همسایه ما امروز در خیابان به من سلام کرد.

The sentence follows a very common Persian pattern:

Subject + time + place + recipient + noun + light verb

So here you have:

• همسایه ما = our neighbor
• امروز = today
• در خیابان = in the street / on the street
• به من = to me
• سلام کرد = said hello / greeted

Persian is typically SOV (subject-object-verb), so the verb usually comes at the end.

It is pronounced roughly:

hamsāye-ye mā

A learner may wonder why there seems to be no connector between همسایه and ما in the writing. In pronunciation, there is an ezafe sound: -e / -ye.

So even though it is written:

همسایه ما

it is pronounced:

hamsāye-ye mā = our neighbor

In normal Persian spelling, the ezafe is often not written, even though it is pronounced.

So:

• written: همسایه ما
• pronounced: hamsāye-ye mā

This is completely normal. Persian learners often need to get used to the fact that some grammatical elements are heard but not shown clearly in everyday writing.

به من literally means to me.

• به = to
• من = me / I

In this sentence, سلام کردن works like to say hello to someone, so the person receiving the greeting is marked with به:

• به من سلام کرد = he/she said hello to me

This is very natural Persian usage.

This is a very common Persian pattern called a light verb construction.

Instead of one single verb, Persian often uses:

noun + کردن

Here:

• سلام = hello / greeting
• کرد = did

So سلام کرد literally looks like did hello, but it really means:

• said hello
• greeted

This kind of structure is extremely common in Persian.

In سلام کرد, سلام is part of a fixed expression, not a straightforward specific direct object in the usual sense.

You normally say:

• به کسی سلام کرد = greeted someone / said hello to someone

You do not usually say:

• سلام را کرد ✘

So even though سلام is noun-like, the whole expression سلام کردن acts like one unit.

کرد is the simple past form of کردن.

So:

• کردن = to do
• کرد = did

In this sentence, سلام کرد means:

• said hello
• greeted

Because the sentence also has امروز (today), in English you might translate it with either simple past or present perfect depending on context, but in Persian the form itself is plain past.

Actually, Persian verbs do show person, but in the past tense the third person singular form is just the bare stem form here:

• کردم = I did
• کردی = you did
• کرد = he/she did
• کردیم = we did
• کردید = you all / formal you did
• کردند = they did

So کرد tells you the subject is he/she/it, and here the subject is همسایه ما.

امروز means today, and Persian adverbs of time are often placed fairly early in the sentence, often after the subject.

So:

• همسایه ما امروز ... = Our neighbor today ...

This is a very natural position. Persian has some flexibility, but this placement is common and neutral.

در خیابان literally means in the street or on the street.

• در = in / at
• خیابان = street

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• in the street
• on the street
• out on the street

Persian uses در very broadly for locations.

In colloquial Persian, speakers sometimes shorten location expressions, but in a standard, clear sentence, در خیابان is the normal and safest form.

So for learners, در خیابان is the form to use.

Yes, Persian word order is somewhat flexible, as long as the verb usually stays at the end.

For example, these are all possible with different emphasis:

• همسایه ما امروز در خیابان به من سلام کرد.
• امروز همسایه ما در خیابان به من سلام کرد.
• همسایه ما به من امروز در خیابان سلام کرد.

But the original version is very natural and neutral.

For learners, it is best to keep:

subject + time + place + recipient + verb phrase

until you get comfortable with variation.

من here means me after the preposition به.

Persian personal pronouns do not change as much as English pronouns do. So:

• من can mean I or me, depending on position
• به من = to me

So unlike English, Persian does not need a separate form like I/me in this case.

Here it is singular: neighbor.

If you wanted our neighbors, you would normally say:

• همسایه‌های ما = our neighbors

So in this sentence, همسایه ما means our neighbor.

Yes, سلام گفتن also exists and means to say hello, but سلام کردن is extremely common and very natural.

So both can work, but:

• به من سلام کرد
• به من سلام گفت

are both understandable and natural, with سلام کرد being very common in everyday Persian.

A natural transliteration would be:

hamsāye-ye mā emruz dar xiyābān be man salām کرد

More carefully and fully romanized:

hamsāye-ye mā emruz dar خیābān be man salām kard

A smoother learner-friendly version is:

hamsaaye-ye maa emrooz dar khiyaabaan be man salaam kard

Exact transliteration systems vary, but the important pronunciation points are:

• همسایه ≈ hamsāye
• امروز ≈ emruz / emrooz
• خیابان ≈ xiyābān / khiyābān
• سلام کرد ≈ salām kard

Very literally, it is something like:

our neighbor today in the street to me hello did

That sounds strange in English, but it helps show the Persian structure:

• همسایه ما = our neighbor
• امروز = today
• در خیابان = in the street
• به من = to me
• سلام کرد = hello did

Idiomatic English then becomes:

• Our neighbor said hello to me in the street today.
• Our neighbor greeted me on the street today.