Family and Relationships

Talking About Family in Persian

In this chapter you learn how to talk about your family and simple relationship words in Persian. You will be able to answer and ask basic questions such as “Do you have brothers or sisters?” or “Is she your mother?” in very simple sentences.

Persian examples are given in both script and transcription, so you can follow even if you are just starting to read.

The Word “Family”

The basic word you need is “family”.

خانواده /xânevâde/ family

Example:
این خانواده‌ی من است.
/in xânevâde‑ye man ast./
This is my family.

Notice the linking sound /‑ye/ between خانواده and من. How this works in detail belongs to another chapter. Here you just try to recognize and repeat it.

Close Family Members

Start with the most important family words. Repeat each word aloud with its transcription.

پدر /pedar/ father
مادر /mâdar/ mother

You already know (or will soon learn) the verb “to be” in Persian. For now, just look at complete simple sentences that you can copy.

او پدرِ من است.
/u pedar‑e man ast./
He is my father.

او مادرِ من است.
/u mâdar‑e man ast./
She is my mother.

The word او /u/ can mean “he” or “she”. Persian does not change the pronoun for gender.

Saying “my father”, “my mother”

To say “my” with family words, Persian usually adds the ending ِم /‑am/ to the noun.

پدرم /pedaram/ my father
مادرم /mâdaram/ my mother

Examples:
این پدرم است.
/in pedaram ast./
This is my father.

این مادرم است.
/in mâdaram ast./
This is my mother.

You will study possession more deeply in another chapter, but you can already use these very common forms.

Brothers and Sisters

Here are the words for siblings.

برادر /barâdar/ brother
خواهر /xâhar/ sister

Again, “my brother” and “my sister” are very frequent.

برادرم /barâdaram/ my brother
خواهرم /xâharaqm/ my sister

Examples:
او برادرِ من است.
/u barâdar‑e man ast./
He is my brother.

او خواهرِ من است.
/u xâhar‑e man ast./
She is my sister.

I have one brother:
من یک برادر دارم.
/man yek barâdar dâram./

I have two sisters:
من دو خواهر دارم.
/man do xâhar dâram./

You will learn numbers in detail in another chapter. Here you only see یک /yek/ “one” and دو /do/ “two” as part of natural sentences.

Children: Son and Daughter

Here are the basic words for children.

پسر /pesar/ boy, son
دختر /doxtar/ girl, daughter

The meaning depends on context. In family talk, پسر and دختر often mean “son” and “daughter”.

پسرم /pesaram/ my son
دخترم /doxtaram/ my daughter

Examples:
این پسرم است.
/in pesaram ast./
This is my son.

این دخترم است.
/in doxtaram ast./
This is my daughter.

Husband, Wife, Parents, Children

Now a few key relationship words that appear very often in daily life.

شوهر /šowhar/ husband
زن /zan/ wife, woman

پدر و مادر /pedar o mâdar/ parents (literally “father and mother”)
والدین /vâledin/ parents (more formal)

بچه /bache/ child, kid
بچه‌ها /bache‑hâ/ children, kids

Example sentences:
او شوهرِ من است.
/u šowhar‑e man ast./
He is my husband.

او زنِ من است.
/u zan‑e man ast./
She is my wife.

آن‌ها دو بچه دارند.
/ânhâ do bache dârand./
They have two children.

The word آن‌ها /ânhâ/ means “they”. You will meet pronouns in detail in another chapter.

Talking About “Having” Family Members

Here you meet very natural and useful patterns with family words. You do not have to analyze the grammar fully. Just copy the patterns.

The verb داشتن /dâštan/ “to have” appears as دارم /dâram/ with “I”.

من … دارم.
/man … dâram./
I have …

For example:
من دو برادر دارم.
/man do barâdar dâram./
I have two brothers.

من یک خواهر دارم.
/man yek xâhar dâram./
I have one sister.

من بچه ندارم.
/man bache nadâram./
I do not have children.

Here you see a negative form ندارم /nadâram/ “I do not have”. Negation will be explained properly later. In this chapter, just remember the whole sentence as a model.

Asking Simple Questions About Family

At this level you only need very simple questions that you can recognize and answer. Detailed question structure appears in a later chapter.

Is he your father?
او پدرِ تو است؟
/u pedar‑e to ast?/

Is she your mother?
او مادرِ تو است؟
/u mâdar‑e to ast?/

“Your” here is تو /to/ “you” (singular, informal). Focus on understanding the pattern.

To ask if someone has brothers or sisters, many speakers use this kind of question:

برادر و خواهر داری؟
/barâdar o xâhar dâri?/
Do you have brothers and sisters?

A very short and common question is:

خانواده داری؟
/xânevâde dâri?/
Do you have a family?

To answer, you can say:
بله، دارم.
/bale, dâram./
Yes, I have.

or:
نه، ندارم.
/na, nadâram./
No, I do not have.

You already know بله /bale/ “yes” and نه /na/ “no” from polite speech chapters, or you will meet them very soon.

Other Useful Relationship Words

Here are a few more very common family and relationship words that you will meet all the time.

دوست /dust/ friend
دوست‌پسر /dust‑pesar/ boyfriend
دوست‌دختر /dust‑doxtar/ girlfriend

زن و شوهر /zan o šowhar/ husband and wife

Example:
او دوستِ من است.
/u dust‑e man ast./
He / She is my friend.

At this level, do not worry about social nuance. Simply learn the basic meanings so you can recognize them.

Short Self‑Introduction with Family

You can now combine family words with very simple sentences. Here is a short example that you can practice.

من یک خواهر و یک برادر دارم.
/man yek xâhar o yek barâdar dâram./
I have one sister and one brother.

این پدرم و مادرم هستند.
/in pedaram o mâdaram hastand./
These are my father and my mother.

او دوستِ من است.
/u dust‑e man ast./
He / She is my friend.

Try to repeat the sentences and then change one word. For example, change خواهر /xâhar/ “sister” to دو خواهر /do xâhar/ “two sisters”, or change دوست /dust/ “friend” to برادر /barâdar/ “brother”.

Vocabulary Table for this Section