Vocabulary
These pages organise everyday Persian vocabulary by topic, so you can learn the words you need for the situations you actually meet in Tehran. Every word is given in Persian script, in our Latin spelling and in English, and each page ends with flashcards and a short quiz.
How to learn vocabulary that sticks
Little and often beats long sessions. Spend ten minutes a day with the flashcards rather than an hour once a week, and use spaced repetition: review a new word the next day, then after a few days, then after a week or two. Words you find hard should come round more often; words you know well can wait.
Learn words in phrases, not on their own. Bârun means rain, but bârun miyâd (it’s raining) is what you will actually say, and saram dard mikone (my head hurts) teaches you a pattern you can reuse for any part of the body. The example sentences on each page are there for this reason.
Finally, notice the difference between spoken and written forms. Tehranis say khune and nun, but signs and menus say khâne and nân. We give the spoken form first and the written form after it, so learn to say the first and recognise the second. Lesson 18 explains the patterns.
Vocabulary topics
- Family and People: parents, siblings, the four Persian words for aunt and uncle, in-laws and everyday words for people.
- Food and Drink: ingredients, classic Tehran dishes, cooking verbs, tastes, tea and the kitchen.
- The Home: rooms, furniture, utilities, housework and renting a flat in Tehran.
- The City and Transport: places in the city, taxis, the metro, buses, directions and the road.
- Work and Money: jobs, the office, trade, banking and card-to-card payments.
- The Body and Health: body parts, symptoms and the doctor’s surgery and pharmacy.
- Weather, Seasons and Nature: sun, snow and air pollution, the seasons and their festivals, landscape and animals.
- Feelings and Describing People: adjectives for moods, looks and personality, plus “more” and “most”.