Study notes for lesson 3: 18 Persian words for family members and the classroom, with pronunciation, example sentences and a short quiz.
New words for lesson 3: family and classroom
Study notes for this lesson. The lesson 3 video introduces words for the family, and the rest of the lesson puts them to work in a classroom setting with the present tense of "to be" (هستم, "I am"). On these pages you follow Leila, a student who shows her class a photo of her family, her classmate Nima, and their teacher, Mr. Rezaei.
Word list
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| خانواده | /khânevâde/ | family |
| پدر | /pedar/ | father |
| مادر | /mâdar/ | mother |
| برادر | /barâdar/ | brother |
| خواهر | /khâhar/ | sister |
| پسر | /pesar/ | boy; son |
| دختر | /dokhtar/ | girl; daughter |
| بچه | /bachche/ | child |
| معلم | /mo'allem/ | teacher |
| دانشجو | /dâneshju/ | (university) student |
| کلاس | /kelâs/ | class, classroom |
| دوست | /dust/ | friend |
| عکس | /aks/ | photo |
| این | /in/ | this |
| آن | /ân/ | that |
| بزرگ | /bozorg/ | big; older |
| کوچک | /kuchek/ | small; young |
| خوشحال | /khoshhâl/ | happy |
Notes on the words
- خواهر and خواندن are spelled with خوا, but the و is silent: say khâhar, not khvâhar.
- پسر and دختر mean both "boy, girl" and "son, daughter". پسر من (pesar-e man) is "my son".
- دانشجو is a university student. A school pupil is دانش‌آموز (dânesh-âmuz).
- In speech, کوچک usually sounds like کوچیک (kuchik), and آن like اون (un).
Example sentences
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| این خانواده‌ی من است. | /in khânevâde-ye man ast./ | This is my family. |
| این پدر من است و آن مادر من است. | /in pedar-e man ast va ân mâdar-e man ast./ | This is my father and that is my mother. |
| برادر من کوچک است. | /barâdar-e man kuchek ast./ | My brother is young. |
| خواهر من دانشجو است. | /khâhar-e man dâneshju ast./ | My sister is a university student. |
| آقای رضایی معلم ماست. | /âghâ-ye rezâyi mo'allem-e mâst./ | Mr. Rezaei is our teacher. |
| ما در کلاس خوشحال هستیم. | /mâ dar kelâs khoshhâl hastim./ | We are happy in class. |
Notice the ezâfe again: پدر من is pedar-e man. After a word ending in a vowel, the ezâfe becomes -ye, and after a silent ه it is often written with ی: خانواده‌ی من (khânevâde-ye man).
How to learn these words
Find a family photo and point to each person while you say the word aloud: این پدر من است, این خواهر من است. Then describe the people in your class or office with معلم, دانشجو and دوست. Lesson 5 adds the wider family: grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Word families
Several words in this list pair up, which makes them easier to remember. پدر and مادر rhyme, and so do برادر and مادر in their endings. این (this) and آن (that) point to people or things near you and further away: این پسر is "this boy", آن دختر is "that girl". بزرگ and کوچک are opposites; with family members they often mean older and younger rather than physical size, so خواهر بزرگ is an older sister.
Other pages in this lesson
Practice
-
What is the Persian word for "sister"?
Show answer
khâhar خواهر
-
What does this word mean? خانواده
Show answer
family (khânevâde)
-
How do you say "my father"?
Show answer
pedar-e man پدر من
-
Translate: My brother is young.
Show answer
barâdar-e man kuchek ast. برادر من کوچک است.
-
Which word means a university student?
Show answer
dâneshju دانشجو
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