands (na-)

The present subjunctive (be-)

The negative present subjunctive (na-)

Must (bâyad)

Might (shâyad)

Wanting to do something (khâstan)

Being able to do something (tavânestan)

Forming the past stem

The simple past of to be (budan)

The simple past tense

Negative simple past (na-)

Attached object pronouns on verbs (-am, -at, -ash)

Comparative adjectives (-tar)

Basic conjunctions (va, ammâ, yâ)

Giving reasons (chon)

Adverbs of frequency and degree (hamishe, hargez, kheyli, kam)

Everyday actions (kâr kardan, bâz kardan)

Non-human plural subjects

Indefinite pronouns (kasi, chizi, jâyi)

Negative indefinite pronouns (hich-kas, hich-chiz, hich-jâ)

Reciprocal pronouns (hamdigar, yekdigar)

Reflexive pronouns (khod-)

Reflexive direct objects (khod râ)

Emphatic pronouns (khod)

The quantifier every (har)

The quantifier all (hame)

The quantifier some (ba'zi)

Another and other (-i digar)

Which (kodâm)

How much (cheghadr)

Comparisons of equality (mesl-e)

Superlative adjectives (-tarin)

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Ordinal numbers (-om)

Pre-nominal ordinal numbers (-omin)

Fractions and percentages

Prepositions of theme (dar mored-e)

Prepositions of time (ghabl az, ba'd az)

Preposition of exclusion (bedun-e)

Resultative conjunctions (banâbarin, pas)

Hortative construction (biyâ, biyâyid)

The present progressive tense (dâram mi-)

The past continuous tense (mi-)

Negative past continuous (ne-mi-)

Past continuous of to have (dâshtam)

The past progressive tense (dâshtam mi-)

The past participle (-e)

Present perfect tense (-e-am, -e-ast)

Negative present perfect (na-)

Question	Answer
story, incident	ماجراmâjarâ
An incident happened at the party.	یه ماجرا تو مهمونی اتفاق افتاد.ye mâjarâ tu mehmuni ettefâq oftâd.
If you tell me the story, I will be happy.	اگه ماجرا رو واسه من بگی، خوشحال میشم.age mâjarâ ro vâse man begi, khoshhâl misham.
for no reason, fake	الکیalaki
to become estranged, to stop speaking to someone	قهر کردنqahr kardan
They stopped talking to each other for no reason.	اونها الکی قهر کردن.oonhâ alaki ghahr kardan.
If you stopped talking to me, this gift is not for you anymore.	اگه قهر کردی، دیگه این هدیه واسه تو نیست.age ghahr kardi, dige in hedye vâse to nist.
to reconcile, to make up	آشتی کردنâshti kardan
Even though they made up, they are still angry.	با اینکه آشتی کردن، هنوز عصبانی هستن.bâ inke âshti kardan, hanuz asabâni hastan.
I want to make up with my brother.	می‌خوام با برادرم آشتی کنم.mikhâm bâ barâdaram âshti konam.
joke	شوخیshukhi
never mind, forget it	بی‌خیالbi-khiâl
It was just a joke, never mind!	فقط یه شوخی بود، بی‌خیال!faghat ye shukhi bud, bikhiâl!
He made a joke in class.	اون تو کلاس یه شوخی کرد.oon too kelâs ye shukhi kard.
jealous	حسودhasud
He is very jealous.	اون خیلی حسوده.oon kheyli hasoode.
If you are jealous, don't look anymore.	اگه حسودی، دیگه نگاه نکن.age hasudi, dige negâh nakon.
curious	کنجکاوkonjkâv
I am very curious to know this secret.	واسه دونستن این راز خیلی کنجکاوم.vâse dunestan-e in râz kheyli konjkâvam.
Some of the students are curious about this.	بعضی از دانشجوها واسه این کنجکاو هستن.ba'zi az dâneshju-hâ vâse in konjkâv hastan.
Don't cry for no reason anymore.	دیگه الکی گریه نکن.dige alaki gerye nakon.
Some people lie for no reason.	بعضی از مردم الکی دروغ میگن.ba'zi az mardom alaki dorugh migan.
actually, as it happens	اتفاقاًettefâghan
Actually, I am at the party too.	اتفاقاً من هم تو مهمونی هستم.ettefâghan man ham tu mehmuni hastam.
Actually, I saw it on the table.	اتفاقاً من اونو رو میز دیدم.ettefâqan man oono ro miz didam.
Never mind, I don't want to know anymore.	بی‌خیال، دیگه نمی‌خوام بدونم.bikhiâl, dige nemikhâm bedunam.
My brother is a carefree boy.	برادرم یه پسر بی‌خیاله.barâdaram ye pesar-e bi-khiyâle.
to gossip	غیبت کردنgheybat kardan
Gossiping is a bad habit.	غیبت کردن یه عادت بده.gheybat kardan ye âdat-e bad-e.
We gossiped in the room.	ما تو اتاق غیبت کردیم.mâ tu otâgh gheybat kardim.
well, so (spoken)	خبkhob
Well, then what happened?	خب، بعد چه شد؟khob, ba'd che shod?
Well, I am going home.	خب، من می‌رم خونه.khob, man miram khune.
hey! (spoken)	هیhey
Hey, you!	هی، تو!hey, to!
Hey, look here!	هی، اینجا را نگاه کن!hey, injâ râ negâh kon!