As we know from ancient times, human beings have always tried to find a way of communicating with each other. They found out that the key to communication is a language with which to share and express their thoughts and transfer their emotions. Persian is one of the oldest languages spoken by mankind.

Persian is a pluricentric language categorized in the Indo-European family with a 7500-year history. The subgroups of the Persian language are Gilaki, Mazanderani, Kurdish, Talysh, and Balochi.

In Persian language-learning, how to introduce yourself (such as “My name is,” in Persian) is one of the most essential pieces of knowledge you can gain. This, along with other introductions, is important to know if you’re going to travel to a Persian-speaking country, such as Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, or Uzbekistan.

Are you ready to learn how you can introduce yourself in Persian? Then let’s get started!

Table of Contents

1. Steps of Self-Introduction in Persian
2. Greetings
3. Name
4. Age
5. Nationality
6. Major/ Profession
7. Family
8. Interests and Hobbies
9. Pets
10. Cultural Tips
11. Conclusion: How PersianPod101.com Can Help You Master Persian

1. Steps of Self-Introduction in Persian

As you learn to introduce yourself in Persian, grammar knowledge is a must.

Persian grammar has formal and informal forms.

The formal/written form, called کتابی (Ketaabi) in Persian, is used in books, newspapers, magazines, poems, TV news, and formal speeches. The colloquial/spoken form, called محاوره ای (mohaavere-i) is used for everyday conversations.

It’s very important in Iranian culture to know when you need to speak formally or informally, and this depends on the situations and people you face every day.

Now let’s move on to the different ways you can introduce yourself in basic Persian.

2. Greetings

Imagine you’re in a Persian-speaking country and want to start a conversation with a stranger and introduce yourself in Persian words. Just like in any language, the first word you might say is “Hello,” which in Persian is سلام (salaam).

In Persian culture, before you introduce yourself in Persian, phrases like this are commonly used:

• “Hello, how are you?” is سلام، حال شما چطور است؟ (salaam, haale shomaa chetor ast?) in Persian, which is formal. To say the colloquial form, you only need to change ast meaning “is” to e: سلام، حال شما چطوره؟ (salaam, haale shomaa chetore?).

In addition, you can start the conversation with:

• “Hello, nice to meet you,” which is سلام، از ملاقات با شما خوشوقتم (salaam, az molaaqaat baa shomaa khoshvaqtam). Its colloquial form is: سلام، از ملاقاتت خوشوقتم (salaam, az molaaqaatet khoshvaqtam).

3. Name

The most basic structure for “My name is” in Persian language is as follows:

• My name is ____.
  اسم من ____ است.
  esme man ____ ast.

After greetings, it’s time to start introducing yourself in Persian by saying your name, right? This is very simple. You only need to remember this formula, and replace your name with the blank: اسم من ____ است (esme man ____ ast).

Now let’s see how you can say “My name is Sarah” in Persian with the example below:

اسم من سارا است (esme man saaraa ast.)

4. Age

After saying your name, you might want to talk about your age. However, in Iran, it’s not common for women to tell their age to men during a conversation, and the secret behind this is that there’s a belief women never get old. But for men, it’s more common to talk about age.

Before stating your age, you’ll need to learn the numbers in Persian, too.

The formula for stating your age in Persian is:

• من _______سال سن دارم
  man _____ saal sen daaram

You only need to add your age in the blank space. For example, if you’re twenty-five years old and you want to say it in Persian, this is how:

Example 1:

• I am twenty-five years old.
  من بیست و پنج سال سن دارم.
  man bist-o-panj saal sen daaram.

Example 2:

• I am forty years old.
  من چهل سال سن دارم
  man chehel saal sen daaram.

5. Nationality

After introducing yourself by name, you can talk about your nationality and the country you’re from. In this case, you need to learn the name of countries in Persian. To talk about this, you can simply use one of the forms below:

• I’m from ___.
  من اهل ______ هستم
  Man ahle (Your country) hastam.

For example, “I’m from France,” would be: من اهل فرانسه هستم (man ahle Faraanse hastam.).

• I’m ___ [nationality].
  من ______ هستم
  man (your nationality) hastam.

For example, to say “I’m German,”: من آلمانی هستم. (man almani hastam.).

Another example:

• I’m Iranian.
  من+ایرانی+ هستم: “من ایرانی هستم.
  man Iraani hastam.

6. Major/ Profession

As you learn to introduce yourself in Persian, vocabulary becomes essential as you delve deeper into a conversation. When it comes to business meetings, introducing your profession is important for further communications. For talking about your job, first of all, you need to learn the name of jobs in Persian. From there, you only have to follow this formula:

• I am a ___ [profession].
  من ______ هستم.
  man ______ hastam.

For example, if you’re a dentist, in Persian it would be like:

• I am a dentist.
  من دندانپزشک هستم.
  man dandaanpezeshk hastam.

Or if you’re a lawyer:

• I am a lawyer.
  من وکیل هستم.
  man vakil hastam.

7. Family

The family is one of the most important elements of Iranian culture, and that’s why after introducing yourself, it’s very important to know how to talk about your family and introduce them in Persian.

Also, you might need to know numbers in Persian when talking about your siblings or children.

You can learn some of the most common sentences about family in the table below:

8. Interests and Hobbies

In Iranian culture, it’s not very common to talk about interests and hobbies during the first conversation. But you can talk about them after the first meeting. In order to talk about your interests and hobbies, you only need to remember the Persian formula of this sentence:

• One of my hobbies is (your hobby).:
  یکی از سرگرمی های من ______است
  yeki az sargarmihaaye man ___ __ ast.

For example, if your hobby is shopping, you can use this sentence as follows:

• One of my hobbies is shopping.
  یکی از سرگرمی های من خرید کردن است.
  Yeki az sargarmihaaye man kharid kardan ast.

9. Pets

If you have pets and would like to talk about them, then you need to know the names of different animals in Persian. Here are a few:

• Cat: گربه (gorbe)
• Dog: سگ (sag)
• Mouse: موش (moosh)
• Bird: پرنده (parande)
• Parrot: طوطی (tooti)
• Hamster: همستر (hamester)
• Rabbit: خرگوش (khargoosh)
• Fish: ماهی (maahi)
• Tortoise: لاک پشت (laak posht)

To tell someone what type of pet you have, you can use the sentence:

• I have a (your pet).
  من یک ______ دارم
  man yek ______ daaram.

Replace the blank part with your pet name.

For example:

• I have a cat.
  من یک گربه دارم.
  man yek gorbe daaram.

10. Cultural Tips

Persians are incredibly nice and hospitable people. In Persian culture, it’s common to shake hands and/or give a hug when introducing yourself. To say “Nice to meet you,” you can use these 3 forms:

1. az didane shomaa khoshvaqtam. (formal)
2. az didanet khoshvaqtam. (casual)
3. khoshvaqtam. (short form)

But don’t forget that it’s not common to shake hands with the opposite gender in Persian culture because of Islamic beliefs. You should only shake hands with the opposite gender if he/she voluntarily raises his/her hand.

Another point that you have to remember is that during conversations, you always need to speak as highly as possible to your interlocutors. This means that during a formal speech, you call your interlocutors with آقا (aaqaa) meaning “Mr.” or خانم (khaanom) meaning “Mrs./Ms.” This goes after their name, and is used with plural verbs and pronouns.

Further, during a colloquial speech, when you want to call the person you’re talking with, you can add جان (jaan), or in casual form جون (joon), at the end of his/her name. This word means “dear” in Persian.

For example:

• Dear Ali
  علی جان=علی+جان
  Ali jaan

or

• علی جون
  Ali joon

The latter example is the casual form.

When you want to talk about yourself, you have to be as humble as possible. Instead of using the 1st person pronoun “I” which is من (man), you have to call yourself بنده (bande), which literally means “slave.” Another option is to use اینجانب (injaaneb), which means “this side” in formal speech.

11. Conclusion: How PersianPod101.com Can Help You Master Persian

Do you feel ready to introduce yourself in Persian? Or is there something you’re still struggling with? Let us know in the comments!

If you want to learn Persian fast, you need to find native Persian-speaking friends; Persians are incredibly nice and will be a great help in learning the language quickly. The first step to really mastering Persian is to be in a Persian-speaking society, either physically or through social media, to communicate with Persian people. But don’t forget that the most important factor in learning any language is daily practice.

Other ways you can learn include listening to podcasts, watching Persian series and movies, and reading Persian books or newspapers. Don’t forget that we’re in the 21st century, a time when our lives have become easier due to technological advancements. There are a lot of materials for learning Persian out there, like mobile applications, ebooks, and websites.

You can join PersianPod101.com right now and start your free trial today. You can improve your Persian language skills with our teachers, and use our free resources to practice your grammar and vocabulary.

We hope you learned a lot of practical self-introduction sentences in Persian, and that this article helps you start talking like a native Persian. Best wishes!