پدرم گفت که امشب دیر به خانه می آید.

پدرم means my father.

The base word is پدر = father.
The ending -م is a possessive ending meaning my.

So:

• پدر = father
• پدرم = my father

This is very common in Persian. Instead of using a separate word like my, Persian often attaches a possessive ending directly to the noun.

Some related examples:

• مادرم = my mother
• برادرم = my brother
• دوستم = my friend

Because Persian commonly shows possession by adding endings to nouns.

For example:

• کتابم = my book
• خانه‌ام = my house
• پدرم = my father

These endings are a normal and very frequent part of Persian grammar. A native English speaker may expect something like my father, but in Persian the idea of my is often built into the noun itself.

The possessive endings are:

• -م = my
• -ت = your
• -ش = his/her/their
• -مان = our
• -تان = your
• -شان = their

گفت means said and it is in the simple past.

It comes from the verb گفتن = to say / to tell.

So:

• گفتن = to say
• گفت = he/she said

In this sentence, the subject is پدرم, so گفت means my father said.

Persian verbs often show the subject through context, so گفت by itself can mean:

• he said
• she said

You know who did the action because the sentence already gave the subject: پدرم.

که here means that and introduces the reported clause.

So the structure is:

• پدرم گفت = my father said
• که ... = that ...

This is very similar to English:

• My father said that ...

In everyday English, that is often omitted. Persian can also sometimes omit که, but in sentences like this it is very common and natural to include it.

The subject is understood from context.

The first part says پدرم گفت = my father said.
Then the second clause says امشب دیر به خانه می آید = is coming home late tonight.

The subject of می آید is not stated explicitly, but it is understood to be he, referring to my father.

Persian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from the context or from the verb form.

So Persian does not need to say:

• او امشب دیر به خانه می آید

unless the speaker wants extra emphasis or clarity.

This is a very important point.

In English, after a past reporting verb like said, we often shift the tense back:

• My father said that he was coming home late tonight

But Persian does not always do this kind of backshifting the same way English does.

So Persian can say:

• پدرم گفت که امشب دیر به خانه می آید

Literally, this is closer to:

• My father said that tonight he comes home late
• or more natural English: My father said that he is coming home late tonight

In Persian, the tense inside the reported clause often reflects the actual time of the event more directly, rather than automatically shifting because said is in the past.

می آید means comes / is coming.

It comes from the verb آمدن = to come.

In this sentence:

• می marks the imperfective/present-type form
• آید is the verb part from آمدن

So می آید can mean:

• comes
• is coming

In this sentence, because of امشب and the context, the natural meaning is is coming home late tonight.

In modern writing, you will often also see it written as:

• می‌آید

with a half-space. That is the preferred modern spelling.

Yes, you may see it written that way, but the more standard modern spelling is:

• می‌آید

with a half-space or zero-width non-joiner between می and the verb.

So these are both seen:

• می آید
• می‌آید

The second one is usually considered better in standard typography.

For a learner, the key point is that both represent the same verb form and are pronounced the same way.

It is pronounced roughly like mi-âyad.

A very rough guide:

• می = mi
• آید = âyad

So:

• می‌آید = mi-âyad

In everyday colloquial Persian, this often becomes:

• میاد
• pronounced roughly miyâd

So the formal/written form is می‌آید, while the spoken everyday form is often میاد.

امشب means tonight.

It is made from:

• ام = this
• شب = night

So literally it is something like this night, but the natural English meaning is tonight.

This is a very common word. Similar forms include:

• امروز = today
• امسال = this year
• امشب = tonight

دیر means late.

In this sentence, it works like an adverb modifying the action of coming:

• دیر می آید = comes late / is coming late

The full phrase is:

• امشب دیر به خانه می آید

Persian word order is flexible, but adverbs like دیر often come before the verb and may come before other complements such as به خانه.

A native English speaker might expect comes home late, with late at the end, but Persian often places the adverb earlier:

• دیر ... می آید

That is completely normal.

به خانه means to home or more naturally home / to the house.

• به is a preposition meaning to
• خانه means house / home

With verbs of motion like آمدن (to come), به often marks the destination:

• به خانه آمدن = to come home
• به مدرسه رفتن = to go to school

In English, we usually just say come home, without to, but Persian commonly uses به here.

Here خانه is best understood as home.

Persian does not use articles like the and a/an in the same way English does. So a bare noun like خانه can mean:

• house
• the house
• home

The exact meaning comes from context.

In this sentence, because we are talking about someone returning, به خانه می آید is most naturally understood as comes home.

So even though the word is literally house, the natural meaning is home.

Because languages package meaning differently.

English says:

• come home

Persian often says:

• به خانه آمدن
• literally: to the house come

This is just the normal Persian pattern with a preposition plus destination.

It is better to learn this as a chunk:

• به خانه آمدن = to come home
• به خانه رفتن = to go home

That will sound more natural than trying to translate word-for-word from English.

Not completely. Persian word order is fairly flexible, especially with time expressions and adverbs.

The sentence given is:

• پدرم گفت که امشب دیر به خانه می آید

This is natural. But you may also hear variations like:

• پدرم گفت که به خانه امشب دیر می‌آید
• پدرم گفت که امشب به خانه دیر می‌آید

Some versions sound more natural than others depending on emphasis, but Persian allows this kind of movement more than English does.

The most important thing is that the verb usually comes near the end of the clause.

Sometimes yes, but keeping it is clearer and more standard here.

With گفت (said), Persian often uses که to introduce what was said:

• پدرم گفت که ...

In casual speech, people may omit it in some contexts, but for learners it is best to include it until you get a feel for natural omission.

So this sentence with که is a good model.

It is mostly neutral written/spoken standard Persian.

A more colloquial version might be:

• بابام گفت که امشب دیر میاد خونه

Differences:

• پدرم is more standard; بابام is more colloquial
• می‌آید becomes میاد in speech
• خانه often becomes خونه in colloquial speech

So the original sentence is a good standard form to learn first.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

pedaram goft ke emshab dir be xâne mi-âyad

A few notes:

• خ is like kh or a throaty h
• ق/غ here in گفت is just a normal g sound because it is گ
• آ is a long â
• دیر sounds like dir

In more casual spoken Persian, it may sound closer to:

pedaram goft ke emshab dir be xune miyâd

Yes. That is exactly how the sentence is naturally understood.

The structure is:

• My father said
• that tonight he is coming home late

So the father is speaking about himself, and the speaker is reporting that statement.

Persian does not need a reflexive structure like said of himself. The meaning is clear from context.

Persian often uses a present/imperfective form to talk about a future event when the time is already clear.

Because the sentence includes امشب (tonight), the future time is obvious. So می آید can naturally refer to a future event.

Persian could use a more explicit future form in some contexts, but in everyday language, using the present-type form for scheduled or expected future actions is extremely common.

That is similar to English sentences like:

• He is coming home late tonight

where English also uses a present-form expression for the future.

In this sentence, دیر clearly means late, not slowly.

It refers to time, not manner:

• دیر آمدن = to arrive late / come late

If you want to say slowly, Persian usually uses words like:

• آهسته
• کند

So here there is no ambiguity for a native speaker.

It has two parts:

1. Main clause
   پدرم گفت = my father said

2. Subordinate clause introduced by که
   که امشب دیر به خانه می آید = that he is coming home late tonight

So the pattern is:

• [subject] + [said] + که + [reported statement]

This is a very common Persian pattern and worth memorizing.