How to Say "How are you?" in Persian (Farsi): Chetori

Chetori in a sentence

Real lines from the course, said by the people you meet in it.

1. Maman Bozorg, your grandma

   Salam, chetori?

   Hi, how are you?

   Module 1, lesson 1

2. Sara, a family friend

   Chetori? Esmet chiye?

   How are you? What's your name?

   Module 1, lesson 2

3. Ameer, your friend

   Chetori? Khoobi?

   How are you? Doing good?

   Module 1, lesson 5

4. Maman Bozorg

   Khoobam. Chetori?

   I'm good. How are you?

   Module 1, lesson 7

5. Shirin, your older neighbor

   Baleh. Merci! Chetori?

   Yes. Thanks! How are you?

   Module 3, lesson 7

What Chetori is made of

• chetorhow
• +-iyou

Chetori is two pieces: chetor (how) and -i (you).

The ending -i / -yi is taught in Module 2, lesson 8: I'm Iranian

When to say Chetori

Ask a cousin or a friend how they are.

The usual mix-up with Chetori

Friend form and respectful form swapped

For a friend: Chetori. For an elder: Chetorin. The polite line changes chetori to chetorin.

More about Chetori

Chetori is how you ask a friend or a cousin how they are, and it is built from chetor (how) and the ending -i (you): "how you?" Its polite twin is Chetorin, said with Shoma in front to an elder. The stress falls on the middle, che-TOH-ree. The usual answer is Khoobam. You will hear it paired with Khoobi? as a second, friendlier check-in. It is taught in Module 1, lesson 1, and the same -i ending returns on Khoobi? and on Ahle koja-yi?

Questions people ask about Chetori