Read a short beginner Persian travel story in the simple past, with sentence-by-sentence translation, key words and a short quiz.
Reading: Neda's trip to Isfahan
Study notes for this lesson. Neda's trip to Isfahan is told here in standard written Persian. Almost every verb is in the simple past, so this is a good text for spotting past stems. Read it once for the story, then go through it sentence by sentence.
Reading text
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| هفته‌ی پیش ندا با خواهرش به اصفهان سفر کرد. | /hafte-ye pish nedâ bâ khâharash be esfahân safar kard./ | Last week Neda traveled to Isfahan with her sister. |
| آن‌ها از تهران با قطار رفتند. | /ânhâ az tehrân bâ ghatâr raftand./ | They went from Tehran by train. |
| قطار ساعت هشت صبح حرکت کرد. | /ghatâr sâ'at-e hasht-e sobh harekat kard./ | The train left at eight in the morning. |
| آن‌ها ظهر به اصفهان رسیدند. | /ânhâ zohr be esfahân residand./ | They arrived in Isfahan at noon. |
| اول به هتل رفتند و ناهار خوردند. | /avval be hotel raftand va nâhâr khordand./ | First they went to the hotel and had lunch. |
| بعد از ظهر میدان نقش جهان را دیدند. | /ba'd az zohr meydân-e naghsh-e jahân râ didand./ | In the afternoon they saw Naqsh-e Jahan Square. |
| میدان خیلی بزرگ و زیبا بود. | /meydân kheyli bozorg va zibâ bud./ | The square was very big and beautiful. |
| ندا آنجا عکس‌های زیادی گرفت. | /nedâ ânjâ aks-hâ-ye ziyâdi gereft./ | Neda took a lot of photos there. |
| شب کنار سی‌وسه‌پل قدم زدند. | /shab kenâr-e si-o-se pol ghadam zadand./ | In the evening they walked by the Si-o-se Pol bridge. |
| خواهر ندا یک نقشه‌ی شهر خرید. | /khâhar-e nedâ yek naghshe-ye shahr kharid./ | Neda's sister bought a map of the city. |
| آن‌ها سه روز در اصفهان ماندند و با اتوبوس برگشتند. | /ânhâ se ruz dar esfahân mândand va bâ otobus bargashtand./ | They stayed in Isfahan for three days and came back by bus. |
| ندا می‌گوید: «سفر خیلی خوبی بود.» | /nedâ miguyad: "safar-e kheyli khubi bud."/ | Neda says, "It was a really good trip." |
Key words
- هفته‌ی پیش (hafte-ye pish): last week
- ظهر (zohr): noon; بعد از ظهر (ba'd az zohr): afternoon
- اول (avval): first
- میدان (meydân): square (in a city)
- زیبا (zibâ): beautiful
- کنار (kenâr): beside, by
- پل (pol): bridge
- قدم زدن (ghadam zadan): to take a walk, stroll
- نقشه‌ی شهر (naghshe-ye shahr): city map
Grammar in the text
- Find the past stems: کرد, رفت, رسید, خورد, دید, بود, گرفت, زد, خرید, ماند, برگشت. Each comes from an infinitive without ـن.
- With one person as subject, the verb has no ending: ندا … گرفت, "Neda took". With آن‌ها, it takes ـند: رفتند, رسیدند.
- The last sentence switches to the present, می‌گوید, "says", because Neda is talking about the trip now.
- سفر خیلی خوبی بود: the ezâfe plus final ی (-i) gives "a really good trip".
In spoken Persian, Neda would tell the same story more like this: هفته‌ی پیش با خواهرم رفتیم اصفهان. با قطار رفتیم و ظهر رسیدیم. سه روز موندیم. (hafte-ye pish bâ khâharam raftim esfahân. bâ ghatâr raftim va zohr residim. se ruz mundim.) Compare it with the written text: the destination moves after the verb, and ماندیم becomes موندیم.
Writing task: write six sentences in the simple past about a trip you took. Say where you went, who you went with, how you traveled, what you saw, how long you stayed and how you came back.
Other parts of Lesson 11
Practice
-
When did Neda travel to Isfahan?
Show answer
Last week. هفته‌ی پیش
-
What time did the train leave?
Show answer
At eight in the morning. ساعت هشت صبح
-
What did they do first in Isfahan?
Show answer
They went to the hotel and had lunch. به هتل رفتند و ناهار خوردند.
-
What did Neda's sister buy?
Show answer
A map of the city. یک نقشه‌ی شهر
-
How did they return?
Show answer
By bus. با اتوبوس
Previous lesson: Lesson 10: Reading. Next lesson: Lesson 12: New Words.
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