Yes/No Questions

Overview

In this chapter you learn how to ask and answer yes/no questions in Persian at a very basic level. You already know simple sentences and the verb “to be”, and you have seen negation. Now you will see how to turn those statements into questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no”.

Persian yes/no questions are very regular. Once you understand the pattern, you can create many useful questions about people, things, and simple actions.

The Question Word «آیا» (formal neutral marker)

Persian has a special word that can mark yes/no questions: «آیا» /â-yâ/. It has no direct translation in English. It simply shows that the sentence is a question.

You usually put «آیا» at the beginning of the sentence.

Example with the verb “to be”:

Statement:
او معلم است.
/û moallem ast./
He/She is a teacher.

Question (formal or neutral):
آیا او معلم است؟
/â-yâ û moallem ast?/
Is he/she a teacher?

Example with another verb (you will learn present tense later, but look at the structure):

Statement:
تو می‌روی.
/to miravi./
You go.

Question:
آیا تو می‌روی؟
/â-yâ to miravi?/
Do you go?

At the A1 level, «آیا» is most common in written Persian and in careful or formal speech. In everyday spoken Persian, people usually ask yes/no questions in a different way, which you will see next.

Intonation questions in spoken Persian

In everyday spoken Persian, especially in Iran, speakers often do not use «آیا». Instead, they keep the same word order as a statement and change only the intonation. The voice rises at the end of the sentence to show it is a question.

Statement:
تو ایرانی هستی.
/to irâni hasti./
You are Iranian.

Question (spoken):
تو ایرانی هستی؟
/to irâni hasti?/
Are you Iranian?

There is no extra word. Only the rising tone at the end tells you that this is a question. In writing, the question mark «؟» also helps.

Another example:

Statement:
این خانه است.
/in xâne ast./
This is a house.

Question:
این خانه است؟
/in xâne ast?/
Is this a house?

At this level, it is enough to remember:

Yes and No: «بله»، «آره»، «نه»

To answer yes/no questions you need the basic words for “yes” and “no”.

«بله» /bale/ means “yes” in a polite or neutral way.
«آره» /âre/ means “yeah / yes” in informal speech.
«نه» /na/ means “no”.

Examples:

آیا تو دانشجو هستی؟
/â-yâ to dân(e)shjû hasti?/
Are you a student?

بله، من دانشجو هستم.
/bale, man dân(e)shjû hastam./
Yes, I am a student.

خانه است؟
/xâne ast?/
Is it a house?

نه، خانه نیست.
/na, xâne nist./
No, it is not a house.

You can answer with only «بله» or «نه», or you can give a full sentence.

Yes/No questions with the verb “to be”

You have already learned the verb “to be” in Persian (هستم، هستی، است, and the colloquial forms like «هستم / هستی / هست» and short forms like «/am/, /i/, /e» in speech). To make a yes/no question with “to be”, you do not move the verb. You keep the normal order:

Subject + complement + verb

Then you show it is a question with intonation or with «آیا».

Statement:
من معلم هستم.
/man moallem hastam./
I am a teacher.

Question (spoken):
من معلم هستم؟
/man moallem hastam?/
Am I a teacher?

Question (more formal):
آیا من معلم هستم؟
/â-yâ man moallem hastam?/
Am I a teacher?

Another example:

Statement:
او ایرانی است.
/û irâni ast./
He/She is Iranian.

Question:
او ایرانی است؟
/û irâni ast?/
Is he/she Iranian?

You can answer:

بله، او ایرانی است.
/bale, û irâni ast./
Yes, he/she is Iranian.

or simply:

بله.
/bale./
Yes.

Using “to be” in very short answers

Very often in real conversation, Persian speakers give short answers that repeat only the verb “to be”.

Example:

سارا دانشجو است؟
/sârâ dân(e)shjû ast?/
Is Sara a student?

بله، هست.
/bale, hast./
Yes, (she) is.

نه، نیست.
/na, nist./
No, (she) is not.

You already know negation with «نیست» for “is not” and for other persons you use «نیستم، نیستی، نیستیم، نیستید». These forms are used in short answers too.

Yes/No questions with demonstratives «این» and «آن»

You also know the demonstratives “this” and “that”:
«این» /in/ means “this”.
«آن» /ân/ (and in speech often «اون» /un/) means “that”.

You can easily turn such sentences into yes/no questions.

Statement:
این کتاب است.
/in ketâb ast./
This is a book.

Question:
این کتاب است؟
/in ketâb ast?/
Is this a book?

Answer:
بله، این کتاب است.
/bale, in ketâb ast./
Yes, this is a book.

Or:

نه، این کتاب نیست.
/na, in ketâb nist./
No, this is not a book.

Another example:

آن خانه است.
/ân xâne ast./
That is a house.

آن خانه است؟
/ân xâne ast?/
Is that a house?

بله، آن خانه است.
/bale, ân xâne ast./
Yes, that is a house.

Yes/No questions with “to be” + personal information

You can ask about basic personal information with yes/no questions that use “to be” plus simple nouns or adjectives. This is very useful in introductions and everyday conversation.

Examples:

الف) Asking about nationality:

تو ایرانی هستی؟
/to irâni hasti?/
Are you Iranian?

بله، من ایرانی هستم.
/bale, man irâni hastam./
Yes, I am Iranian.

نه، من ایرانی نیستم.
/na, man irâni nistam./
No, I am not Iranian.

ب) Asking about job:

او معلم است؟
/û moallem ast?/
Is he/she a teacher?

بله، او معلم است.
/bale, û moallem ast./
Yes, he/she is a teacher.

نه، او معلم نیست.
/na, û moallem nist./
No, he/she is not a teacher.

پ) Asking about relationship:

این برادرِ تو است؟
/in barâdar‑e to ast?/
Is this your brother?

بله، برادرِ من است.
/bale, barâdar‑e man ast./
Yes, (he) is my brother.

نه، او برادرِ من نیست.
/na, û barâdar‑e man nist./
No, he is not my brother.

You will learn more about possession and family words in later chapters, but for now you can see how yes/no questions fit into those patterns.

Polite yes/no questions with «لطفاً»

You can make your questions more polite by adding «لطفاً» /lotfan/ which means “please”. At A1 level you can simply put it at the beginning or at the end of the question.

لطفاً، این کتاب است؟
/lotfan, in ketâb ast?/
Please, is this the book?

این کتاب است، لطفاً؟
/in ketâb ast, lotfan?/
Is this the book, please?

Use «بله» for a polite “yes” when someone asks you a polite question.

Practice patterns

Here are some useful patterns you can copy and change with other words you know:

آیا این … است؟
/â-yâ in … ast?/
Is this …?

این … است؟
/in … ast?/
Is this …?

آیا او … است؟
/â-yâ û … ast?/
Is he/she …?

او … است؟
/û … ast?/
Is he/she …?

تو … هستی؟
/to … hasti?/
Are you …?

من … هستم؟
/man … hastam?/
Am I …?

With these patterns you can quickly build many yes/no questions about identity, nationality, job, objects, and simple descriptions.

Vocabulary list for this section