Learn how to access the web at an Internet cafe
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson, we’ll cover an extremely important phrase: “Where is the toilet?” |
| BODY |
| In Persian, “Where is the toilet?” is |
| Toalet kojasst? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) To-a-let ko-jasst |
| Once more: |
| Toalet kojasst? |
| Let’s break this down. The first word, toalet, means “toilet.” |
| (slow) To – a - let |
| toalet |
| This is followed by kojasst, which in Persian means “where is.” |
| (slow) ko - jasst |
| kojasst |
| The phrase Toalet kojasst? sounds a little informal. You can make it polite by adding Bebakhshid, that is translated as “Excuse me” in the beginning: |
| Bebakhshid toalet kojasst? |
| ・ |
| Another formal way to ask "Excuse me, where is the bathroom?” is |
| Bebakhshid, dastshooii kojasst? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Be – bakh - shid, dast – shoo – ii ko - jasst? |
| Once more: |
| Bebakhshid, dastshooii kojasst? |
| Bebakhshid literally means “excuse me.” If you use it in questions, it gives people an extra-polite impression. |
| (slow) Be – bakh - shid |
| bebakhshid |
| The second word, Dastshooii, means “washroom.” |
| (slow) dastshooii |
| dastshooii |
| After that is kojasst, which again means “where is.” |
| (slow) kojasst |
| kojasst |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) Be – bakh – shid, dast – shoo –ii ko - jasst? |
| Bebakhshid, dastshooii kojasst? |
| ・ |
| If you are looking for the ladies’ room, the phrase is |
| Toalete zananeh kojasst? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) To – a - lete Za – na - neh Ko - jasst? |
| Once more: |
| Toalete zananeh kojasst? |
| First is toalet, again, which means “toilet.” |
| Zananeh means “ladies’.” |
| (slow) za – na - neh |
| zananeh |
| Then we have kojasst, which again means “where is.” |
| (slow) ko - jasst |
| kojasst |
| ・ |
| If you are looking for the men’s room, the question for that is |
| Toalete Mardaneh kojasst? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) To – a – lete mar – da – neh ko - jasst? |
| Once more: |
| Toalete mardaneh kojasst? |
| Mardaneh means “mens’.” |
| (slow) mar – da - neh |
| mardaneh |
| Just replace the word zananeh (“ladies’”) with mardaneh (“men’s”) |
| (slow) To – a – lete mar – da – neh ko - jasst? |
| Toalete mardaneh kojasst? |
| ・ |
| Let’s hear both of the sentences one more time: |
| Toalete zananeh kojasst? |
| Toalete mardaneh kojasst? |
| ・ |
| When you finally get to the bathroom, there may be one last hurdle. At some bathrooms, only Persian words are written on the doors! But don’t panic! |
| As we’ve seen above, the word for “men” is |
| mardaneh. مردانه |
| And for “women” you’ll see |
| zananeh. زنانه |
| Let’s hear those once more. |
| The word for “men” is mardaneh. |
| (slow) mar – da - neh |
| mardaneh |
| The word for “women” is zananeh. |
| (slow) za – na - neh |
| zananeh |
| ・ |
| There may not be many public bathrooms for tourists to use. This means your best option is to stop at either a café or a restaurant and use the bathroom there. Understandably, café owners sometimes aren’t too keen on having people stop in, just to use their bathroom. Since you’ll be a tourist, they will welcome you, and let you use the toilet. So to be polite, you might want to buy a bottle of water or order a coffee before asking Bebakhshid, toalet kojasst?. |
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