A large share of Persian vocabulary comes from Arabic, and most of those words are built from a three-letter root plus a fixed pattern: ک ت ب “writing” gives کتاب (book), کاتب (writer) and مکتب (school). Type any word below to see its whole family, or browse 129 roots, 679 words and 35 patterns and play three games.
Type in Persian script, Finglish (ketab, moallem) or English (book). Plurals and endings like -ها, -ی are handled.
Pattern browser
Each pattern (Persian وزن vazn) is shown with the model root ف ع ل: put any root’s letters in place of ف, ع and ل. Pick a pattern to see every word in it.
Arabic phrases Persians use every day
Whole Arabic phrases live on in Persian, often with the article ال (al-, el-) or the endings ـاً (-an). The label shows where you will hear them.
How to use the word family explorer
Type a word you met in a text or a conversation, in Persian letters, in Finglish or in English. The tool finds the word, opens its root card and lists the other members of the family with transliteration, meaning and pattern. Linked words go to the full entry in our Persian dictionary. Tap a pattern label to see every word built on the same pattern, or use the A–Z browser to explore roots one by one. Each root has its own link (for example #root=k-t-b), so you can bookmark or share a family.
Why so many Persian words are Arabic
After the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century, Arabic became the language of religion, law, science and administration. Persian survived as the spoken and literary language, but it borrowed a large share of its vocabulary from Arabic, especially abstract, learned and formal words. Everyday basics such as آب (water), نان (bread) and رفتن (to go) stayed Persian.
Persian took the words but not the grammar. Arabic loans behave like Persian nouns and adjectives: they take -ها, the ezâfe and Persian suffixes, and they become verbs with a Persian helper verb: فکر کردن (to think), تعلیم دادن (to teach). Pronunciation is Persian too: ث س ص all sound like s, ذ ز ض ظ all sound like z, and ع is a light catch in the voice or silent. This is why Persian spelling has several letters for one sound.
How roots and patterns work
An Arabic root is usually three consonants that carry a core idea. A pattern adds vowels and extra letters around them and gives the grammatical role. Grammarians show patterns with the model root ف ع ل (doing):
| Pattern | Meaning | From ع ل م (know) | From ک ت ب (write) |
|---|---|---|---|
| فاعل fâ’el | doer | عالم scholar | کاتب scribe |
| مفعول maf’ul | done-to | معلوم known | مکتوب written |
| مفعل maf’al | place | – | مکتب school |
| تفعیل taf’il | making someone do | تعلیم teaching | – |
| مفعّل mofa”el | the one who makes do | معلم teacher | – |
| مفاعله mofâ’ele | doing with someone | – | مکاتبه correspondence |
Higher “forms” add meaning in a predictable way: the t-forms (تفعّل، افتعال) are often reflexive, تفاعل is mutual, استفعال often means seeking or using. Plurals can change the inside of the word (broken plurals): کتاب ← کتب, خبر ← اخبار.
Tips for learners
- Find the root letters. Remove the pattern letters: a leading م, ت, ا or است, and the long vowels ا و ی inside. What is left is usually the root.
- Weak roots hide a letter. Roots with و or ی change shape: قیمت (price) and مقام (rank) both come from ق و م.
- Use patterns to guess, then check. Meanings drift: تعارف “getting to know each other” became taarof, ritual politeness.
- Read without vowels. Knowing the pattern tells you how to say an unvowelled word: مکتوب can only be maktub.
- Learn families, not lists. One root often unlocks five to ten words at once.
Want the words that matter most, Arabic and Persian alike? Top 1,500 Persian Words groups the essential vocabulary by topic with pronunciation, so you learn the high-frequency words first.
See the vocabulary bookRelated tools and lessons
- Persian-English dictionary
- Persian flashcards
- Read Persian without vowels
- Persian graded reader
- Persian verb conjugator
- Taarof simulator
- Finglish to Persian converter
- Most common Persian words
- All free Persian tools
FAQ
How much of Persian vocabulary is Arabic?
A large share, especially in written, formal and academic Persian. Estimates vary with the corpus and with how you count (dictionary entries or words in real texts), so treat any single percentage with caution. Basic everyday words, most verbs and the grammar are Persian.
Do I need to learn Arabic to learn Persian?
No. You learn these words as Persian words, with Persian pronunciation and grammar. Knowing the root-and-pattern system is simply a shortcut: once you know علم, you can guess معلم, معلوم and تعلیم.
Are Arabic plurals like کتب used in spoken Persian?
Mostly in written and formal Persian. In conversation people usually add -ها: کتاب‌ها. Some Arabic plurals are everyday words with their own meaning, though: اخبار (the news), اطلاعات (information), حقوق (salary), اخلاق (manners).
Do Arabic words mean the same in Persian?
Often, but not always. Many shifted: شراب means wine in Persian, مکتب is a traditional school or a school of thought, and تعارف is the Persian art of taarof. Always check the Persian meaning.
Why is the same sound spelled with different letters?
Persian kept the Arabic spelling of loanwords but pronounces them the Persian way. So ذ ز ض ظ all sound like z. The root tells you which letter to write: words from ن ظ ر always have ظ.
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