Persian Grammar

Farsi Vowels


Farsi language has six simple vowels, three short vowels and three long vowels. Farsi words cannot be pronounced without these vowels. Remember that these are not letters. These sounds are used to make the letters pronounceable.

Short vowels:
1- short vowel ــَـــ a as in English “a” in “that”
2- Short vowel ــِـــ e as in English “e” in “men”
3- Short vowel ــُـــ o as in English “o” in “code”

Short vowels are written with other letters, above or below them to make them pronounceable.
مَردُم (People)  /mardom/

Short vowels sometimes are written at elementary stages of learning to help learners understand the sound of Farsi words.

Long vowels:

1- Long vowel    آ    â as in English “a” in “car”
2- Long vowel    ای   i as in English “i” in “fit”
3- Long vowel    او     u as in English “oo” in “foot”

Three letters of آ – ای – او are used for writing three long vowels:
آن /ân/
این /in/
اوست /ust/


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