خواهرم گفت که رسید در کیف او است.

A careful pronunciation is:

khâharam goft ke resid dar kif-e u ast

Word by word:

• خواهرم = khâharam
• گفت = goft
• که = ke
• رسید = resid
• در = dar
• کیف او = kif-e u
• است = ast

In normal speech, the last part is often reduced, so you may hear something closer to:

khâharam goft ke resid dar kif-e u-e or, more naturally with a different possessive form, khâharam goft ke resid tu کیفشِه in colloquial Persian.

خواهرم = خواهر + م

• خواهر = sister
• -م = my

So خواهرم literally means my sister.

This -م is a possessive ending attached directly to the noun. Persian does this very often:

• برادرم = my brother
• کتابم = my book
• دوستم = my friend

Here که means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• خواهرم گفت = my sister said
• که رسید در کیف او است = that the receipt is in his/her bag

In Persian, که is extremely common after verbs like:

• گفتن = to say
• فکر کردن = to think
• دانستن = to know

It works a lot like English that.

This is a very common question, because رسید can indeed also be a past-tense verb form meaning arrived/reached.

But in this sentence, رسید is a noun meaning receipt.

You can tell from the structure:

• رسید is followed by در کیف او است
• that means is in his/her bag

So رسید is the thing that is in the bag. That makes it the subject noun: the receipt.

If it were the verb arrived, the sentence structure would not make sense here.

Persian usually does not have a separate definite article like English the.

So رسید can mean:

• a receipt
• the receipt

Context tells you which one is meant.

That is very normal in Persian. The language often leaves definiteness unstated unless it needs to be emphasized in some other way.

او is the third-person singular pronoun and is gender-neutral.

So depending on context, it can mean:

• he
• she
• him
• her

In کیف او, it means his bag or her bag.

Because Persian does not normally mark grammatical gender, the sentence itself does not tell you whether the bag belongs to a man or a woman. You understand that from context.

Yes, it certainly could.

So the sentence can naturally mean:

• My sister said that the receipt is in her bag

But it could also mean:

• My sister said that the receipt is in his bag
• My sister said that the receipt is in someone else’s bag

Persian often leaves this kind of reference to context. If the speaker needs to be extra clear, they might use a name or rephrase the sentence.

Yes. In fact, کیفش is often more natural, especially in everyday speech.

• کیف او = his/her bag
• کیفش = his/her bag

The -ش is a possessive ending meaning his/her/its.

So you could say:

خواهرم گفت که رسید در کیفش است.

This is very common.
Using او can sound a bit more explicit or formal, and sometimes it is used to avoid ambiguity.

Yes. کیف او is pronounced kif-e u.

That -e sound is the ezafe, which links a noun to what follows it. Here it links:

• کیف = bag
• او = him/her

So the pronunciation is:

kif-e u

But in standard Persian writing, the ezafe is usually not written. Native speakers just know it is there.

So:

• written: کیف او
• pronounced: kif-e u

This is completely normal in Persian spelling.

Because Persian is generally a verb-final language.

In the clause رسید در کیف او است:

• رسید = subject
• در کیف او = prepositional phrase
• است = is

So the copula comes at the end.

This is very normal Persian word order. English says:

• The receipt is in her bag

Persian literally looks more like:

• The receipt in her bag is

Yes, often it can.

Both است and هست can mean is.

In many contexts:

• است sounds more formal or written
• هست can sound a bit more neutral or spoken

So these are both possible:

• رسید در کیف او است
• رسید در کیف او هست

In everyday speech, both are often reduced even further, and speakers may use shortened spoken forms instead of either full word.

Yes, در is the standard and more formal word for in.

But in everyday spoken Persian, people very often use:

• تو
• توی

So a colloquial version would often be:

خواهرم گفت که رسید توی کیفشِه.

Compared with:

• در کیف او است = more formal/written
• توی کیفشِه = more conversational

Both are correct; they just belong to different styles.

Sometimes yes, especially in speech.

So you may hear:

خواهرم گفت رسید در کیف او است.

But که is very common and usually makes the sentence clearer and smoother. For learners, keeping که is a good idea.

So:

• with که = very normal, clear
• without که = also possible in many contexts, especially informal speech

It breaks down like this:

• خواهرم = subject of the main clause
• گفت = main verb
• که = connector meaning that
• رسید = subject of the subordinate clause
• در کیف او = location phrase
• است = copula

So the structure is:

[My sister] [said] [that] [the receipt] [in his/her bag] [is].

This is a good example of two useful Persian patterns:

1. X گفت که... = X said that...
2. Y در Z است = Y is in Z