Speak / Lesson 3
How to Introduce Where You are From, and Introducing the Different forms of You
In the Persian language, there are two different ways of saying 'you'-- a formal version, “shomā,” and an informal version, “tō.” In this lesson, we learn both forms and when it's appropriate to use them. For instance, when you're talking to a close friend or a family member close to your age, you would use the informal ‘you,’ “tō.” When speaking with someone older than you, or someone you should show respect for, you use the formal version, “shomā.” Iranian culture places high value on respect, so when in doubt, err on the side of formality. We discuss this more on the podcast so that you are confident with your choice of which to use.
In addition to the different forms of you, we go over some questions you can ask using the formal or informal versions of ‘you’. These include:
- What is your name?
Another wonderful topic of conversation and good way to get to know others is by asking them where they're from. This is a great topic of conversation no matter where in the world you are. We'll learn the formal and informal way of asking. The phrases learned in this section include:
- Where are you from? (informal)
- Where are you from? (formal)
- I am from ________
We also learn a list of countries and how to say them in the Persian language. The countries learned in this lesson include:
- Iran (pronounced Irān)
- the United States
- Spain
- England
- Germany
- France
- Mexico
We also include several other countries in the bonus vocabulary.
Listen Now
Download lesson MP3GREETINGS:
hello
سَلام
how are you?
چِطوری؟
Note: In Persian, as in many other languages, there is a formal and an informal way of speaking. We will be covering this in more detail in later lessons. For now, however, chetor-ee is the informal way of asking someone how they are, so it should only be used with people that you are familiar with. hālé shomā chetor-é is the formal expression for ‘how are you.’
Spelling note: In written Persian, words are not capitalized. For this reason, we do not capitalize Persian words written in phonetic English in the guides.
ANSWERS:
I’m well
خوبَم
Pronunciation tip: kh is one of two unique sounds in the Persian language that is not used in the English language. It should be repeated daily until mastered, as it is essential to successfully speak Persian. Listen to the podcast for more information on how to make the sound.
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| salām | hello |
| chetor-ee | how are you? |
| khoobam | I’m well |
| merci | thank you |
| khayli | very |
| khayli khoobam | I’m very well |
| khoob neestam | I’m not well |
| man | me/I |
| bad neestam | I’m not bad |
| ālee | great |
| chetor-een? | how are you? (formal) |
| hālé shomā chetor-é? | how are you? (formal) |
| hālet chetor-é? | how are you? (informal) |
| khoob-ee? | are you well? (informal) |
| mamnoonam | thank you |
| chetor peesh meeré? | how’s it going? |
| ché khabar? | what’s the news? (what’s up?) |
| testeeeee |
Matt: Welcome back to Chai and Conversation! If you're like me, you're here to learn conversational Persian at a beginning level. As we've said before, Chai and Conversation builds on vocabulary learned in previous lessons, so make sure you're caught up before listening to Lesson 3! You can find previous podcasts on iTunes, or you can download them directly from our website, chaiandconversation.com, with “chai” spelled C-H-A-I.
Leyla: On our website, you'll find plenty more learning materials such as PDF guides and enhanced podcasts. The PDF guides and enhanced podcasts both feature the words we learned spelled out phonetically in English so that you can be sure you are saying them correctly.
Matt: Now, let's get on with the lesson!
Leyla: Yes, let's begin to learn Persian with Chai and Conversation!
Last time on ‘Chai and Conversation’, we were learning how to introduce ourselves and to say 'my name is…'! Matt, do you remember how to say ‘my name is Matt’?
Matt: esmé man matt hast.
Leyla: Great, that's right, “esmé man matt hast.” I would say “esmé man leylā hast,” and Matt would say…
Matt: esmé man matt hast.
Leyla: Great, and now you try; say “esmé man ____ hast,” and, of course, enter your own name!
In Persian, like in many other languages, there's a way to speak to people older than you or people to whom you need to show respect and a different way to speak to people your own age or younger than you. In other words, there's a formal and informal way to speak. The formal way to say ‘you’ is “shomā.”
Matt: shomā.
Leyla: There's another way to say ‘you’ to people who are your age or younger, and that is “tō.”
Matt: tō.
Leyla: That's right, “tō.”
Matt: tō.
Leyla: When you're speaking, you need to be thinking about whether you should use the formal 'you' or the informal ‘you’, and this sometimes changes the form of the sentence you're saying. For example, if you say “esmé man leylā hast,” the natural question would be 'what is your name?'. There are two versions of this, depending on whether you use the “tō” form or the “shomā” form. First, let's focus on the “tō” form. With “tō,” you say “esmé tō chee-yé?”
Matt: esmé tō chee-yé?
Leyla: esmé tō chee-yé?
Matt: esmé tō chee-yé?
Leyla: Again, this means ‘what is your name?’. You would use this when you are referring to someone you would use the “tō” form with, so if I ask you, Matt, “esmé tō chee-yé?” you would answer…?
Matt: esmé man matt hast. esmé tō chee-yé?
Leyla: esmé man leylā hast, and if I ask you, the listener, “esmé tō chee-yé?” you would answer…?
Now, if you are speaking to someone you must speak to in a formal way, you would instead say “esmé shomā chee-yé?” so, Matt, “esmé shomā chee-yé?”
Matt: esmé man matt hast.
Leyla: Now, Matt, ask me what my name is in a formal sense!
Matt: esmé shomā chee-yé?
Leyla: esmé man leylā hast. Now, it's all very well asking what someone's name is, but now we're going to add to the questions and learn how to ask someone where they are from. ‘Where are you from?’ in Persian, in the informal sense, is “tō ahlé kojā hastee?”
Matt: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Leyla: Let's break down this question a bit! We learned before that "tō" is an informal ‘you’. “ahl” means something like ‘to have a liking for’, but in this context, it means ‘native of’, and “kojā” means ‘where’, so if you put it all together, it's “tō ahlé kojā hastee?”
Matt: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Leyla: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Matt: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Leyla: Perfect, so let's leave this question as informal and concentrate on some answers for this question! Matt, ask me where I'm from, and I'll give you some example answers!
Matt: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Leyla: man ahlé āmreekā hastam. Try that, Matt: man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Matt: man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Leyla: As you may guess, “āmreekā” is the word for ‘the United States’. man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Matt: man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Leyla: This simply means ‘I am from America’. Now, you might be from the United States, but you might well be from another country as well. Let's learn a few of these! “man ahlé espāniā hastam.”
Matt: man ahlé espāniā hastam.
Leyla: Any guesses as to what country “espāniā” might be?
Matt: Spain?
Leyla: Right, “man ahlé espāniā hastam.”
Matt: man ahlé espāniā hastam.
Leyla: man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Matt: man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Leyla: Now, Matt and I are going to do some role-playing here. My name is going to be Julieta, and I am going to be from Spain, and Matt, you're going to be Ricardo, and you're going to be from Spain as well. You start!
Matt: esmé man ricardo hast va man az espāniā hastam.
Leyla: esmé man julietā hast va man ham ahlé espāniā hastam! What do you think “ham” might mean in that sentence? “esmé man julietā hast va man ham ahlé espāniā hastam!”
Matt: Does it mean ‘too’?
Leyla: Right, exactly, it means ‘also', so 'I'm from Spain also', “man ham ahlé espāniā hastam.” Matt, how would you say ‘my name is Ricardo, and I am also from Spain’?
Matt: esmé man ricardo hast, va man ham ahlé espāniā hastam.
Leyla: Perfect! Now, this time, esmé man leylā hast va man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Matt: esmé man matt hast va man ham ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Leyla: Like we said, “ham” means ‘also’. ham.
Matt: ham.
Leyla: man ham ahlé espāniā hastam.
Matt: man ham ahlé espāniā hastam.
Leyla: esmé man julieta hast va man ahlé espāniā hastam.
Matt: esmé man ricardo hast va man ham ahlé espāniā hastam.
Leyla: esmé man leylā hast va man ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Matt: esmé man matt hast va man ham ahlé āmreekā hastam.
Leyla: Now, we said before that there are two ways of asking where someone is from: one formal, one informal. We just learned the informal, so now, let's learn to ask someone that you don't know, or someone that is older than you, where they are from. The informal way of asking ‘where are you from?’ is “to ahlé kojā hastee?” The formal way is slightly different. Listen carefully: “shomā ahlé kojā hasteen?”
Matt: shomā ahlé kojā hasteen?
Leyla: We change the conjugation of the verb from “hastee” for informal to “hasteen” for formal. shomā ahlé kojā hasteen?
Matt: shomā ahlé kojā hasteen?
Leyla: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Matt: tō ahlé kojā hastee?
Leyla: Great, and now, let's add a few more countries, and then we'll do some more role-playing! Listen to this: “englees.”
Matt: englees.
Leyla: To say 'I am from England,' you would say “man ahlé englees hastam.”
Matt: man ahlé englees hastam.
Leyla: Right, man ahlé englees hastam.
Matt: man ahlé englees hastam.
Leyla: So we have “englees,” “āmreekā,” and “espāniā.” Let's learn another: “man ahlé mekzeek hastam”!
Matt: man ahlé mekzeek hastam.
Leyla: Can you guess that one, Matt?
Matt: Mexico?
Leyla: Perfect! ‘Mexico’ is “mekzeek,” so “man ahlé mekzeek hastam.”
Matt: man ahlé mekzeek hastam.
Leyla: Or perhaps you are from “ālmān.”
Matt: ālmān.
Leyla: Great, and “ālmān” is ‘Germany,’ so you would say “man ahlé ālmān hastam”!
Matt: man ahlé ālmān hastam.
Leyla: Great, and ‘France’ would be "farāncé"!
Matt: farāncé.
Leyla: So "man ahlé farāncé hastam.'
Matt: man ahlé farāncé hastam.
Leyla: There are plenty more countries, but that's all we're going to be learning for today! As you can see, you've already been learning a lot of new words on Chai and Conversation. Hopefully, you've had a chance to practice them out loud with friends or family, or if not, then in front of a mirror.
Matt: I've been trying to practice the new words we learn each week by having conversations with my wife. She's been impressed by how much we've learned so far. Thank you so much for listening to us, and until next time, khodāhāfez from Matt!
Leyla: va bé omeedé deedār from Leyla.