Farsi vs Arabic: Key Differences in Script, Grammar and Sound

Farsi (Persian) and Arabic are completely different languages. Persian is Indo-European, a cousin of English, Kurdish and Hindi; Arabic is Semitic, related to Hebrew. They share a script, with four extra Persian letters (پ چ ژ گ), and Persian borrowed many Arabic words, but grammar, core vocabulary and sound are different. A Persian speaker and an Arabic speaker cannot understand each other.

The confusion is understandable. A page of Persian and a page of Arabic look alike to most English speakers, Iran sits next to Arabic-speaking countries, and Persian is full of words like کتاب (ketâb, book) that come from Arabic. This guide explains where the two languages really differ, where they overlap, what that means for learners, and which one to start with.

Farsi vs. Arabic at a glance

The names can add to the confusion too. Farsi and Persian are the same language: فارسی (fârsi) Listen is its name in Persian, and “Persian” is the English name. For the varieties spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, see Farsi vs Persian vs Dari vs Tajik.

Two different language families

Persian belongs to the Indo-European family, the same family as English, German, Russian, Hindi and Greek. Within it, Persian is part of the Iranian branch. Arabic belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family, with Hebrew and Aramaic.

You can see the Indo-European link in some of the oldest Persian words, which have English cousins:

Listen: مادر Listen پدر Listen برادر Listen

Persian has a long written history of its own. Old Persian was written in cuneiform in the Achaemenid period; Middle Persian used its own scripts. After the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century, Persian came to be written in a modified Arabic script, and New Persian literature took off in the following centuries. Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, completed around 1010, is written in Persian with relatively few Arabic words. More on the language’s history is in our introduction to the Farsi language.

The script: same alphabet, four extra letters

Persian uses the Arabic script, written right to left, with letters that change shape depending on their position. It adds four letters for sounds Arabic does not have:

Listen: چای Listen گل Listen

Some other differences you notice once you read both:

• ye and kâf: Persian ی and ک are written differently from their Arabic counterparts at the end of a word, and they are separate characters on a computer. That is why you should type Persian with a Persian layout such as our online Persian keyboard, not an Arabic one.
• Numbers: Persian digits ۴ ۵ ۶ differ from Arabic ٤ ٥ ٦.
• Calligraphy: Persian developed its own styles, above all Nastaliq, the flowing script used for Persian poetry and signs.
• Arabic marks: Persian uses some Arabic-only symbols, such as the tanvin in لطفاً (lotfan, please), only in borrowed words.

So if you can read Arabic, you can sound out most Persian words after learning four letters and the Persian vowel values. That does not mean you understand them. Start with the Persian alphabet guide if you want the details.

Pronunciation: one script, two sound systems

Arabic has several sounds made deep in the throat and a set of emphatic consonants. Persian kept the Arabic letters in borrowed words but pronounces them the Persian way, so several letters merge into one sound:

Vowels differ too. Arabic has three vowel qualities, short and long (a, i, u). Persian has six: â, a, e, o, i, u. And the consonant و is v in Persian but w in Arabic. That is why Arabic words sound different in Persian mouths: Arabic waqt (time) is Persian وقت (vaght), Arabic qalam (pen) is Persian قلم (ghalam), and Arabic sâ’a (hour) is Persian ساعت (sâ’at) Listen.

For a full guide to Persian sounds, see Persian pronunciation for beginners.

Grammar: where the languages are furthest apart

Grammar is the clearest proof that these are different languages. Persian grammar is often described as one of the easier parts of the language for English speakers; Arabic grammar is famously rich.

No gender in Persian

Persian has one word for “he” and “she”: او (u). Adjectives and verbs never change for gender. Arabic distinguishes masculine and feminine in pronouns, verbs and adjectives (huwa, he; hiya, she).

No case endings, no dual

Modern Standard Arabic marks nouns for case and has a dual form for “two of something.” Persian has neither. It uses word order, the ezâfe link (کتاب من, ketâb-e man, my book) and the object marker را (râ) instead. See the ezâfe in Persian.

Verb at the end

A normal Persian sentence puts the verb last: من کتاب را خواندم (man ketâb râ khândam), “I read the book,” literally “I the book read.” Listen Arabic usually puts the verb first in formal writing (qara’tu l-kitâb, “read-I the book”). More in Persian sentence structure.

Building words: suffixes vs. roots

Arabic builds words from roots of usually three consonants placed into patterns: from k-t-b come kitâb (book), kâtib (writer) and maktab (school, office). Persian builds words mostly by adding pieces: دوست (dust, friend) + ی (-i) = دوستی (dusti, friendship); کار (kâr, work) + مند (-mand) = کارمند (kârmand, employee). Persian also forms many verbs by combining a noun with a simple verb such as کردن (kardan, to do): کار کردن (kâr kardan, to work).

Plurals

Persian plurals are regular: add ها (-hâ) or ان (-ân): کتاب‌ها (ketâbhâ), books. Arabic often uses “broken” plurals that change the inside of the word. Formal Persian keeps some of these in borrowed words, such as اطلاعات (ettelâ’ât, information), but you never need them to form a plural.

For a structured start, see Persian grammar for beginners and the lesson on Persian personal pronouns.

Shared vocabulary: Arabic words in Persian

This is where the two languages truly meet. Over more than a thousand years of contact, Persian borrowed a large number of Arabic words, especially in religion, science, law, administration and formal writing. Many are everyday words today:

Listen: کتاب Listen مدرسه Listen

Three points keep this in perspective. First, the core of Persian, its pronouns, most basic verbs, numbers and grammar words, is Persian, not Arabic. Second, borrowed words were adapted to Persian sounds and grammar: they take Persian plurals, Persian endings and Persian verbs (فکر کردن, fekr kardan, to think). Third, borrowing went the other way too: classical Arabic took in Persian words, especially in trade, crafts and administration.

You may also notice that Persian speakers often have a choice between an Arabic loan and a native word, for example متشکرم (moteshakkeram) or سپاسگزارم (sepâsgozâram), both “thank you.” The native Persian word often sounds more formal or literary today.

Can Persian and Arabic speakers understand each other?

No, not in speech. Persian and Arabic are not mutually intelligible. An Arabic speaker hearing Persian will catch some borrowed words, often pronounced differently, but not the sentences. The same is true the other way around.

Reading is a little different. An Arabic reader can sound out Persian text and spot loanwords, and Iranians, who study Arabic at school and read the Qur’an in Arabic, recognize much Arabic vocabulary. Recognizing words is still a long way from understanding a language. Each needs to be learned on its own terms.

Farsi or Arabic: which should you learn?

On difficulty: the US Foreign Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, places Persian among its “hard” languages, at roughly 44 weeks of full-time study for English speakers, and Arabic in its “super-hard” group, at roughly 88 weeks. The main reasons are Arabic’s grammar and the gap between written and spoken Arabic. Persian’s challenges are the script and the difference between formal and colloquial style. For a closer look, read is Persian hard to learn?.

Common questions

Is Farsi the same as Arabic?

No. Farsi (Persian) is an Indo-European language and Arabic is a Semitic language. They share a writing system and many loanwords, but they are as different in structure as English and Hebrew.

Is Farsi easier than Arabic?

For most English speakers, yes. Persian has no grammatical gender, no case endings and regular plurals, and spoken and written Persian are much closer than spoken dialects and written Arabic. The FSI places Persian in a lower difficulty group than Arabic.

Do Iranians speak Arabic?

Iran’s official language is Persian. Iranians study Arabic at school, mainly for reading religious texts, so many recognize Arabic words, but most do not speak it. There is an Arabic-speaking minority in the southwest of Iran.

Why does Persian use the Arabic alphabet?

After the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century, Persian came to be written in the Arabic script, adapted with four extra letters for Persian sounds. Before that, Persian was written in other scripts, including cuneiform for Old Persian.

How much Arabic is in Persian?

A large share of Persian’s formal, religious and academic vocabulary comes from Arabic, while the core vocabulary and all of the grammar are Persian. Estimates vary widely depending on whether you count a dictionary or everyday speech, so treat any single percentage with caution.

If you have decided on Persian, a good next step is the Farsi level test, then a full course. The book below takes you from the alphabet to everyday conversation in 100 short lessons.

Related guides: Farsi vs Urdu · Where is Persian spoken?

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