Where Are You?

Learn how to ask where somebody is

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Lesson Transcript

Salām be hamegi! Man Anita hastam. Hi everybody! I’m Anita

Welcome to PersianPod101.com’s “Persian in 3 minutes.” The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Persian.

In the last lesson, we learned how to talk about nationality. This is the second part of our lesson on the verb Hast, which means "to be".

This verb is also used to talk about location, to say things like "I am in the street" or "He is in the room", so it are very useful!

When you want to know where something or someone is, you use the verb Hast in Persian.

For example, if someone asks you on the phone Kojā hasti? they are asking "Where are you?" in an informal way.

Let's break it down.

Kojā means "Where"

Hasti is the verb "to be” conjugated for "you". Since we can tell we're talking about "you" from the verb, we normally don't use the word "You".

All together it is Kojā hasti?

[slowly] Kojā hasti?

Answering this question is very easy! You just say Dar meaning in + the place where you are + Hastam.

Hastam is the first-person form of hast. Here also, you don't need to add the word for "I", since the verb says it itself.

So for example, you can say Dar Khiābān Hastam which is "I am in the street"

[slowly] Dar Khiābān Hastam.

Now let’s see a few other possible answers:

"I am at the office" would be Dar Edāre Hastam.

"I am in a meeting" would be Dar Jalase Hastam.

"I am in a store" would be Dar maqāze hastam.

Another useful expression with the verb hast is when you answer the phone. To introduce your name you can say your name + Hastam.

So when I pick up the phone I would say Anita hastam. It’s really simple!

You might wonder how many versions of hast are out there. Here's a list:

Hastam - I am

Hasti - You are

Hast - He/she/it is

Hastim - we are

Hastid - You are (plural)

Hastand - They are

By the way, the pattern you're seeing will work for every other Persian verb! If you memorize this, forming all other verbs will be easy!

We saw how verbs change depending on the pronoun, but the verb Hast also has shortened, informal versions -- and you'll hear this version the most of all!

So,

Hastam (I am) shortens to "am"

Hastim (We are) shortens to "im"

Hasti (You are) shortens to "i"

Hastid (You are, plural) shortens to "id"

Now let’s review a few of the versions we’ve seen so far.

Dar Khiābān Hastam. I am in the street

Dar Khiābān Hastim. We are in the street

Can be shortened to:

Dar Khiābān am. I am in the street