Thirty questions, six at each level from A1 to C1, show how far your Persian goes: reading the script, everyday words, verb forms, the ezâfe, the subjunctive, conditionals, the passive, idioms and formal register. Your result is the highest level where you get at least four of six right without skipping a level.
This Farsi level test is a quick self-check, not an official certificate or exam. It uses the CEFR scale that language schools use: A1 and A2 are beginner levels, B1 and B2 intermediate, and C1 advanced. A written test cannot measure speaking or listening, so treat your result as a guide to what to study next, not as a final grade.
Answer without a dictionary and skip guessing when you really don’t know: a lucky guess places you too high. The questions use standard written Iranian Persian, the form found in books and the news, while explanations also point out spoken forms such as می‌رم (miram) for می‌روم (miravam, I go). Each answer comes with a transliteration and a short rule, so the test also teaches.
Take the test in one sitting and stop thinking of the score: an honest result points you to the right lessons.
Beginner
1. Which word is spelled pedar (father)?
2. Which word is read dust (friend)?
3. What does خانه mean?
4. Which word is the number 5?
5. Complete the sentence: من دانشجو ____. (I am a student.)
6. What does «اسم شما چیست؟» mean?
Elementary
7. Complete the sentence: من هر روز ساعت هفت ____. (I wake up at seven every day.)
8. Complete the sentence: دیروز ما به پارک ____. (Yesterday we went to the park.)
9. Which is the correct way to say “red car”?
10. What does نمی‌دانم mean?
11. Complete the sentence: کتاب ____ روی میز گذاشتم. (I put the book on the table.)
12. «علی دو برادر و یک خواهر دارد.» How many brothers and sisters does Ali have in total?
Intermediate
13. Complete the sentence: شاید فردا باران ____. (Maybe it will rain tomorrow.)
14. Which sentence is in the future tense?
15. What does «تا حالا به ایران رفته‌ای؟» mean?
16. Which phrase correctly writes “Iranian student” (dâneshju-ye irâni)?
17. Complete the sentence: مردی ____ دیروز دیدم، معلم است. (The man whom I saw yesterday is a teacher.)
18. «مریم هر روز با اتوبوس سر کار می‌رود. امروز اتوبوس نیامد، پس پیاده رفت و دیر رسید.» Why was Maryam late today?
Upper intermediate
19. Complete the sentence: وقتی به ایستگاه رسیدم، قطار ____. (When I got to the station, the train had left.)
20. Complete the passive sentence: این خانه در سال ۱۳۵۰ ساخته ____. (This house was built in 1350.)
21. Complete the sentence: ____ خسته بود، تا نیمه‌شب کار کرد. (Although he was tired, he worked until midnight.)
22. Complete the sentence: اگر زودتر آمده بودی، او را ____. (If you had come earlier, you would have seen him.)
23. What does «کاش زودتر به من گفته بودی» mean?
24. In spoken Persian you hear «علی می‌گه فردا میاد» (Ali mige fardâ miâd). What is the written form of می‌گه?
Advanced
25. You are speaking politely to your professor. Which verb replaces گفتید (you said)?
26. Which phrase is typical of official letters and means “it is requested that…”?
27. A news report begins «به گزارش خبرگزاری ایرنا، …». What does به گزارش mean here?
28. What does «سنگ تمام گذاشتن» mean?
29. What does «کار از کار گذشته است» mean?
30. What does مگر express in «مگر نگفتم دیر نکن؟»
Answer key with explanations
- B. پدر: پدر (pedar, father) is پ (p) + د (d) + ر (r); the short vowel e is not written. برادر is barâdar (brother), دختر is dokhtar (girl, daughter) and پسر is pesar (boy, son).
- B. دوست: In دوست (dust, friend) the letter و stands for the long vowel u. Without و, the short vowel is not written: دست is dast (hand), درست is dorost (correct) and دشت is dasht (plain).
- A. house, home: خانه (khâne) means house or home. Water is آب (âb), school is مدرسه (madrese) and street is خیابان (khiâbân).
- A. پنج: پنج (panj) is 5, written ۵ in Persian digits. سه (se) is 3, هشت (hasht) is 8 and ده (dah) is 10.
- B. هستم: With من (man, I) the verb “to be” is هستم (hastam). هستی goes with تو (you), هستند with آنها (they) and است with او (he/she).
- D. What is your name?: اسم (esm) is name and چیست (chist) is “what is”: esm-e shomâ chist? In everyday speech you will hear اسمتون چیه؟ (esmetun chie?). “Where are you from?” is اهل کجا هستید؟ (ahl-e kojâ hastid?).
- B. بیدار می‌شوم: Habits use the present tense: بیدار می‌شوم (bidâr mishavam, I wake up), with می + present stem شو + ـم. بیدار شدم is past (“I woke up”), بیدار می‌شوند means “they wake up”, and بیدار بشوم is the subjunctive.
- C. رفتیم: دیروز (diruz, yesterday) needs the simple past: past stem رفت + ـیم (we) = رفتیم (raftim). رفتند (raftand) is “they went” and does not match ما (we).
- C. ماشین قرمز: In Persian the adjective follows the noun and is joined by the ezâfe vowel -e: ماشین قرمز (mâshin-e ghermez). Putting the adjective first, as in English, is wrong.
- A. I don’t know.: نمی makes a present verb negative: می‌دانم (midânam, I know) becomes نمی‌دانم (nemidânam, I don’t know). “I didn’t know” is نمی‌دانستم (nemidânestam).
- B. را: را (râ) follows a specific direct object: کتاب را گذاشتم (ketâb râ gozâshtam, I put the book). به means “to”, از “from” and با “with”, and none of them marks an object.
- A. Three: دو برادر (do barâdar) is two brothers and یک خواهر (yek khâhar) is one sister, so three in total. Note that after a number the noun stays singular: دو برادر, not دو برادرها.
- C. بیاید: شاید (shâyad, maybe) is followed by the subjunctive: بیاید (biâyad). Persian says rain “comes”: باران می‌آید (bârân miâyad, it is raining).
- B. فردا به دوستم زنگ خواهم زد.: The formal future is خواستن + past stem: خواهم زد (khâham zad, I will call), from زنگ زدن (zang zadan, to phone). In speech, the present tense with a time word is more common: فردا زنگ می‌زنم (fardâ zang mizanam).
- C. Have you ever been to Iran?: رفته‌ای (rafte-i) is the present perfect (past participle رفته + ـای), and تا حالا (tâ hâlâ) means “until now, ever”. “Do you want to go?” would be می‌خواهی بروی؟ (mikhâhi beravi?).
- A. دانشجوی ایرانی: After a final vowel â or u, the ezâfe is pronounced -ye and written with ی: دانشجوی ایرانی (dâneshju-ye irâni), like آقای رضایی (âghâ-ye rezâyi). After a consonant it is an unwritten -e: کتاب خوب (ketâb-e khub).
- C. که: که (ke) introduces a relative clause, and the noun before it often takes ی: مردی که دیدم (mardi ke didam, the man that I saw). چون means “because”, اگر “if” and تا “until, so that”.
- D. The bus didn’t come, so she walked.: نیامد (nayâmad) means “didn’t come”, پیاده رفت (piâde raft) “she went on foot” and دیر رسید (dir resid) “she arrived late”. سر کار (sar-e kâr) means “to work”.
- D. رفته بود: An action finished before another past action takes the past perfect: past participle + بود, so رفته بود (rafte bud, had left). The other options are subjunctive, present and future.
- C. شد: The passive is past participle + شدن: ساخته شد (sâkhte shod, was built). The year ۱۳۵۰ in the Iranian solar calendar began in March 1971.
- D. با اینکه: با اینکه (bâ inke) means “although, even though”, which fits the contrast. چون (chon, because) and برای اینکه (barâ-ye inke, in order to / because) give the wrong logic.
- A. می‌دیدی: In an unreal past condition, the if-clause takes the past perfect (آمده بودی, âmade budi) and the result clause usually takes the past continuous: می‌دیدی (mididi).
- A. I wish you had told me sooner.: کاش (kâsh, I wish) + past perfect expresses regret about the past: گفته بودی (gofte budi, you had told). کاش + past continuous is a wish about now: کاش اینجا بودی (kâsh injâ budi, I wish you were here).
- A. می‌گوید: Colloquial Tehran Persian shortens many verbs: می‌گه (mige) is written می‌گوید (miguyad, he/she says), and میاد (miâd) is می‌آید (miâyad, he/she comes). See spoken vs written Persian.
- A. فرمودید: فرمودید (farmudid) is the respectful verb for another person’s speech. It is never used about yourself, so فرمودم is wrong; for yourself, the humble form is عرض کردم (arz kardam, I said).
- A. خواهشمند است: خواهشمند است (khâheshmand ast) belongs to formal written Persian, as in خواهشمند است دستور فرمایید (please kindly order…). بی‌زحمت (bi-zahmat, if it’s no trouble) is everyday spoken politeness, and the other two are informal.
- B. according to (the report of): به گزارش (be gozâresh-e) literally “by the report of” is the standard way news Persian cites a source: be gozâresh-e khabargozâri-ye irnâ, according to the IRNA news agency.
- C. to do something to the fullest, sparing no effort: سنگ تمام گذاشتن (sang-e tamâm gozâshtan) means to go all out: برای مهمان‌ها سنگ تمام گذاشت (barâ-ye mehmânhâ sang-e tamâm gozâsht, he spared no effort for the guests).
- D. It is too late; nothing can be done now.: کار از کار گذشته است (kâr az kâr gozashte ast) means the chance to fix something has passed: it is too late. Find more like it in Persian idioms and proverbs.
- B. A reproach: Didn’t I tell you not to be late?: In a question, مگر (magar) adds surprise or reproach and expects the answer “yes, you did”: magar nagoftam dir nakon? In مگر اینکه (magar inke) it means “unless”.
How to use your Farsi level result
Look at the section where you first missed two or more questions: that is your study zone. If you placed at A1 or A2, a daily routine of script practice, core verbs and short dialogues works better than long weekly sessions. From B1 upward, most progress comes from reading real Persian: short texts at first, then news and literature. Retake the test after a month of steady study to see the change.