Persian sayings that make no sense in English
| Farsi | Transliteration | Literal Translation | Meaning |
| با نمک | Ba namak | salty | charming or interesting person |
| خر تو خر | Khar too khar | donkey inside a donkey | disarray or chaos |
| خر خود را راندن | Khareh khod ra randan | to ride one’s own donkey | to mind one’s own business |
| مرغ همسایه غازه | Morghe hamsaye ghazeh | the neighbor’s hen is a goose | the neighbor’s grass is greener |
| آب زیر کاه | Abe zireh kah | water under straw | a sneaky person |
| مثل نخود آش | Mesle nokhode aash | like the beans in soup | to try to influence other people’s affairs where one is not involved or wanted |
| مغز خر خوردن | Maghze khar khordan | to have eaten a donkey’s brain | to have lost one’s mind |
| دوستی خاله خرسه | Doostiye khaleh kherseh | the friendship of the Aunt Bear | being a friend while acting like an enemy unintentionally and out of foolishness |
Farsi words and phrases with no direct English translation
باجنبه
دمت گرم
خیلی چاکریم
ودرواسی
سیزده بدر
خسته نباشید
از حضورتون مرخص میشم
چشمم روشن
قدمش خوب است
یه دستی زدن
به روی چشم
تعارف شابدلعظیمی
Persian words that are the same in English
| Helicopter | هلیکوپتر |
| Telephone | تلفن |
| Kiosk | کیوسک |
| Laser | لیزر |
| Police | پلیس |
| Cabin | کابین |
| Soup | سوپ |
| System | سیستم |
| Shampoo | شامپو |
| Joke | جوک |
Confusing Words
| سیر means full or garlic |
| شیر means faucet, lion, or milk |
| ماه means moon or month |
| شانه means shoulder or comb |
| تیر means shot or bar or the month of June |
| مرد means man or died (same spelling different pronunciation) |
Useful Persian Phrases
| English | Farsi | Transliteration |
| Hi | سلام | Salaam |
| How are you? | حال شما چطوره؟ | Hale shoma chetoreh? |
| Where are you from? | شما کجائی هستید؟ | Shoma kojaee hastid? |
| Good morning | صبح بخیر | Sobh bekheir |
| Good night | شب بخیر | Shab bekheir |
| What is your name? | اسم شما چیه؟ | Esme shoma chieh? |
| Please | لطفا | Lotfan |
| Thank you very much | خیلی ممنون | Kheili mamnoon |
| You’re welcome | خواهش می‌کنم | Khahesh mikonam |
| I don’t know | نمی دانم | Nemidanam |
| Excuse me | ببخشید | Bebakhshid |
Fun facts about Persian and Iran
-Persian is an Indo-European language.
-In Persian there is no grammatical gender.
-In Persian there are no definite articles.
-In Persian there are two ways of saying “you”. There is the informal you and the more formal you.
-In Persian short vowels are not generally written.
-Persepolis, Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Khaju bridge, Azadi Tower, Menar Jonban, and Taq-e Bostan are popular tourist attractions in Iran.
-Traditional Iranian sweets include Sohan of Qom, Gaz of Isfahan, faloodeh of Shiraz, Ghotab of Kerman, and Lovuez of Tabriz.
-Every year Mecca, one of the most sacred sites in Islam, is washed with rosewater of Qamsar, Kashan.
-When an Urdu speaker acts as if he/she does not understand another Urdu speaker the expression is “Am I speaking Persian that you don’t understand?”