How Much in Persian: Asking Prices, Tomans and Bargaining

To ask “how much is it?” in Persian, say چنده؟ (chande?), the everyday spoken form of چند است؟ (chand ast?). Point at something and say این چنده؟ (in chande?, how much is this?), or ask قیمتش چنده؟ (gheymatesh chande?, what’s its price?). At the till, the question is چقدر شد؟ (cheghadr shod?, how much does it come to?). The answer will almost always be in tomans.

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Knowing the question is only half the job. You also need to understand the answer, which in Iran means knowing the difference between rials and tomans, the habit of leaving off “thousand”, and the polite little dance a shopkeeper may start with قابل نداره (ghâbel nadâre). Below you will find all the ways to ask a price, from the bazaar to a formal shop, how to say and hear prices, how to bargain and when not to, how to pay, and two full shopping dialogues. Spoken forms (the way people in Tehran actually talk) are marked as spoken; written forms are what you see on signs and in books.

Five ways to ask “how much?”

Persian has two question words for “how much”: چند (chand) and چقدر (cheghadr). For prices, both work, and Iranians use both all day. چند is the classic price word; چقدر literally means “how much (amount)” and is common when asking for a total.

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Why it’s “chande” and not “chand ast”

In spoken Persian, است (ast, is) shrinks to a short -e attached to the word before it. So چند است (chand ast) becomes چنده (chande), just as خوب است (khub ast) becomes خوبه (khube). That is the “e” in “in chande?”. If you want to know more about this, see our guide to “to be” in Persian.

The same happens with “it will become”: written می‌شود (mishavad) is spoken می‌شه (mishe). And شد (shod, it became) in چقدر شد؟ is the past tense: “how much did it become?” Persian uses the past here because the total is already added up.

Asking about price per kilo, per item, per night

Add the unit with the suffix -i (“per”) and the same question works for anything sold by weight or piece. This is how you will hear prices at a fruit stand or a hotel desk.

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Chand or cheghadr: one grammar note

Outside of prices, the two words split. چند (chand) asks about a countable number and is followed by a singular noun, often with تا (tâ): چند تا سیب می‌خواید؟ (chand tâ sib mikhâyd?, how many apples do you want?). چقدر (cheghadr) asks about an amount or degree: چقدر پول داری؟ (cheghadr pul dâri?, how much money do you have?). For a price, both are correct. More question words are in our post on Persian question words.

Understanding the answer: tomans and rials

This is the part that confuses every visitor. Iran’s official currency is the ریال (riâl, rial). But in conversation, almost nobody counts in rials. People count in تومان (tomân, toman), and one toman is ten rials. So when a shopkeeper says “fifty thousand”, he means 50,000 tomans, which is 500,000 rials.

The quick conversion: to turn rials into tomans, drop one zero. 1,000,000 rials is 100,000 tomans. If you are ever unsure which unit you are hearing, ask: تومن یا ریال؟ (tomen yâ riâl?, tomans or rials?). Nobody will find the question strange; Iranians ask it too.

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In speech, تومان is usually shortened to تومن (tomen). Iran has also had plans for years to take zeros off the rial, so new notes may change what you see printed. The way people talk is very likely to stay in tomans for a long time, so learn to listen for the spoken amount and check the unit when it matters. We don’t give an exchange rate here: it changes too often to be useful in an article.

The missing “thousand”

Because almost every price is in the thousands, Iranians often leave the word هزار (hezâr, thousand) out. A fruit seller who says سی تومن (si tomen, “thirty tomans”) means 30,000 tomans. For large items people may even drop “million”: in a conversation about a phone or a month’s rent, بیست تومن (bist tomen) can mean 20 million. Context tells you which, and when it doesn’t, it is perfectly normal to ask: سی هزار؟ (si hezâr?, thirty thousand?).

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Numbers you need for prices

You can’t understand a price without numbers, and prices use a fairly small set of them. Learn the tens, the hundreds and the word for thousand, and you can follow most prices in a shop. Numbers are joined with و, pronounced -o: 250 is دویست و پنجاه (devist-o panjâh). For the full system from 1 to 1,000, see Persian numbers 1 to 1,000, and if a printed price uses Persian digits, the Persian number converter will read it for you.

A few real-looking prices, said the way you will hear them:

• 15,000 tomans: پونزده هزار تومن (punzdah hezâr tomen), spoken; written پانزده (pânzdah)
• 120,000 tomans: صد و بیست هزار تومن (sad-o bist hezâr tomen)
• 250,000 tomans: دویست و پنجاه هزار تومن (devist-o panjâh hezâr tomen)
• 1,500,000 tomans: یه میلیون و پونصد هزار تومن (ye milyun-o punsad hezâr tomen), spoken

Listen

Persian digits look different from Western ones: ۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹. A tag reading ۲۵۰٬۰۰۰ is 250,000. Most price tags in cities show Persian digits, so it is worth learning the ten shapes. Test yourself with the Persian numbers quiz.

Cheap, expensive and asking for a discount

Once you know the price, you will want to react to it. These are the words you need, with the spoken forms you will actually hear in a shop.

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The word تخفیف (takhfif, discount) is worth knowing well; it also appears in تخفیف دادن (takhfif dâdan, to give a discount), covered in our takhfif dâdan vocabulary lesson.

How to bargain in Persian (and when not to)

Bargaining is called چانه زدن (châne zadan), spoken چونه زدن (chune zadan). It is normal in bazaars, at carpet and handicraft shops, at street stalls and in some small independent shops. It is not normal in supermarkets, chain stores, pharmacies, restaurants or anywhere with printed prices on every item. If you see قیمت مقطوع, the price is fixed.

Where bargaining is expected, it is friendly, not a fight. A typical exchange goes like this:

1. Ask the price: آقا، این چنده؟ (âghâ, in chande?, Sir, how much is this?). Address a man as آقا (âghâ) and a woman as خانم (khânom).
2. React, gently: یه کم گرونه. (ye kam gerune, it’s a bit expensive).
3. Ask for a better price: کمتر نمی‌شه؟ (kamtar nemishe?) or تخفیف می‌دید؟ (takhfif midid?).
4. Make an offer: صد هزار تومن می‌دم. (sad hezâr tomen midam, I’ll give 100,000 tomans). Spoken; written می‌دهم (midaham).
5. Close the deal: باشه، برمی‌دارم. (bâshe, barmidâram, OK, I’ll take it), spoken. Or walk away politely: ممنون، یه کم فکر می‌کنم. (mamnun, ye kam fekr mikonam, thanks, I’ll think about it a bit).

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A few practical tips. Be polite and smile; a seller who likes you will come down further than one who feels insulted. Only make an offer you would actually pay, because agreeing to a price and then backing out is rude. Look at several shops first, especially in a large market like the Tehran Bazaar. And if you are only browsing, say so: فقط دارم نگاه می‌کنم. (faghat dâram negâh mikonam, I’m just looking).

“Ghâbel nadâre”: when the shopkeeper refuses your money

Sooner or later you will ask چقدر شد؟ and the shopkeeper or taxi driver will answer قابل نداره (ghâbel nadâre), spoken for قابل ندارد (ghâbel nadârad). Literally it means “it isn’t worthy (of you)”, in other words “don’t worry about it, it’s nothing”. This is تعارف (ta’ârof), the Persian etiquette of polite offers and refusals. It almost never means the item is free.

Listen

The right response is to insist, kindly, until the real price comes out. Usually one or two rounds are enough:

A taxi driver may say مهمون ما باشید (mehmun-e mâ bâshid, be our guest), spoken. The answer is the same: thank him and insist on paying. If you want to understand the whole system, read our guide to taarof and Persian politeness.

Paying: card, cash and change

In Iranian cities, most people pay by bank card, even for small amounts, using a card machine at the counter. Foreign cards such as Visa and Mastercard do not work in Iran, so visitors either carry cash or use a local prepaid card. Here are the phrases for the moment of paying.

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For more money words, such as bank, account and exchange, see money and banking words in Persian.

What the shopkeeper says to you

Understanding the other side of the counter matters as much as speaking. These are the lines you are most likely to hear.

• بفرمایید (befarmâyid): “Please, go ahead / here you are / how can I help?” The all-purpose polite word.
• چی لازم دارید؟ (chi lâzem dârid?): “What do you need?”
• امر دیگه‌ای ندارید؟ (amr-e dige-i nadârid?): “Anything else?” Spoken; literally “no other command?”
• قابل نداره (ghâbel nadâre): “It’s nothing”, the taarof opening (see above).
• مبارکتون باشه (mobâraketun bâshe): “Enjoy it”, said when you buy something new, especially clothes. Spoken.

Listen

Two complete shopping dialogues

At a handicraft shop in the bazaar

Notice that the seller dropped “thousand” in “280” and so did you. Notice too that قابل شما رو نداره here closes a deal; it is not an offer of a free plate.

At a fruit stand

For more practice, our conversation lesson shopping for a camera walks through a longer exchange, and the shopping vocabulary list gives you the names of shops and things to buy.

Common mistakes learners make

• Taking قابل نداره literally. Walking off without paying after a shopkeeper says it is a serious faux pas. Insist at least once.
• Mixing up rials and tomans. If a number sounds ten times too high or too low, it probably is. Ask تومن یا ریال؟.
• Using the book form in a shop. قیمت این چند است؟ is correct but sounds like reading aloud. این چنده؟ or قیمتش چنده؟ sounds natural.
• Bargaining everywhere. Haggling in a supermarket or a restaurant will get you a puzzled look. Save it for bazaars and stalls.
• Forgetting the missing “thousand”. پنجاه تومن in a shop is 50,000 tomans, not 50.

The Easy Persian Phrasebook collects shopping, travel and everyday expressions in one place.

Common questions

How do you say “how much” in Persian?

“How much” is چقدر (cheghadr) or چند (chand). For a price, the everyday question is چنده؟ (chande?, how much is it?) or این چنده؟ (in chande?, how much is this?). چقدر is also used for amounts in general, as in چقدر پول داری؟ (cheghadr pul dâri?, how much money do you have?).

What does “chande” mean in Persian?

چنده (chande) is the spoken form of چند است (chand ast) and means “how much is it?” The final -e is the shortened spoken form of است (ast, is). You will hear it in every shop in Iran.

Do Iranians use tomans or rials?

Both, in different places. The official currency is the rial, and banknotes, card machines and bank receipts show rials. But people almost always speak in tomans, where one toman equals ten rials. Many price tags and menus also use tomans. If you are not sure, ask تومن یا ریال؟ (tomen yâ riâl?).

How do you say “too expensive” in Farsi?

Say خیلی گرونه (kheyli gerune, it’s very expensive) in conversation; the written form is خیلی گران است (kheyli gerân ast). A softer version is یه کم گرونه (ye kam gerune, it’s a bit expensive), which is a good opening when you want to bargain.

How do you ask for a discount in Persian?

Ask تخفیف می‌دید؟ (takhfif midid?, will you give a discount?) or کمتر نمی‌شه؟ (kamtar nemishe?, can’t it be less?). To ask for the seller’s final price, say آخرش چنده؟ (âkharesh chande?). Bargaining is normal in bazaars and small shops, not in supermarkets.

What does “ghabel nadare” mean?

قابل نداره (ghâbel nadâre) means “it isn’t worthy of you”, a taarof phrase a shopkeeper or taxi driver may say instead of naming the price. It is a courtesy, not a real offer: thank them and insist politely, and they will tell you the price.

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