Spoken Persian (the colloquial Farsi of Tehran) is the same language as written Persian, said in shorter forms: می‌روم (miravam, “I go”) becomes میرم (miram) and خانه (khâne, “house”) becomes خونه (khune). Paste a sentence below to convert formal written Farsi to spoken Farsi or back, and see every rule it uses.
Spoken Tehran Persian
changed (hover or tap for the rule)⚠ check: two readingsexception, kept
Audio needs a Persian voice in your browser or phone; none was found, so read the transliteration in the practice and dialogue tabs.
Rules applied (tap one to highlight it)
10 sentences per round. See a sentence in one register and pick (or type) the missing word in the other.
Ali and Sara meet in the street. Each line is shown as it would be written and as it is really said in Tehran; the words that differ are highlighted.
Learn the rules: written vs spoken Persian
These are the main differences between the Persian you read and the Persian you hear in Tehran. The spoken forms are not slang or mistakes: every Iranian uses them in conversation, films, songs and text messages, and switches back to the written forms in books, news and formal letters.
| Rule | Written | Spoken | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| “He/she” ending -ad → -e | می‌کند | می‌کنهmikonad → mikone | he/she does |
| “They” ending -and → -an | می‌کنند | می‌کننmikonand → mikonan | they do |
| “You (pl.)” -id: written the same, said -in | می‌کنید | می‌کنید / می‌کنینmikonid → mikonin | you (plural) do |
| Stem رو → ر (go) | می‌روم | میرمmiravam → miram | I go |
| Stem گو → گ (say) | می‌گویم | می‌گمmiguyam → migam | I say |
| Stem خواه → خوا (want) | می‌خواهم | می‌خوامmikhâham → mikhâm | I want |
| Stem توان → تون (can) | می‌توانم | می‌تونمmitavânam → mitunam | I can |
| Stem آی → آ (come) | می‌آیم / بیاید | میام / بیادmiâyam → miâm; biâyad → biâd | I come; (that) he comes |
| Stem ده → د (give) | می‌دهم | می‌دمmidaham → midam | I give |
| Stem شو → ش (become) | می‌شود | می‌شهmishavad → mishe | it becomes; it’s possible |
| Other short stems | بگذار، بنشین، بیاور | بذار، بشین، بیارbegzâr → bezâr; beneshin → beshin; biâvar → biâr | let; sit; bring |
| ân → un in verb stems | می‌دانم، آمد | می‌دونم، اومدmidânam → midunam; âmad → umad | I know; he came |
| ân / âm → un / um in common words | خانه، نان، تمام | خونه، نون، تمومkhâne → khune; nân → nun; tamâm → tamum | house; bread; finished |
| …but not in these words | تهران، ایران، زمان، سلام | تهران، ایران، زمان، سلامtehrân, irân, zamân, salâm (no change) | Tehran, Iran, time, hello |
| Object marker را → ـو / رو | کتاب را، خانه را | کتابو، خونه روketâb râ → ketâbo; khâne râ → khune ro | the book; the house (as object) |
| “Is” است → ـه | بزرگ است | بزرگهbozorg ast → bozorge | it is big |
| “I am…” هستم → ending | خسته هستم، کجا هستی | خسته‌م، کجاییkhaste hastam → khastam; kojâ hasti → kojâi | I’m tired; where are you? |
| Present perfect gets shorter | رفته‌ام، رفته است | رفتم، رفتهrafte-am → raftam; rafte ast → rafte | I have gone; he has gone |
| Plural -hâ → -â | کتاب‌ها | کتاباketâbhâ → ketâbâ | books |
| -mân / -tân / -shân → -mun / -tun / -shun | کتابشان | کتابشونketâbeshân → ketâbeshun | their book |
| After -e: ام → م | خانه‌ام | خونه‌مkhâne-am → khunam | my house |
| Preposition + pronoun → one word | با من، به او، برای من | باهام، بهش، برامbâ man → bâhâm; be u → behesh; barâye man → barâm | with me; to him/her; for me |
| یک → یه before a noun | یک روز | یه روزyek ruz → ye ruz | one day |
| Pronouns | او، آن‌ها | اون، اوناu → un; ânhâ → unâ | he/she; they |
| Short everyday forms | دیگر، اگر، مگر، چه | دیگه، اگه، مگه، چیdigar → dige; agar → age; magar → mage; che → chi | other/any more; if; really?; what |
| Everyday words for bookish ones | بسیار، اکنون | خیلی، الانbesyâr → kheyli; aknun → alân | very; now |
| آیا is dropped | آیا می‌آیی؟ | میای؟âyâ miâyi? → miâi? | are you coming? |
| Destination after the verb, no به | به خانه می‌روم | میرم خونهbe khâne miravam → miram khune | I’m going home |
| و “and” is said -o | نان و پنیر | نون و پنیرnân va panir → nun-o panir | bread and cheese |
| Future tense is rare in speech | فردا خواهم رفت | فردا میرمfardâ khâham raft → fardâ miram | I’ll go tomorrow |
How to use the converter
Choose a direction, then type or paste Persian. On a computer you can type with your normal keyboard (it is mapped to the standard Persian layout) or tap the on-screen keys; a real Persian keyboard works too. Every changed word is highlighted: hover over it or tap it to see the original word and the rule that changed it, and tap a rule in the list to light up all the words it changed. A dotted red line marks a word that can be read two ways (for example می‌خورد can be “he eats” می‌خوره or “he was eating” می‌خورد), so check it against the meaning.
The converter is deliberately careful. It only changes words it knows: a list of everyday words, the verb forms it can analyse, and the endings listed in the table. Anything else is left as you wrote it. It does not reorder words, so a written sentence like به خانه می‌روم becomes به خونه میرم, while a Tehrani would usually say میرم خونه. The dialogue shows that natural word order.
When does â become u?
Long â before n or m often turns into u in speech, but only in old, everyday words. Learned words, names and religious terms keep their â, and there is no spelling rule that tells you which is which, so learn them as vocabulary.
Changes:
- خانه → خونه
- نان → نون
- آن → اون
- تمام → تموم
- کدام → کدوم
- باران → بارون
- خیابان → خیابون
- زمستان → زمستون
- تابستان → تابستون
- دندان → دندون
- ارزان → ارزون
- گران → گرون
- مهمان → مهمون
- جوان → جوون
- آسمان → آسمون
- حمام → حموم
- بادام → بادوم
- آرام → آروم
Stays the same:
- تهران
- ایران
- قرآن
- جهان
- انسان
- زمان
- مکان
- داستان
- دانشگاه
- سلام
- اسلام
- انجام
- پایان
- امکان
- زبان
- استان
- بیمارستان
- لیوان
- استکان
- نام
- خانم
- مامان
- خانواده
- اصفهان
A useful test: if a word sounds bookish or comes from Arabic learning (انسان، امکان، اسلام), it keeps â. Names of places such as تهران and ایران never change, and خانم (khânom, “Mrs, lady”) and مامان (mâmân, “mum”) keep their â too.
Tips for learning spoken Persian
- Learn the verbs first. Ten short stems (ر، گ، خوا، تون، آ، د، ش، دون، ذار، شین) cover most of the difference you hear in conversation.
- Listen for the endings. The “is” ending -e and the object ending -o are short and easy to miss: کتابو بده (ketâbo bede, “give me the book”).
- Read both, write one. Use spoken forms when you chat with friends, but write emails and essays in the formal register. Mixing the two in one text looks odd to Iranians.
- Practise in both directions. Converting spoken to written is the skill you need for reading; written to spoken is the one you need for talking.
Ready to speak like a Tehrani? Farsi Conversations gives you 100 everyday Persian dialogues with the words and phrases Iranians really use.
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FAQ
Is spoken Persian a different language from written Persian?
No. It is the same language with the same grammar and vocabulary, but many common words and verb forms are shortened in speech. Once you know about thirty patterns, like می‌گویم → می‌گم and است → ـه, you can move between the two.
Which spoken Persian does the converter use?
The colloquial Persian of Tehran, which is what you hear on Iranian TV, in films and in most of Iran’s cities. Other regions (Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad) have their own accents and some different forms, and Dari and Tajik speakers speak differently again.
Should I learn written or spoken Persian first?
Most courses start with the written forms because that is what you read and what the alphabet is taught with. Add the spoken forms early, though: if you only know می‌خواهم, you will not recognise می‌خوام when someone says it.
Can I write in spoken Persian?
Yes, informally. Iranians write in the spoken register in text messages, on social media and in dialogue in novels. Spelling is not standardised, so you will see both میرم and میرم, or خونه‌م and خونم. Formal writing, news and official letters use the written forms.
Why did the converter not change a word I expected it to?
It only changes words and verb forms it is sure about, so it leaves anything unknown alone rather than guess. The â → u change, for example, is applied only to a list of everyday words, because many similar-looking words (زمان، تهران، انسان) never change.
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