50 Persian (Farsi) Phrases for Beginners

Start with the five lines that open every Persian conversation: hello, how are you, I am good, doing good, and what about you. Persian asks after your health before anything else, so skipping that exchange feels abrupt. You ask, you answer, you hand the question back.

Then add the lines for meeting someone new. Persian speakers ask where you are from early on, and they love an answer, so Ahle Iran-am or Kanada zendegi mikonam, I live in Canada, will start a conversation by itself. The ending -i in Chetori and Khoobi is the friendly you. Switch to -in for an elder, as in Chetorin.

The last four lines in this group close a conversation. Khodafez is the standard goodbye, Ta farda means see you tomorrow, and the two wishes Sobh bekheir and Shab bekheir are the good morning and good night you will hear every day in a house.

Merci is the everyday thank you, and yes, it is the French word, used in Persian for generations. Lotfan means please, and Bebakhshid means both excuse me and sorry. Pair them with the soft refusal Na merci and the warm yes Baleh merci, and you can handle almost every offer a host makes.

The second half of this group is the set that saves you when you get lost. Say Nafahmidam, I did not understand, then ask for it again or slower. Persian speakers tend to light up when a learner says Ye kam Farsi baladam, I speak a little Persian, and they will often slow down on their own. Yani chi? is the question to keep in your pocket for any word you just heard.

A Persian meal is where beginners use the most Persian. Ordering is simple: say the thing, then lotfan. Chai lotfan means tea, please. Wanting something is Mikham, which sits at the end of the sentence, so I want water is Ab mikham.

Pay attention to Sir shodam, I am full. In a house you will be offered more food than you can eat, and a refusal is easier with the right words ready. Khoshmaze, delicious, is what the cook wants to hear.

To count things, put the number before the thing and add the small word ta in between: do ta chai is two teas. Chanta chai? asks how many teas, and it is the question a host asks you.

For the time, Saat chand-e? asks what time it is, and the answer names the hour first. Saat do o nim-e is half past two, because nim means half. If you are late, say it first: Bebakhshid dir kardam, sorry, I am late.

The Persian week starts on Saturday, so Emruz chand shanbast? asks what day it is by counting from Shanbe. The answer is a single word for the day, and Shanbe, Yekshanbe, Doshanbe and so on teach themselves in a few days of use.

For plans, keep it short. Farda mashghulam means I am busy tomorrow, Key miay? asks when you are coming, and Berim is the friendly let's go. Alan miam, I am coming now, is the line you will hear on a phone call from someone who is already on the way.

Do not memorize fifty lines in one sitting. Pick one group, say each line out loud five times, then use it that day with someone, even if the someone is the mirror. A phrase you have used once in a conversation sticks better than a phrase you have read ten times.

Hear them before you say them. Persian has sounds English does not, such as kh in Khoobam and Khodafez, and the best way to get them is to copy a recording, not a spelling. Finglish by Iranopedia plays every one of these lines in a lesson, then brings the ones you have met back on a schedule built around you, so the ones you forget come back sooner.

Finally, learn them in the register you will use. All fifty here are casual spoken Persian, the way people talk at home and with friends. Where an elder is involved, change the -i to -in and you are polite in the same breath.