لطفا به نقشه نگاه کن.

A common pronunciation is:

lotfan be naqše negâh kon

A few notes:

• لطفا is usually pronounced lotfan
• نقشه is pronounced roughly naq-she
• نگاه is negâh
• کن is kon

So the whole sentence sounds like:

lotfan be naqše negâh kon

لطفا means please.

It makes the command softer and more polite. Without it, به نقشه نگاه کن is still grammatical, but it sounds more direct.

You will often see لطفا at the beginning of a request, just like please in English.

This is a very common learner question.

The more formal spelling is لطفاً, with a diacritic that signals the -an sound. In everyday typing, many people simply write لطفا without that mark, but the pronunciation usually stays lotfan.

So:

• لطفاً = formal spelling
• لطفا = very common everyday spelling
• pronunciation = usually lotfan

Because the verb pattern is نگاه کردن به = to look at.

So Persian uses a preposition here, just as English uses at in look at.

Breakdown:

• به = to / at
• نقشه = map
• نگاه کن = look

So به نقشه نگاه کن literally works like look at the map.

Because نگاه کردن is a compound verb.

In Persian, many verbs are made of:

• a non-verbal part
• plus a light verb such as کردن

Here:

• نگاه = look / gaze
• کردن = to do

Together, نگاه کردن means to look.

When you conjugate it, only the light verb changes:

• نگاه می‌کنم = I look
• نگاه کرد = he/she looked
• نگاه کن = look!

This is completely normal in Persian.

کن is the informal singular imperative of کردن.

So it means do!, but in this compound verb it gives the meaning look!

In other words:

• نگاه کردن = to look
• نگاه کن = look!

This form is used when speaking to:

• one person
• in an informal way
• such as a friend, child, sibling, or someone you know well

No. کن is informal.

If you want to be more polite or you are speaking formally, use:

لطفا به نقشه نگاه کنید.

Here, کنید is the polite/formal imperative.

So the contrast is:

• نگاه کن = informal singular
• نگاه کنید = polite/formal singular, or plural

Adding لطفا helps, but کن is still grammatically informal.

Because نگاه کردن and دیدن are not exactly the same.

• نگاه کردن به = to look at, direct your eyes toward something
• دیدن = to see

If you want someone to turn their attention to the map, نگاه کن is the natural choice.

Compare:

• به نقشه نگاه کن = look at the map
• نقشه را ببین would not be the normal equivalent here

So Persian, like English, distinguishes look from see.

Persian does not have a definite article like English the.

So نقشه can mean:

• the map
• a map

The exact meaning depends on context.

If you want to be more specific, Persian can add other words:

• یک نقشه = a map
• این نقشه = this map
• آن نقشه = that map

But very often the noun appears by itself, as in this sentence.

Because Persian usually puts the verb near the end.

English says:

• Please look at the map

Persian literally follows an order more like:

• Please at the map look

So in لطفا به نقشه نگاه کن:

• لطفا = please
• به نقشه = at the map
• نگاه کن = look

This is normal Persian word order. Prepositional phrases like به نقشه usually come before the verb.

Yes. It is often placed at the beginning, but it can also appear in other positions.

For example, speakers may say:

• لطفا به نقشه نگاه کن
• به نقشه لطفا نگاه کن

The first one is the most straightforward and common for learners to use.

So while placement can vary, putting لطفا first is a safe and natural choice.