Learn all you need to know about greetings in Persian
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| Michael: How do you greet someone at different times of the day? |
| Negar: And are there any alternatives? |
| Michael: At PersianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, Ben Lee is greeting his friend, but he has not noticed how late it has become. Ben says, |
| "Good morning." |
| Ben Lee: |
| صبح بخیر. |
| (sobh bekheyr.) |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: |
| صبح بخیر. |
| (sobh bekheyr.) |
| Sousan Soheyli: |
| الان دیگه ساعت ۶ عصر شده. عصر بخیر. |
| (alaan dige saa'at-e shesh-e asr shode. asr bekheyr.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: |
| صبح بخیر. |
| (sobh bekheyr.) |
| Michael: "Good morning." |
| Sousan Soheyli: |
| الان دیگه ساعت ۶ عصر شده. عصر بخیر. |
| (alaan dige saa'at-e shesh-e asr shode. asr bekheyr.) |
| Michael: "It's already 6:00 PM. Good evening." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Persian greetings. Persian, similar to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the time of the day, or |
| Negar: زمان روز (zamaan-e rooz) |
| Michael: With time-sensitive greetings, Persians mostly distinguish between two times of day: morning and night. During the daytime, they tend to use just one standard greeting. However, they do have other greetings that can be used, and it is helpful to know them all! |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let us take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "Good morning?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Negar as Ben Lee: |
| .صبح بخیر |
| (sobh bekheyr.) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: This means "good morning" and is a very common greeting among Persian speakers. |
| Negar: صبح (sobh) |
| Michael: is Persian for "morning," and |
| Negar: بخیر (bekheyr) |
| Michael: means "to be good," so it means you're wishing someone's morning to be good. You can say this anytime from daybreak up to around noon. |
| Now, Persian is a little different from English in that people do not say "good afternoon" or "good evening" very often. "Good morning" and "goodnight" are common, but, during the rest of the day, the usual greeting is just |
| Negar: [NORMAL] سلام (salaam) [SLOWLY] سلام (salaam), |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: which means "hello" but literally meaning "peace." Actually, when they meet someone, they always add |
| Negar: سلام (salaam) |
| Michael: at the start of the greeting. We can use it almost anywhere! Thus, a more polite "good morning" would be |
| Negar: [NORMAL] |
| سلام، صبح بخیر! |
| (salaam, sobh bekheyr!) |
| [SLOWLY] |
| سلام، صبح بخیر! |
| (salaam, sobh bekheyr!) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| The next greeting is |
| Negar: |
| سلام، روز بخیر. |
| (salaam, rooz bekheyr) |
| [SLOWLY] |
| سلام، روز بخیر. |
| (salaam, rooz bekheyr) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: which means "Hello, good day." |
| Negar: روز (rooz) |
| Michael: means "day." You can use this greeting at any time of day, customarily from the late morning onwards. For a daytime greeting, it is also more frequently used than this next one: |
| Negar: [NORMAL] |
| سلام، بعدازظهر بخیر. |
| (salaam, ba'd az zohr bekheyr) |
| [SLOWLY] |
| سلام، بعدازظهر بخیر. |
| (salaam, ba'd az zohr bekheyr) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: or "Hello, good afternoon." In Persian, "afternoon" is not just one word, as it is in English. They say |
| Negar: بعد از (ba'd az) |
| Michael. meaning "after," and then |
| Negar: ظهر (zohr) |
| Michael: which means "noon." This is a greeting that can be used from 12:00 PM until around 4:00 PM. Our next two greetings will take us into the evening hours. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: For that, let us take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Sousan Soheyli says "It's already 6:00 PM. Good evening?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Negar as Sousan Soheyli: |
| الان دیگه ساعت ۶ عصر شده. عصر بخیر. |
| (alaan dige saa'at-e shesh-e asr shode. asr bekheyr.) |
| Michael: In English, when 6:00 PM comes, it is normal to use the greeting "good evening." You will use this greeting for the rest of the night, until it is time to go home or retire to bed. However, in Persian, the time between afternoon and sunset is known as |
| Negar: عصر (asr) |
| Michael: so, at that time of the day, you can say |
| Negar: [NORMAL] |
| سلام، عصر بخیر. |
| (salaam, asr bekheyr.) |
| [SLOWLY] |
| سلام، عصر بخیر. |
| (salaam, asr bekheyr.) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: "Hello, good evening." |
| And now the final time-sensitive greeting is |
| Negar: [NORMAL] |
| شب بخیر. |
| (shab bekheyr) |
| [SLOWLY] |
| شب بخیر. |
| (shab bekheyr) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: This means "goodnight" and it is the usual way to greet people when you are leaving your company at night. |
| Negar: شب (shab) |
| Michael: means "night" and, as you know by now, |
| Negar: بخیر (bekheyr) |
| Michael: means "to be good." Notice that, this time, we did not first say |
| Negar: سلام (salaam) |
| Michael: before the greeting. This is because Persian-speakers only say "goodnight" when they are leaving, not when they meet someone. |
| Well, we have covered all of the greetings used at specific times of the day, but it is also good to know how to say "goodbye." In Persian, there is only one word usually used for "goodbye," but the formal and informal versions differ slightly. First, the formal goodbye is: |
| Negar: [NORMAL] خداحافظ (khodaahaafez) [SLOWLY] خداحافظ (khodaahaafez) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Michael: This greeting literally means "may God protect you," but it is used to say goodbye. But, in informal situations, the shortened form is often used |
| Negar: [NORMAL] خدافظ (khodaafez) [SLOWLY] خدافظ (khodaafez) |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that there are two main time-sensitive greetings in Persian, and three others that you can use if you want to. You also learned that, before most greetings, Persian-speakers say |
| Negar: سلام (salaam) |
| Michael: Finally, you learned how to say "goodbye" in both the formal and the informal way. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: There is another word Persians have for "goodbye" |
| Negar: بدرود (bedrood) |
| Michael: but it is usually considered too formal or old-fashioned for everyday speech. You might hear it spoken in certain circles though. For example, there are some people who prefer the pure Persian-origin words. The common word for "goodbye," |
| Negar: خداحافظ (khodaahaafez) |
| Michael: is actually a combination of Persian and Arabic words: |
| Negar: خُدا (khodaa) |
| Michael: which is Middle Persian word for "God," and |
| Negar: حافِظ (haafez) |
| Michael: which is an Arabic word for "protection." |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: In formal situations, Persian people of the same gender commonly greet each other by shaking hands. However, if they meet someone they are very friendly with, they hug and kiss each other on both cheeks. Do not be afraid to do this with your Persian friends, and do not be shocked when someone from the same gender tries to hug you or kiss your cheeks—it is perfectly normal! |
| Remember that, in certain Persian-speaking countries like Iran, you cannot shake hands or hug and kiss a person from the other gender in public. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Negar: خداحافظ (khodaahaafez) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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