Numbers are among the most useful things you can learn: you need them for prices, addresses, phone numbers and the time. Persian digits are different from the ones used in English, so learn to recognise them as well as say them.
| Persian | Say it | Number |
|---|---|---|
| ۰ صفر | sefr | 0 |
| ۱ یک | yek | 1 |
| ۲ دو | do | 2 |
| ۳ سه | se | 3 |
| ۴ چهار | chahâr (spoken: châr) | 4 |
| ۵ پنج | panj | 5 |
| ۶ شش | shesh (spoken: shish) | 6 |
| ۷ هفت | haft | 7 |
| ۸ هشت | hasht | 8 |
| ۹ نه | noh | 9 |
| ۱۰ ده | dah | 10 |
| ۱۱ یازده | yâzdah | 11 |
| ۱۲ دوازده | davâzdah | 12 |
| ۱۳ سیزده | sizdah | 13 |
| ۱۴ چهارده | chahârdah | 14 |
| ۱۵ پانزده | pânzdah (spoken: punzdah) | 15 |
| ۱۶ شانزده | shânzdah (spoken: shunzdah) | 16 |
| ۱۷ هفده | hefdah | 17 |
| ۱۸ هجده | hejdah | 18 |
| ۱۹ نوزده | nuzdah | 19 |
| ۲۰ بیست | bist | 20 |
Reading Persian digits
Persian digits are written from left to right, just as in English, even in the middle of right-to-left text. So ۲۵ is 25 and ۱۴۰۵ is 1405.
Two digits trip up newcomers: ۵ (5) is a small loop that is easy to mistake for a zero, while the Persian zero, ۰, is just a dot. Persian ۴, ۵ and ۶ also look slightly different from the Arabic digits you may have seen elsewhere.
Tehran tip: Number plates, bus routes and shop prices in Tehran are mostly written in Persian digits. Practise by reading the numbers on taxis as they pass.
Practise
- Read these numbers aloud: ۳, ۸, ۱۲, ۱۵, ۲۰.
- Write your phone number in Persian digits.
- Which number is sizdah? (It gives its name to Sizdah Be-dar, the 13th day of Nowruz.)
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