Learn the most common Persian (Farsi) words with free flashcards: 919 everyday words in 32 themed decks, each with Persian script, transliteration, English meaning and audio. A spaced-repetition scheduler shows you each word just before you would forget it. There are also quizzes, a typing drill and a fast Match pairs game. Your progress is saved in your browser, with no sign-up.
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How to use the Persian flashcards
- Pick a deck. Start with Greetings & polite phrases, People & family or Numbers. They hold the words you will hear on day one. The green bar on each deck shows how many words you have learned. Orange means still learning.
- Study the flashcards. Look at the Persian word, say the meaning out loud, then press Space to flip. Be honest with the buttons: Again if you forgot, Hard, Good or Easy if you remembered. Each button shows when you will see the card next.
- Test yourself. Once a deck feels familiar, take the Persian → English quiz, then the harder English → Persian quiz. Then type the words, in Persian script or in transliteration.
- Play Match pairs to warm up or review quickly, and try to beat your best time.
- Come back every day. Set a daily goal (20 answers is a good start) and keep your streak going. Ten minutes a day works better than one hour on Sunday.
How spaced repetition works
We forget new words fast, but each review at the right moment makes the memory last longer. A spaced-repetition system (SRS) such as Anki keeps track of every card and schedules the next review just before you would forget it. Words you know well come back rarely. Difficult words come back soon. This tool uses the same SM-2 method as Anki:
| Button | Use it when… | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Again | You did not remember the word | The card comes back within 1–10 minutes; a learned card also gets a little harder (shorter gaps) |
| 2 Hard | You remembered, but with real effort | A slightly longer gap (about 1.2× the last one) |
| 3 Good | You remembered after a short pause | New cards: 10 minutes, then 1 day. After that, the gap grows about 2.5× each time |
| 4 Easy | You knew it instantly | A much longer gap (4 days for a new card), and the card gets easier |
A card that keeps getting Good is reviewed after about 1, 3, 8, 20 and 50 days, so a few seconds of review keep a word for months. A limit on new words per day (10 by default) stops the review pile from growing too fast. Quizzes, typing and Match pairs are extra practice: they count towards your daily goal but do not change the schedule.
How many Persian words do you need?
You do not need a huge vocabulary to start talking. A small set of very frequent words appears in most everyday sentences. These decks hold 919 of the most useful ones, chosen from the core words of our Persian dictionary and sorted by topic.
| Words you know | What you can do (roughly) |
|---|---|
| 100–200 | Greet people, say thank you, count, order tea and bread, ask کجا؟ (kojâ, “where?”) |
| 500 | Hold short, simple conversations about family, food, time and directions |
| 1,000 | Follow slow everyday conversations and easy readers |
| 2,000–3,000 | Understand most everyday speech and simple news, guessing new words from context |
The decks also include the most common compound verbs, such as کار کردن (kâr kardan, “to work”) and یاد گرفتن (yâd gereftan, “to learn”). A large part of Persian verbs are built this way, with a noun or adjective plus a light verb like کردن (kardan) or شدن (shodan).
Tips for learning Persian vocabulary
- Read the script from the start. Use the transliteration as a support, not as a crutch. If the alphabet is new to you, play the Persian alphabet game first.
- Say every word out loud. Use the 🔊 button where your device has a Persian voice, and copy the stress: most Persian nouns and adjectives are stressed on the last syllable.
- Learn verbs as whole units. Learn دوش گرفتن (dush gereftan) as “to take a shower”, not as “shower + take”. Then practise the forms with the verb drill.
- Note spoken forms. Some cards are marked “spoken”, like آره (âre, “yeah”) next to بله (bale, “yes”). You will hear both every day.
- Use the words. Write three sentences with today’s new words, or find them in a conversation lesson.
- Take your decks with you. Export a deck as TSV and import it into Anki on your phone, or print the word list and test yourself by covering one column.
Want the full list in one place? Top 1,500 Persian Words organises the essential vocabulary by topic, with transliteration, so you can keep growing beyond these flashcards.
See the bookRelated tools and lessons
- All free Persian tools
- Persian–English dictionary
- Most common Persian words, explained
- 200 most common Persian verbs
- Persian verb drill
- Persian Wordle
- Persian alphabet game
- Persian typing tutor
- Persian keyboard
- Farsi conversation lessons
FAQ
Is it really free? Do I need an account?
Yes, it is free, with no account and no ads inside the tool. Your progress, streak and best times are saved in your browser’s local storage on this device. If you clear your browser data or switch devices, the progress starts again. Use the export buttons if you want a copy of the decks.
How do I import a deck into Anki?
Open a deck, click TSV (Anki), then in Anki choose File → Import and pick the file. The file tells Anki to use tabs and three fields: Persian (front), English (back) and Transliteration. Choose the Basic note type or one with three fields. All decks TSV exports every word with a tag for its deck.
Which words are included?
919 high-frequency everyday words from the core list of our Persian dictionary, sorted into 32 topics, from greetings and family to verbs, health and travel. Each card links to its full dictionary entry, which has more meanings. A few basic words that the dictionary does not have yet, such as the numbers four, five, eight, twenty and forty, are included without a link.
Why is there no audio button?
The 🔊 button uses your device’s built-in Persian (Farsi) text-to-speech voice. Many Android phones, iPhones and Macs have one, but some computers do not. If no Persian voice is found, the button is hidden and the transliteration is always shown, so you can still study.
How should I read the transliteration?
â is the long “a” in “father”, a is short like in “cat”, e as in “bed”, o as in “go” (short), u as in “food” and i as in “machine”. kh is a throaty sound like in Scottish “loch”, gh is a soft gargled g, zh is the “s” in “measure”, and an apostrophe marks a glottal stop. In the typing drill you can write a for â and leave out the apostrophes.