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English to Farsi (Persian) Translator

This free English to Farsi (Persian) translator turns English text into Persian script and shows its pronunciation in English letters (Finglish).

EnglishYou type

Persian script and FinglishYou get

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It works as an English to Persian translator too: Farsi and Persian are one language, and the script comes ready to copy and paste.

Translate English to Farsi (Persian): script, Finglish and pronunciation

One box, two ways to take in a line. Type what you want to say and you get the Persian script, to paste or show someone, and the Finglish, to read out loud. Under them is a short note on how it is said and, when a line does not translate word for word, what each part means.

Everything comes back as everyday spoken Persian, the way people really talk. "How are you?" is Chetori, not the stiff version in a textbook. Farsi and Persian are the same language: Persian is the English name, Farsi is what Persians call it, so English to Farsi and English to Persian are one job, and this page does both.

How to read the three lines

Each answer has the same few parts, so you always know where to look.

  • Finglish

    The big line. Persian in English letters. Say each letter the English way, add the few Persian sounds in the guide below, and you are saying it.

  • Persian script

    The same line in the real alphabet, read right to left. Tap Copy to paste it into a text, a card or a post.

  • How it is said

    A line on who you would say it to, a friend or an elder, and how the spoken form differs from the written one. Word by word shows up when a line is an idiom.

English to Persian script, ready to copy and paste

Tap Copy on the script line and paste it where you need it: a WhatsApp or iMessage to family, an email, a birthday card, a caption on Instagram. Paste into the message box itself and the letters join up on their own. The Finglish under it tells you what you are sending before you send it.

Persian runs from right to left and most letters join to the next one, so a word is one flowing line. Some design tools and old documents need right-to-left text switched on before Persian joins correctly; if the letters look separated, that setting is the reason, not the translation.

How Persian is really pronounced in everyday speech

Persian is written one way and said another. A book writes khaane and people say khoone. A book writes nan and people say nun. The word "is" is a whole word in writing (khoob ast) and a small ending in speech (Khoobe), which is why the Finglish here looks shorter than a dictionary entry.

This translator always answers in the spoken form, because that is the Persian you will hear at a table, on a call or in a text.

Sounds English speakers find hard (kh, gh, the two a sounds)

Most Persian sounds are ones you already make. A few are not. Kh and gh come from the back of the throat, and sh, ch and zh are single sounds, not two letters. Persian also has two a sounds: a short one, as in "cat", and a long one, as in "father". Finglish writes both a, and hearing the words is the quickest way to tell them apart.

  • kha rough h, like the ch in "loch"Khoob = good
  • gha throaty g from the back of the mouthGhahve = coffee
  • shas in "shoe"Shoma = you (polite)
  • chas in "chai"Chai = tea
  • zhlike the s in "measure"Zhaket = jacket
  • ooas in "food"Dooset = your friend

From one phrase to a whole conversation

A translation gets you through one moment. The Finglish course gets you through the next one: greetings, introductions, ordering, asking for help, each with lines you say out loud and then use again later.

Every answer above links to the lesson that teaches its words. Module 1 is free with no signup, so you can go from reading a line to saying it today.

Questions about English to Farsi

  • Read the Finglish line. It is Persian in English letters, spelled the way the word sounds, so you say each letter the English way and add the few Persian sounds: kh is a rough h, gh is a throaty g, oo is the sound in "food".

  • Both names mean the same language. Persian is the English name and Farsi is the name in Persian. This tool works for either word and writes the Persian spoken in Tehran.

  • It is the Persian sentence written in English letters. Finglish is not a different language, only a different way to write Persian, so anyone who reads it aloud is speaking real Persian.

  • Kh is a rough h made at the back of the throat, like the ch in Scottish "loch". Gh is a throaty g, a little like the French r. Khoob (good) and Ghahve (coffee) are the two words to practise on.

  • Dictionaries and textbooks often show the written form, such as khaane for house. This tool gives the spoken form, khoone, because that is what you will hear. The same goes for the spoken "is": khoobe, not khoob ast.

  • Type the English into the box and tap Translate. You get the Persian in the real alphabet with the Finglish reading beside it. Each line has its own Copy button, so you can paste the script or the Finglish on its own into a message, a note or a card.

  • Persian is written right to left and its letters join together. Paste into a normal message box and it joins by itself. Some design tools need right-to-left text turned on first.

  • Names are written by sound, so a name can have more than one correct spelling in Persian. Type your name and check the Finglish reading under the script to see that it sounds right to you.

  • For anything permanent, such as a tattoo or a sign, ask a native Persian speaker to read the final script before it is made. It is the same advice for any language.

  • Dari, spoken in Afghanistan, and Tajik, spoken in Tajikistan, are other forms of Persian with the same grammar and a lot of shared vocabulary. This tool writes the Persian spoken in Tehran, the Persian of Iran.

  • Start the free first module of the Finglish course. Module 1 is open with no signup, and each lesson has you say the lines out loud, then bring them back in later lessons.

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