Saying Yes or No
- بله
bale
Yes - آره
âre
Yes [informal] - آری
âri
Yes [written] - چرا
cherâ
Yes (affirmative) - نه
na
No - خیر
keyr
No [formal] - نه خیر
na keyr
No (emphatical) - نوچ
noch
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”.
- مرسی
mersi
Thanks - ممنون
mamnun
Thank you - خیلی ممنون
kheyli mamnun
Thank you so much - ممنونم
mamnun-am
Thank you
(lit. I’m indebted) - خیلی ممنونم
kheyli mamnun-am
Thank you so much
(lit. I’m very indebted) - متشکرم
moteshakker-am
Thank you
(lit. I’m thankful) - خیلی متشکرم
kheyli moteshakker-am
Thank you so much
(lit. I’m very thankful) - تشکر
tashakkor
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 (moteshakker) is usually pronounced مچکر (mochchakker). Phonologically, “ch” consists of “t” and “sh” sounds. Therefore, when “t” and “sh” occur close to each other, their combination transforms into “ch”.
- مچکرم
mochchakker-am
Thank you
(lit. I’m thankful) - خیلی مچکرم
kheyli mochchakker-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
kheyli kheyli mamnun-am - خیلی خیلی مچکرم
kheyli kheyli mochchakker-am - خیلی خیلی متشکرم
kheyli kheyli moteshakker-am - بسیار بسیار سپاسگزارم
besyâr besyâr sepâsgozâr-am
Responding to Thanks
- خواهش میکنم
khwâhesh mikonam
You’re welcome - کاری نکردم
kâr-i nakardam
Don’t mention it!
It was nothing! - قابلی نداشت
ghâbel-i nadâsht
Gladly done!
My pleasure!
Asking
- لطفا
lotfan
Please - ببخشید
bebakhshid
Excuse me - معذرت میخواهم
maøzerat mikhwâham
Pardon (me) - متأسفم
moteassef-am
I’m sorry