I Miss You in Persian: Delam Barât Tang Shode and How to Reply
The most common way to say I miss you in Persian is دلم برات تنگ شده (delam barât tang shode), literally “my heart has become tight for you.” That is the spoken form you hear every day. In writing it becomes دلم برایت تنگ شده (delam barâyat tang shode), and the short, texting-friendly version is دلتنگتم (deltangetam).
Below you will find what each word means, how to change the phrase for “we miss you,” “she misses you” or a polite “I miss you” to an elder, how Iranians reply (including the teasing replies), what to say about missing home, and the places where English “miss” needs a completely different Persian word.
The main ways to say I miss you in Persian
| Persian | Pronunciation | English | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| دلم برات تنگ شده | delam barât tang shode | I miss you | Spoken, everyday. Friends, family, partner. The default. |
| دلم برایت تنگ شده | delam barâyat tang shode | I miss you | Written form of the same phrase: letters, cards, careful messages. |
| دلتنگتم | deltangetam | I miss you | Spoken, short and warm. Very common in texts and between partners. |
| خیلی دلم برات تنگ شده | kheyli delam barât tang shode | I miss you so much | Spoken. Add خیلی (kheyli, very) for emphasis. |
| دلم براتون تنگ شده | delam barâtun tang shode | I miss you (polite or plural) | Spoken, to an elder, a teacher, or to a whole group (“I miss you all”). |
| دلم برایتان تنگ شده | delam barâyetân tang shode | I miss you (polite or plural) | Written polite form, for example a message to a former teacher. |
| دلم برات یه ذره شده | delam barât ye zarre shode | I miss you terribly | Spoken and affectionate: “my heart has shrunk to a speck for you.” |
| دلم تنگ شده | delam tang shode | I miss (it, them, you); I feel a longing | When the person or thing is clear from context, or for a general feeling of longing. |
دلم برات تنگ شده (delam barât tang shode): the everyday phrase
If you learn one phrase, learn this one . You can say it to a friend you have not seen for a month, to your mother on the phone, or to a partner who is traveling. It is warm but not over the top, so it works in almost any close relationship.
Iranians often soften or strengthen it with a word in front: خیلی دلم برات تنگ شده (kheyli delam barât tang shode, I miss you so much) , or with a term of endearment at the end, such as دلم برات تنگ شده عزیزم (delam barât tang shode azizam, I miss you, my dear). For more words like عزیزم (azizam) and عشقم (eshgham), see our guide to how to say I love you in Persian and 30 terms of endearment.
دلتنگتم (deltangetam): the short version
دلتنگتم packs the same idea into one word. دلتنگ (deltang) is an adjective meaning “missing someone, longing,” then ـت (-et) adds “you” and ـم (-am) means “I am.” So the word is roughly “I am missing-you.” It is spoken Persian and feels a little more tender and intimate than the full phrase, which is why it is so common in text messages between partners and close friends. You will also see خیلی دلتنگتم (kheyli deltangetam, I miss you a lot).
دلم برات یه ذره شده (delam barât ye zarre shode): I miss you terribly
This one is pure spoken Persian and very affectionate . ذره (zarre) is a tiny particle, a speck, so the picture is that your heart has shrunk to almost nothing from missing someone. Grandmothers say it to grandchildren, friends say it after a long time apart. It is warm and a little playful, never formal.
What the words mean: del, tang and shode
Persian does not have a single verb for “to miss someone.” Instead it describes what happens to your heart. Here is the phrase word by word:
| Persian | Pronunciation | English | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| دل | del | heart (the emotional heart) | Used in many feeling expressions |
| دلم | delam | my heart | ـم (-am) = my |
| برات / برایت | barât / barâyat | for you | Spoken / written |
| تنگ | tang | tight, narrow | Also used for tight clothes or a narrow street |
| شده | shode | has become | From شدن (shodan, to become) |
So دلم برات تنگ شده is literally “my heart has become tight for you.” The grammar is the present perfect (“has become”), but the meaning is the present: the missing started at some point and is still going on. That is why you should not translate it word for word as “my heart became tight.” The verb is دل تنگ شدن (del tang shodan), built on shodan, the Persian verb for “to become”.
The noun is دلتنگی (deltangi), “longing, the feeling of missing someone.” You will meet it in songs and poetry all the time.
Changing who misses whom
The phrase has two moving parts. The ending on دل (del) tells you who is missing someone, and the ending on برا (barâ, for) tells you who is missed. The verb شده (shode) never changes, because grammatically it is the heart that “has become tight.” These are the same endings you learn in our lesson on Persian possessive pronouns.
| Persian (spoken) | Pronunciation | English | Written form |
|---|---|---|---|
| دلم برات تنگ شده | delam barât tang shode | I miss you | دلم برایت تنگ شده |
| دلم براش تنگ شده | delam barâsh tang shode | I miss him / her | دلم برایش تنگ شده |
| دلش برات تنگ شده | delesh barât tang shode | He / she misses you | دلش برایت تنگ شده |
| دلمون برات تنگ شده | delemun barât tang shode | We miss you | دلمان برایت تنگ شده |
| دلم براتون تنگ شده | delam barâtun tang shode | I miss you (polite or all of you) | دلم برایتان تنگ شده |
| دلت برام تنگ شده؟ | delet barâm tang shode? | Did you miss me? / Do you miss me? | دلت برایم تنگ شده؟ |
The spoken forms on this page are the ones you hear in Iran, especially in Tehran. To see more of these spoken shortenings side by side with the written forms, read spoken vs written Persian: 36 everyday differences.
Missed, will miss, and “I missed you” when you meet again
- دلم برات تنگ شده بود (delam barât tang shode bud) : “I missed you,” the thing to say when you finally see the person again. The past perfect (“had become tight”) fits because the missing ends at the moment you meet.
- دلم برات تنگ می‌شه (delam barât tang mishe) : “I’ll miss you,” said before a trip or a move. Written: دلم برایت تنگ می‌شود (delam barâyat tang mishavad).
- دلت برام تنگ نشده بود؟ (delet barâm tang nashode bud?): “Didn’t you miss me?” Often teasing.
Try it: your friend comes back from a month in Shiraz
You meet at the airport. How do you say “I missed you so much”? Say it out loud first, then check.
خیلی دلم برات تنگ شده بود (kheyli delam barât tang shode bud). Because you are now together again, the past perfect شده بود (shode bud) sounds most natural. خیلی دلم برات تنگ شده is also fine and very common.
How to reply when someone says they miss you
The simplest reply is “me too.” Persian has a few ways to say it, from plain to playful:
| Persian | Pronunciation | English | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| منم همین‌طور | manam hamintor | Me too, same here | Spoken, works with anyone. |
| منم دلم برات تنگ شده | manam delam barât tang shode | I miss you too | Spoken, the full warm answer. |
| منم دلتنگتم | manam deltangetam | I miss you too | Spoken, short; good in texts. |
| من بیشتر | man bishtar | Me more | Affectionate, between partners or close family. |
| من همین‌طور | man hamintor | So do I | A slightly more neutral version. |
منم (manam) is the spoken shortening of من هم (man ham, me too) . With an elder, a warm reply like منم دلم براتون تنگ شده (manam delam barâtun tang shode, I miss you too) keeps the polite ـتون (-tun) ending.
Teasing and joke replies
Between friends, “I miss you” often gets a cheeky answer, especially if the person who says it has not called in a while. These are all spoken and friendly, not rude, when said with a smile:
- آره جون خودت (âre jun-e khodet) : “Yeah, right.” Literally “yes, by your own life.”
- پس چرا زنگ نمی‌زنی؟ (pas cherâ zang nemizani?): “Then why don’t you call?”
- کم‌پیدایی (kam-peydâyi) : “You’re hard to find,” a gentle complaint that someone has not been around. Iranians say it as a way of saying “we missed you.”
- چه عجب، از این طرفا (che ajab, az in tarafâ): “Well, look who’s here,” when someone finally shows up or calls.
Other ways to say “we missed you”
جات خالیه (jât khâliye): your place is empty
This is one of the most useful phrases in this post . When you are at a meal, a party or a trip and a friend is not there, you text them جات خالیه (jât khâliye), “your place is empty,” meaning “we wish you were here.” Afterward you tell them جات خالی بود (jât khâli bud), “you were missed.” The written form is جایت خالی است (jâyat khâli ast). With the polite plural it is جاتون خالیه (jâtun khâliye).
It is a classic part of Persian politeness. If someone sends you a photo of a delicious قورمه‌سبزی (ghorme sabzi) dinner with جات خالی, a natural reply is simply نوش جان (nush-e jân, enjoy it). For more phrases in this spirit, see taarof: Persian politeness explained.
Missing home, family and Iran
The same دلم برای … تنگ شده pattern works for anything you miss. Before a noun, برا (barâ) becomes برای (barâ-ye, for), linked with the ezâfe:
- دلم برای مامانم تنگ شده (delam barâ-ye mâmânam tang shode): I miss my mom.
- دلم برای خانواده‌ام تنگ شده (delam barâ-ye khânevâde-am tang shode): I miss my family.
- دلم برای ایران تنگ شده (delam barâ-ye irân tang shode) : I miss Iran.
- دلم برای غذای مامانم تنگ شده (delam barâ-ye ghazâ-ye mâmânam tang shode): I miss my mom’s cooking.
Want to talk about more relatives? Our list of family members in Persian has every word you need.
For homesickness itself, Persian has a special word: غربت (ghorbat), the state of living far from home. غم غربت (gham-e ghorbat) , “the sorrow of being away from home,” is the closest thing to “homesickness,” and it is a common theme in songs of the Iranian diaspora.
Be careful not to mix up دلم تنگ شده (delam tang shode, I miss someone) with دلم گرفته (delam gerefte) , which means “I feel down, I’m sad,” with no one in particular being missed.
A line of poetry about separation
Persian literature is full of longing. The best known example is the opening of Rumi’s Masnavi, where a reed flute cut from its reed bed cries for home:
بشنو این نی چون شکایت می‌کند / از جدایی‌ها حکایت می‌کند
(beshno in ney chon shekâyat mikonad / az jodâyi-hâ hekâyat mikonad)
“Listen to this reed, how it complains, telling the story of separations.”
Which phrase fits your situation?
دلتنگتم عزیزم (deltangetam azizam, I miss you, my dear) or خیلی دلم برات تنگ شده (kheyli delam barât tang shode). If they say it first, answer من بیشتر (man bishtar, me more).
دلم برات تنگ شده (delam barât tang shode), or for a long absence دلم برات یه ذره شده (delam barât ye zarre shode).
Use the polite ـتون ending: دلم براتون تنگ شده (delam barâtun tang shode). In a written message: دلم برایتان تنگ شده (delam barâyetân tang shode).
جات خالی بود (jât khâli bud, you were missed). During the party, text them جات خالیه (jât khâliye).
Careful: when English “miss” is not دلتنگی
English uses “miss” for longing and also for failing to catch or attend something. Persian uses completely different words for the second meaning. Never use دلم تنگ شده for these:
| Persian | Pronunciation | English | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| اتوبوس رو از دست دادم | otobus ro az dast dâdam | I missed the bus | Spoken. از دست دادن (az dast dâdan) = to miss, to lose (a chance, a bus, a flight). |
| این فرصت رو از دست نده | in forsat ro az dast nade | Don’t miss this chance | Spoken. |
| جات خالی بود | jât khâli bud | You missed it (we missed you there) | When someone missed a gathering. |
When you are not sure which Persian word matches an English one, look it up in our online Persian dictionary.
I miss you in texts and Finglish
Many Iranians text in Finglish, Persian written with English letters, so you will see “delam barat tang shode,” “deltangetam” or “delam barat ye zare shode.” Spelling varies a lot, which is normal. A typical exchange looks like this:
- A: سلام، دلم برات تنگ شده (salâm, delam barât tang shode). Hi, I miss you.
- B: منم همین‌طور. کی برمی‌گردی؟ (manam hamintor. key barmigardi?) Me too. When are you coming back?
- A: هفته‌ی بعد (hafte-ye bad). Next week.
- B: زود برگرد. مراقب خودت باش (zud bargard. morâgheb-e khodet bâsh). Come back soon. Take care of yourself.
To write it in Persian script instead, type it with the online Persian keyboard, or paste your Finglish into the Finglish to Persian converter. “I miss you” often travels together with دوستت دارم (dustet dâram, I love you) : دلم برات تنگ شده، دوستت دارم.
Flashcards: tap to flip
I miss you (spoken)
I miss you (short, spoken)
I miss you (polite / all of you)
I miss you terribly
me too
me more
we wish you were here
I’ll miss you
Practice: choose the right word
“I miss you” to a close friend: دلم برات شدهدلم برات تنگ شده (delam barât tang shode), “my heart has become tight for you.”
“We miss you”: برات تنگ شدهدلمون (delemun) = our heart, so “we miss you.”
Polite “I miss you” to your old teacher: دلم تنگ شدهبراتون (barâtun) is the polite or plural “for you.”
Your friend says دلم برات تنگ شده. You answer “me too”: منم همین‌طور (manam hamintor) = me too, same here.
You are at a picnic and your friend could not come. You text: جات خالیه (jât khâliye), “your place is empty,” means “we wish you were here.”
“I missed the bus”: اتوبوس رو For missing a bus or a chance, use از دست دادن (az dast dâdan), not دل تنگ شدن.
Your partner is leaving tomorrow. “I’ll miss you”: دلم برات تنگ دلم برات تنگ می‌شه (delam barât tang mishe) = I’ll miss you.
Learn more phrases for close relationships
“I miss you” is usually part of a longer conversation: a greeting, a “how are you,” news about the family, a goodbye. Our page of common Persian greeting phrases and the guide to how are you in Persian cover the rest of that phone call. If you want hundreds of everyday sentences like these with their spoken forms, the book Farsi Conversations: Learn the Most Common Words and Phrases is organized around real conversations.
Quick quiz: I miss you in Persian
1. What does دلم برات تنگ شده literally mean?
- My heart is empty without you
- My heart has become tight for you
- My heart is burning for you
- I lost my heart to you
Why
دل = heart, تنگ = tight, شده = has become: “my heart has become tight for you.”
2. Which is the written form of “I miss you”?
- دلم برات تنگ شده
- دلتنگتم
- دلم برایت تنگ شده
- دلم برات یه ذره شده
Why
برایت (barâyat) is the written form of spoken برات (barât).
3. How do you say “she misses you”?
- دلش برات تنگ شده
- دلم براش تنگ شده
- دلت برام تنگ شده
- دلمون براش تنگ شده
Why
The ending on دل shows who misses: دلش (delesh) = her heart. دلم براش تنگ شده means “I miss her.”
4. Which reply means “me more”?
- منم همین‌طور
- آره جون خودت
- کم‌پیدایی
- من بیشتر
Why
من بیشتر (man bishtar) = me more. منم همین‌طور is “me too.”
5. A friend could not come to dinner. What do you text them during the meal?
- دلم گرفته
- جات خالیه
- از دست دادم
- من بیشتر
Why
جات خالیه (jât khâliye), “your place is empty,” means “we wish you were here.”
6. What does دلم گرفته (delam gerefte) mean?
- I miss you
- I’ll miss you
- I feel down, I’m sad
- I missed the bus
Why
دلم گرفته is a general sad or gloomy feeling, not missing a person.
7. You see a friend after a long trip. Which sounds most natural for “I missed you”?
- دلم برات تنگ شده بود
- دلم برات تنگ می‌شه
- اتوبوس رو از دست دادم
- دلم براتون گرفته
Why
The past perfect شده بود fits because the missing ends when you meet. تنگ می‌شه is “I’ll miss you.”
8. Which phrase is the polite “I miss you” for an elder?
- دلتنگتم
- دلم براتون تنگ شده
- دلم برات یه ذره شده
- دلت برام تنگ شده
Why
براتون (barâtun) uses the polite plural “you.”
Common questions
How do you say I miss you in Farsi?
Say دلم برات تنگ شده (delam barât tang shode) in everyday speech, or the shorter دلتنگتم (deltangetam). In writing, use دلم برایت تنگ شده (delam barâyat tang shode). Farsi and Persian are the same language, so these are identical.
What does delam barat tang shode mean?
It means “I miss you.” Word for word it is “my heart has become tight for you”: دلم (my heart), برات (for you), تنگ (tight), شده (has become).
What is the difference between deltangetam and delam barat tang shode?
They mean the same thing. دلتنگتم (deltangetam) is one short spoken word and feels a little more intimate, so it is especially common between partners and in texts. دلم برات تنگ شده is the full phrase and fits any close relationship.
How do you reply to I miss you in Persian?
Say منم همین‌طور (manam hamintor, me too), منم دلم برات تنگ شده (manam delam barât tang shode, I miss you too), or, between partners, من بیشتر (man bishtar, me more).
How do you say I miss you so much in Persian?
Add خیلی (kheyli, very): خیلی دلم برات تنگ شده (kheyli delam barât tang shode). For an even stronger, affectionate version say دلم برات یه ذره شده (delam barât ye zarre shode).
How do you say I miss my family in Persian?
دلم برای خانواده‌ام تنگ شده (delam barâ-ye khânevâde-am tang shode). Swap in any person or place: دلم برای ایران تنگ شده (delam barâ-ye irân tang shode) means “I miss Iran.”
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