Saying Yes or No
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| بله bale |
Yes |
| آره âre |
Yes [informal] |
| آری âri |
Yes [written] |
| چرا čerâ |
Yes (affirmative) |
| نه na |
No |
| خیر xeyr |
No [formal] |
| نه خیر na xeyr |
No (emphatical) |
| نوچ noč |
No [vulgar] |
Persian چرا is like French “si” and German “doch”. It is used to say “yes” to a negative question where “no” is expected but your answer is “yes”.
Saying Thanks
Persian is rich in words for saying thanks. There are even more expressions than what listed below. Native Persian words are based on سپاس. Words derived from ممنون and تشکر have their root in Arabic. مرسی is from French and is the most frequent word for saying thanks in spoken Persian of Iran. The abbreviation “lit.” stands for “literally”.
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| مرسی mersi |
Thanks |
| ممنون mamnun |
Thank you |
| خیلی ممنون xeyli mamnun |
Thank you so much |
| ممنونم mamnun-am |
Thank you (lit. I’m indebted) |
| خیلی ممنونم xeyli mamnun-am |
Thank you so much (lit. I’m very indebted) |
| متشکرم motešakker-am |
Thank you (lit. I’m thankful) |
| خیلی متشکرم xeyli motešakker-am |
Thank you so much (lit. I’m very thankful) |
| تشکر tašakkor |
Thank you |
| سپاس sepâs |
Thank you |
| سپاس فراوان sepâs-e farâvan |
Many thanks |
| سپاسگزارم sepâsgozâr-am |
Thank you (lit. I’m thankful) |
| بسیار سپاسگزارم besyâr sepâsgozâr-am |
Thank you so much (lit. I’m very thankful) |
In speech, متشکر (motešakker) is usually pronounced مچکر (moččakker). Phonologically, “ch” consists of “t” and “sh” sounds. Therefore, when “t” and “sh” occur close to each other, their combination transforms into “ch”.
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| مچکرم moččakker-am |
Thank you (lit. I’m thankful) |
| خیلی مچکرم xeyli moččakker-am |
Thank you so much (lit. I’m very thankful) |
The adverbs خیلی and بسیار can be repeated to increase the degree of thanks: “I’m very very thankful”.
| خیلی خیلی ممنونم xeyli xeyli mamnun-am |
خیلی خیلی مچکرم xeyli xeyli moččakker-am |
| خیلی خیلی متشکرم xeyli xeyli motešakker-am |
بسیار بسیار سپاسگزارم besyâr besyâr sepâsgozâr-am |
Responding to Thanks
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| خواهش می‌کنم xwâheš mikonam |
You’re welcome |
| کاری نکردم kâr-i nakardam |
Don’t mention it! It was nothing! |
| قابلی نداشت ǧâbel-i nadâšt |
Gladly done! My pleasure! |
Asking
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| لطفا lotfan |
Please |
| ببخشید bebaxšid |
Excuse me |
| معذرت می‌خواهم maøzerat mixwâham |
Pardon (me) |
| متأسفم moteassef-am |
I’m sorry |