Learn how to say many common phrases in Persian that people use every day to introduce themselves
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, Becky here, and welcome to PersianPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp, Lesson 1 - Self Introductions - Basic Greetings in Persian. This is the first in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Persian. |
| Mohammad: Salam, man Mohammadam. I’m Mohammad! In this series, we’ll go over all the basics, that will really help you understand the Persian language. |
| Becky: And we’ll have fun doing it! In this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself, and ask someone their name! This conversation is between strangers. |
| Mohammad: The language they are using is polite, because they don’t know each other. But it is not overly formal. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: So Mohammad, what do people in Iran do when they first meet? Like, is there a typical custom? |
| Mohammad: The first time people meet, there's no need to do anything in particular. They just smile, say hello, and introduce themselves. |
| Becky What about shaking hands? |
| Mohammad: Sometimes that happens, but not always. |
| Becky: I see. Then I guess hugging and kissing is a "Never" for the first meeting, right? |
| Mohammad Those are usually saved for meetings after the first one. When people become closer friends, hugging and kissing between men and between women is very popular. |
| Becky: And between men and women? |
| Mohammad: Actually, no kind of touching is acceptable between men and women until marriage, not even handshakes! |
| Becky: So keep that in mind, listeners! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s the first word? |
| Mohammad سلام (Salam) which means ‘Hello.’ It's the first thing people say when they meet, and can be used on all occasions, anytime, and by anyone. |
| Becky: Does it literally mean "Hello" or "Good Day"? |
| Mohammad: It actually originates from the word "Salamati", which means "Healthiness" or "Well Being". |
| Becky: I see. Can you repeat it? |
| Mohammad: Salam (pause). Salam. |
| Becky: Great. Now the next phrase is “Nice to meet you” |
| Mohammad: In Persian this is “Az ashnayi ba shoma khoshvaghtam”. Literally, it’s “I'm pleased to get acquainted with you”. |
| Becky: Persians use these words to show their happiness when meeting someone, just like "Nice to meet you" expression. Let’s break this down. |
| Mohammad: Of course. "Az Ashnayi" means "To get acquainted". |
| Becky: And the next part... |
| Mohammad: “Ba shoma” |
| Becky: ….means “With You". |
| Mohammad: "Shoma" is the pronoun used as the plural and formal "You". "To" is the singular form of "You", but when you meet someone for the first time, it's more polite to use "Shoma". |
| Becky: And the next part is... |
| Mohammad: “Khoshvaghtam”, which literally means "Good-timed" or "Having a good time". |
| Becky: It has a sense of "to be pleased" or "to be delighted". So altogether we have... |
| Mohammad: از آشنایی با شما خوشوقتم (Az ashnayi ba shoma khoshvaght am). |
| Becky: Listeners, listen and repeat please! |
| Mohammad: Az ashnayi ba shoma khoshvaght am. (3 seconds pause after) |
| Becky: Now, how can we reply? |
| Mohammad: من هم همینطور (Man ham hamintor). |
| Becky: This means “Me too.” Let’s break it down. |
| Mohammad: The first word “Man” means “I” or “me”. "Ham" means "Too" or "Also", and "Hamintor" means "The same way". |
| Becky: Altogether, it is... |
| Mohammad: من هم همینطور (Man ham hamintor). |
| Becky: Listen and repeat please! |
| Mohammad: Man ham hamintor (3 seconds) Man ham hamintor. |
| Becky: Ok, and one last point. In Persian, there are two different words for the English word “is”. |
| Mohammad: That’s right. They are “Ast” and “E”. They both mean “is”. "E" is less formal and used in conversations, while "Ast" is more formal and used more in written texts. |
| Becky: But “is” is the conjugated form here. What is the infinitive form? |
| Mohammad: The infinitive form is “Boodan”, which means “To Be”. “Boodan” is used when we talk about a verb in general, just like in English. For example “To be good” becomes “Khoob boodan”. |
| Becky: Great! Now listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Mohammad: Boodan. (3 seconds) Boodan. |
| Becky: Okay, that wasn’t so difficult, right? Let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to introduce yourself and ask someone their name. Mohammad, how do you ask someone their name in Persian? |
| Mohammad: اسم شما چیه؟ (Esme shoma chi e?) |
| Becky: This literally means "Name of you, what is?" Let’s break it down. |
| Mohammad: "Esm" |
| Becky: This means "Name,". Again slowly please. |
| Mohammad: "Esm" |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Mohammad: "Shoma" |
| Becky: ...as we explained earlier, this is the plural "you". |
| Mohammad: "Shoma" |
| Becky: Next is... |
| Mohammad: Chi |
| Becky: Which means “What”. Again, slowly please. |
| Mohammad: Chi |
| Becky: What about the "E(h)" sounds after "Esm" and "Chi"? |
| Mohammad: The "E(h)" sound after "Esm" means "Of", while the "E(h)" sound after "Chi" is the shortened, attached and informal version of the verb "Ast" meaning "is". |
| Becky: So they are the same sound with different meanings. One more time slowly? |
| Mohammad: "Esmeh", "Chieh". |
| Becky: Altogether, the question is |
| Mohammad: Esmeh shoma chieh? |
| Becky: Listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Mohammad: Esmeh shoma chieh? {pause} |
| Becky: It can be answered in two ways. The short way: |
| Mohammad: "Man Mohammadam" meaning "I'm Mohammad". |
| Becky: Or the long way: |
| Mohammad: "Esmeh man Mohammadeh" meaning "My name is Mohammad". |
| Becky: Let’s see the short way first. |
| Mohammad: The "Am" in "Mohammadam" is again the shortened version of the verb "Hastam", which is exactly the "apostrophe ’ m" in English - "I'm". |
| Becky: The difference is, It's attached to the name (Mohammad), instead of the pronoun "I". |
| Mohammad: And in the second version "My name is Mohammad", or "Esmeh man Mohammadeh"...The verb "E(h)" is placed after the name, at the end of the sentence. |
| Becky: Great. So that wasn’t too difficult for a first lesson, right? To recap, let’s try a short dialogue. Imagine your name is Mary. Try to answer the question out loud with the phrases we learned in this lesson. |
| Mohammad: Esmeh shoma chieh? {pause} Esmeh man Mary e. |
| Becky: Great! Now what if someone says this... |
| Mohammad: Az ashnayi ba shoma khoshvaghtam. |
| Becky: What do you say? |
| Mohammad: {pause} Man ham hamintor. |
| Becky: Great! Now what do you say if you want to learn someone’s name? |
| Mohammad: {pause} Esmeh shoma chieh? |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay. That’s it for this lesson. Make sure to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. |
| Mohammad: Thanks for listening. Khoda Hafez! |
| Becky: See you next time! |
Comments
Hide