ه (he) is the 31st letter of the Persian alphabet. It is pronounced h, as in “hat”; at the end of many words it is silent and marks the vowel e, as in خانه (khâne, house). At the start of a word it is always h: هفت (haft, seven).
How to write ه (he)
Persian is written from right to left, and most letters change shape depending on where they sit in a word. These are the four forms of ه:
| On its own | Start of a word | Middle | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| ه | هـ | ـهـ | ـه |
ه joins the letter that comes after it.
How to pronounce ه (he)
As a consonant ه is h, as in "hat", and it is always pronounced, even after a vowel. At the end of many words it is silent and only marks the vowel e.
In standard Iranian Persian, ه sounds exactly like ح, so you learn the spelling of each word as you meet it.
Persian words with ه
| Persian | Pronunciation | English | Where ه is |
|---|---|---|---|
| هفت | haft | seven | start |
| هوا | havâ | air; weather | start |
| همه | hame | all, everyone | start |
| شهر | shahr | city | middle |
| مهمان | mehmân | guest | middle |
| چهار | chahâr | four | middle |
| خانه | khâne | house | end |
| ماه | mâh | moon; month | end |
Good to know
- ه at the end of a word is often the vowel e, as in خانه (khâne); in a few words, such as ماه (mâh) and کوه (kuh), it is a real h.
- ه sounds the same as ح in Persian.
- ه has four quite different shapes: ه alone, هـ at the start, ـهـ in the middle, ـه at the end.
Quiz: the letter ه
Check yourself on ه (he): 7 quick questions with instant answers.
1. Which sound does ه (he) make?
2. Which word starts with ه?
3. What does هوا (havâ) mean?
4. Does ه join the letter that comes after it?
5. Which letter is pronounced the same as ه?
6. Where is ه in the word شهر (shahr, city)?
7. What is the position of ه in the 32-letter Persian alphabet?
Answer key with explanations
- C. h, e: ه is pronounced h, e. As a consonant ه is h, as in “hat”, and it is always pronounced, even after a vowel.
- C. هفت (haft): هفت (haft) means “seven” and begins with ه.
- A. air; weather: هوا (havâ) means “air; weather”.
- D. Yes, it joins the next letter: ه joins the next letter, so it has four forms.
- B. ح: ه and ح sound the same (h, e) in standard Iranian Persian.
- A. In the middle: In شهر, ه comes in the middle, so it uses its middle form.
- C. 31st: ه is the 31st letter: ا ب پ ت ث ج چ ح خ د ذ ر ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن و ه ی
Common questions
How do you pronounce ه in Persian?
ه (he) is pronounced h, e. As a consonant ه is h, as in “hat”, and it is always pronounced, even after a vowel. At the end of many words it is silent and only marks the vowel e.
Does ه connect to the next letter?
Yes. ه joins the letter after it, so it has four forms: on its own, at the start, in the middle and at the end of a word.
Which letters sound like ه?
In standard Iranian Persian ه is pronounced the same as ح.
Is ه the same as ح?
Yes, in standard Persian both are pronounced h. ح appears mostly in words of Arabic origin.
Why is ه at the end of خانه not pronounced h?
At the end of many words ه is a silent letter that shows the vowel e. Persian calls it the ‘hidden h’ (he-ye gheyr-e malfuz).
The Farsi alphabet (Farsi: /alefbâye fârsi/ الفبای فارسی) consists 32 letters, most of which have two forms, short and full. In Farsi, words are written from right to left while numbers are written from left to right. Farsi is a writing style based on the Arabic script. It is entirely written cursively. That is, the majority of letters in a word connect to each other. Therefore, the appearance of a letter changes depending on its position: beginning (joined on the left), middle (joined on both sides), end (joined on the right) of a word and some letters are written isolated.
This writing style is also implemented on computers. Whenever the Farsi script is typed, the computer connects the letters to each other.
Following is a table showing the Farsi alphabet and how it is pronounced in English. There are also some examples of how those letters would sound if you place them in a word.
| ح | چ | ج | ث | ت | پ | ب | الف |
| ش | س | ژ | ز | ر | ذ | د | خ |
| ق | ف | غ | ع | ظ | ط | ض | ص |
| ی | ه | و | ن | م | ل | گ | ک |
هـ – ـه – ه
“هـ – ـه – ه” called “he”, is the thirty-first letter of the Persian alphabet. It sounds /he/ like “h” in “hat”. It also sounds /e/ like “e” in “men”. “ه” is written in four forms:
Initial letter: ها /hâ/ plural suffix
Medial Letter: پَهن /pahn/ Wide
Final Joined Letter: تپّه /tapeh/ Hill
Final Disjoined Letter: گُناه /gonâh/ Sin
How to write it:
Sample Words:
 |
 |
 |
| مِهرَبان | هَدَف | ماه |
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