The Persian alphabet looks difficult for about a week. After that, most learners are surprised by how regular it is. This overview explains how the system works, so that the letters make sense when you start to learn them.
The basics in five facts
- Persian has 32 letters.
- It is written from right to left. Numbers, however, are written from left to right.
- The script is cursive: letters within a word are joined, in print as well as in handwriting.
- There are no capital letters.
- Short vowels are usually not written. Readers supply them from knowledge of the word.
Arabic script, but not the Arabic language
Persian adopted the Arabic script more than a thousand years ago, and added four letters for sounds that Arabic does not have:
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| پ | pe | p | پدر pedar, father |
| چ | che | ch as in "chair" | چای chây, tea |
| ژ | zhe | s as in "measure" | ژاله zhâle, dew |
| گ | gâf | g as in "go" | گل gol, flower |
Sharing a script does not make the languages relatives. Persian belongs to the Indo-European family, like English, German and Hindi, and its grammar has nothing in common with Arabic. This is why a learner will recognise words such as mâdar (mother), barâdar (brother) and dokhtar (daughter).
Letters change shape
Because letters are joined, most of them have slightly different forms depending on where they stand in a word: at the beginning, in the middle, at the end, or alone. The core of the letter stays the same; what changes is the connecting stroke. Here is the letter be (b):
| Alone | Beginning | Middle | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| ب | بـ | ـبـ | ـب |
The good news is that many letters share one basic shape and differ only in their dots. ب پ ت ث are the same curve with one dot below, three below, two above and three above. Learn the shape once and you have four letters.
Seven letters that do not join forward
Seven letters connect to the letter before them but never to the one after: ا د ذ ر ز ژ و. After any of these there is a small gap inside the word. That is why دوست (dust, friend) seems to be in three pieces: d and u each stand apart, then s and t are joined.
Vowels
Persian has six vowel sounds. Three are long and written with letters:
- â as in "father": ا (written آ at the start of a word)
- i as in "see": ی
- u as in "moon": و
Three are short: a as in "cat", e as in "bed", o as in "or". These can be shown with small marks above or below a letter, but in normal writing the marks are left out. The word کتاب (book) is spelled k-t-â-b and read ketâb; the short e is simply known. This is less of a problem than it sounds. English readers do something similar every time they pronounce "read" or "live" correctly from context.
Several letters, one sound
Arabic has consonants that Persian speakers do not pronounce differently, but the letters were kept in spelling. As a result:
| Sound | Letters |
|---|---|
| z | ز ذ ض ظ |
| s | س ص ث |
| t | ت ط |
| h | ه ح |
| gh | ق غ (the same in standard Iranian pronunciation) |
Reading is therefore easy, because each letter has one sound. Spelling takes more practice, because you have to remember which "z" a word uses, much as English speakers remember "there" and "their".
Numbers and punctuation
Persian has its own digits: ۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹. They are written left to right, so ۱۴۰۵ is 1405. Western digits are understood everywhere and are common online. Some punctuation marks are mirrored: the comma is ، and the question mark is ؟.
Handwriting and calligraphy
Printed Persian uses a clear style called Naskh. The flowing, slanted style seen in poetry books, on posters and in art is Nasta'liq, developed in Iran centuries ago and still regarded as the most beautiful form of the script. It is harder to read at first, and you do not need it to chat.
How to start learning
- Learn letters in shape families, not in alphabetical order: the ب group, the ج group, the د group and so on.
- Learn the seven non-joining letters early. They explain most of what looks irregular.
- Read words you already know. Your own name, city names and signs give quick wins.
- Write by hand for a few minutes a day. The joining rules sink in faster through the hand than through the eye.
- Read real messages. Short chat lines are ideal practice: familiar vocabulary, simple sentences, and someone to ask.
When you are ready to write on a screen, our guide to typing Persian on a phone and computer shows how to add the keyboard. Until then, nobody minds if you write in Latin letters.