Greetings and Introductions

In this chapter you learn how to say hello, introduce yourself, and ask basic questions like “What is your name?” in Persian. We focus on very common real‑life expressions, both formal and informal.

Saying Hello

In Persian there are several very common greetings. You will hear them every day.

The most neutral and most common greeting is:

Salām.
سلام

It means “hello” or “hi” and you can use it at any time of the day, with almost anyone, in both formal and informal situations.

Another very common greeting is religious in origin, but is also a polite everyday greeting:

Salām ‘aleykom.
سلام علیکم

This is more formal and respectful. You might hear it in shops, among older people, or in more traditional contexts.

Persian also has time‑of‑day greetings that work similarly to “good morning” and “good evening”:

Sobh be‑kheyr.
صبح به‌خیر
Good morning.

‘Asr be‑kheyr.
عصر به‌خیر
Good afternoon / good evening (from later afternoon until early evening).

Shab be‑kheyr.
شب به‌خیر
Good night / good evening (when it is dark, often used when leaving or saying good night).

A very common response to these “be‑kheyr” greetings is:

Kheyr, mamnoon.
خیر، ممنون
Literally “Goodness, thank you”, used like “Good [day], thanks.”

Often people simply repeat the same greeting back: someone says “Sobh be‑kheyr” and you answer “Sobh be‑kheyr”.

Asking “How are you?”

After “hello” it is natural to ask “How are you?”. The most standard polite question is:

Hāletān chetore?
حالِتان چطوره؟
How are you? (formal / plural)

Chetor “how” and hāl “state, mood” are very important words that you will meet often. In informal speech with friends and family, people usually say:

Hālet chetore?
حالت چطوره؟
How are you? (informal, to one person)

An even shorter very informal version is:

Chetori?
چطوری؟
How are you? / How is it going?

There is also a very short street‑style greeting:

Khoobi?
خوبی؟
You good? / All good?

You use this with friends and people your age, not in formal situations.

To answer “How are you?”, the most common positive answers are:

Man khobam.
من خوبم.
I am fine.

Khoobam, merci.
خوبم، مرسی.
I am fine, thanks.

Khoobam, mamnoon.
خوبم، ممنون.
I am fine, thank you.

If you want to say “very good” you can say:

Kheyli khobam.
خیلی خوبم.
I am very well.

If you are not very good but “so‑so”, you can say:

Bad nistam.
بد نیستم.
I am not bad.

After answering, Persian speakers usually ask back:

Shomā chetorid?
شما چطورید؟
And you? (formal)

or informally:

To chetori?
تو چطوری؟
And you?

Introducing Yourself: Name and Origin

To introduce yourself you mostly need the structure with “my name”, “I am”, and the name of your country or city. The details of the verb “to be” will come in a separate chapter, so here we will simply use full useful sentences.

To say “My name is …”:

Man … hastam.
من … هستم.
I am … (formal, complete).

Man Ali hastam.
من علی هستم.
I am Ali. / My name is Ali.

Man Sārā hastam.
من سارا هستم.
I am Sara. / My name is Sara.

In very common everyday informal speech people often drop “hastam” and say only:

Man Ali‑am.
من علی‌ام.

The little “‑am” at the end means “I am”. For now, you can simply remember “Man … hastam” as a clear safe pattern.

To ask someone’s name politely, you say:

Esm‑e shomā chist?
اسمِ شما چیست؟
What is your name? (formal)

Esm “name” is a key word. The link “‑e” is the connecting sound “of”. In everyday speech the “chist” often becomes “chie”:

Esm‑e shomā chie?
اسمِ شما چیه؟
What is your name? (polite but spoken).

With a friend or a child you use “to”:

Esm‑et chie?
اسمت چیه؟
What is your name? (informal)

To answer, you can say:

Esm‑e man Ali‑e.
اسمِ من علیه.
My name is Ali.

Or just:

Ali‑am.
علی‌ام.
I am Ali.

Another very common introduction is “I am from …”. For example:

Man ahl‑e Irān hastam.
من اهلِ ایران هستم.
I am from Iran.

Man ahl‑e Tehrān hastam.
من اهلِ تهران هستم.
I am from Tehran.

Ahl‑e literally means “people of / from”. It is a natural way to say “I am from (city / country)” when you introduce yourself.

If you want to say your nationality in a basic way you can also say:

Man Irāni hastam.
من ایرانی هستم.
I am Iranian.

The detailed list of nationalities will come in a later chapter, so here you just see the pattern “Man … hastam”.

Basic Politeness: Please, Thank You, Excuse Me

Polite words are very important in Persian culture. You will hear them all the time and it is good to use them from the beginning.

The most common way to say “thank you” is:

Mamnoon.
ممنون.
Thank you.

Another equally common word is:

Merci.
مرسی.
Thanks. (informal / friendly, borrowed from French)

You can also use the slightly more formal:

Moteshakkeram.
متشکّرم.
Thank you.

To say “please”, the most widely used word is:

Lotfan.
لطفاً.
Please.

You usually put it at the beginning or the end of the sentence:

Lotfan tekrar konid.
لطفاً تکرار کنید.
Please repeat.

Another, very warm and polite way is:

Lotf mikonid…
لطف می‌کنید …
Would you be so kind to … (literally “You do a kindness to …”).

For now, “lotfan” is enough to remember.

To say “excuse me” or “sorry” there are different expressions. In basic spoken Persian, very common ones are:

Bebakhshid.
ببخشید.
Excuse me. / I am sorry.

This works when you want to get someone’s attention, when you bump into someone, or when you apologize.

Another word for “sorry” is:

Motāseffam.
متأسّفم.
I am sorry. (more serious apology)

In very everyday speech people also say:

Ozr mikhām.
عذر می‌خوام.
I apologize. / Sorry.

At A1 level, “bebakhshid” is the most practical to start with.

Meeting for the First Time

When you meet someone for the first time, there are some set phrases that make your Persian sound natural.

To say “Nice to meet you” you can use:

Khoshbakhtam.
خوشبختم.
Nice to meet you. (literally “I am fortunate.”)

You usually say it after hearing the person’s name, or when you start talking:

Man Ali hastam. Khoshbakhtam.
من علی هستم. خوشبختم.
I am Ali. Nice to meet you.

A polite response is to repeat:

Man ham khoshbakhtam.
من هم خوشبختم.
Nice to meet you too.

Here “ham” means “also / too”.

In a formal situation you might hear:

Az āshenāyi bā shomā khoshbakhtam.
از آشنایی با شما خوشبختم.
I am pleased to make your acquaintance.

For A1, “Khoshbakhtam” and “Man ham khoshbakhtam” are enough.

Sometimes after greetings Persians ask simple follow‑up questions to continue the conversation. For example:

Shomā az kojā hastid?
شما از کجا هستید؟
Where are you from? (formal)

In informal speech:

Az kojā‑i?
از کجایی؟
Where are you from?

You can answer with the patterns you already learned:

Man az Itāliā hastam.
من از ایتالیا هستم.
I am from Italy.

Man ahl‑e Mexik hastam.
من اهلِ مکزیک هستم.
I am from Mexico.

Little Words for Everyday Conversation

Even at the very beginning, a few very short words help conversations feel natural.

“Yes” in Persian is:

Bale.
بله.
Yes. (polite / neutral)

In informal speech people often say:

Āre.
آره.
Yeah.

“No” is:

Na.
نه.
No.

To say “and you?” after answering a question, you already saw:

Shomā chetorid?
شما چطورید؟
And you? (formal)

To say “me too” or “same here”:

Man ham.
من هم.
Me too.

For example:

A: Man Irāni hastam.
B: Man ham.

A: I am Iranian.
B: Me too.

When you do not understand something, a very basic phrase is:

Man motevajjeh nemisham.
من متوجه نمی‌شم.
I do not understand.

This includes negation, which you will study later, but you can already use this whole sentence as a fixed expression.

If you want to politely ask someone to repeat, you can say:

Lotfan tekrar konid.
لطفاً تکرار کنید.
Please repeat. (formal)

Or informally with a friend:

Yek bār‑e dige, lotfan.
یک بارِ دیگه، لطفاً.
One more time, please.

Putting It All Together: Mini Dialogues

Here are a few short model conversations. You do not need to analyze the grammar deeply yet. Treat them as useful ready‑made pieces of language.

Dialogue 1, neutral polite:

A: Salām.
سلام.

B: Salām.
سلام.

A: Hāletān chetore?
حالتان چطوره؟

B: Mamnoon, khobam. Shomā chetorid?
ممنون، خوبم. شما چطورید؟

A: Man ham khobam.
من هم خوبم.

Dialogue 2, first meeting, formal:

A: Salām.
سلام.

B: Salām.
سلام.

A: Esm‑e shomā chist?
اسمِ شما چیست؟

B: Esm‑e man Sārā‑st. Shomā chi?
اسمِ من سارا ست. شما چی؟

A: Man Ali hastam. Khoshbakhtam.
من علی هستم. خوشبختم.

B: Man ham khoshbakhtam.
من هم خوشبختم.

Dialogue 3, informal, with friends:

A: Salām. Chetori?
سلام. چطوری؟

B: Khoobam, merci. To chetori?
خوبم، مرسی. تو چطوری؟

A: Bad nistam. Man Ali‑am. Esm‑et chie?
بد نیستم. من علی‌ام. اسمت چیه؟

B: Man Reza‑am.
من رضا‌ام.

A: Khoshbakhtam.
خوشبختم.

B: Man ham khoshbakhtam.
من هم خوشبختم.

You can practice these dialogues by reading them aloud and then replacing the names and countries with your own.

Vocabulary for This Section

Below is a table of the important words and expressions from this chapter. The transliteration is approximate and based on common Tehrani pronunciation.