Table of Contents
Talking about countries and nationalities
In this chapter you learn how to say where you are from, which country you live in, and what your nationality is in very simple Persian. We will focus on a small group of very common countries and nationalities that you can use to introduce yourself and talk to others.
Key pattern: “I am from …”
You already know the verb “to be” and simple sentences. To say which country you are from, you use the preposition “az” and the country name.
Example in speech (without full script yet):
من از ایران هستم
/ man az Irân hastam. /
I am from Iran.
Important pattern:
man az [country] hastam.
“I am from [country].”
Some basic examples:
مردی از آلمان هستم
/ man az Almân hastam. /
I am from Germany.
من از آمریکا هستم
/ man az Amrikâ hastam. /
I am from America / the United States.
مردی از انگلس هستم
/ man az Engelis hastam. /
I am from England.
مردی از فرانسه هستم.
/ man az Farânse hastam. /
I am from France.
مردی از ایتالیا هست
/ man az Itâliâ hastam. /
I am from Italy.
مردی از اسپانیا هستم.
/ man az Espaniâ hastam. /
I am from Spain.
من از ترکی هستم
/ man az Torkiye hastam. /
I am from Turkey.
من از روسیـه هستم
/ man az Rusiye hastam. /
I am from Russia.
مردی از هند هستم.
/ man az Hind hastam. /
I am from India.
من از چین هستم
/ man az Čin hastam. /
I am from China.
من از ژاپنی هستم.
/ man az Japoni hastam. /
I am from Japan.
من از کانادا هستم.
/ man az Kanadâ hastam. /
I am from Canada.
مردی از اسطوره هستم.
/ man az Ostorâliâ hastam. /
I am from Australia.
You can also add the city:
من از ایران، از تهران هستم.
/ man az Irân, az Tehrân hastam. /
I am from Iran, from Tehran.
Asking “Where are you from?”
To ask someone about their country, you use “az kojâ” meaning “from where”.
Example:
شما از کجا هستید؟
/ šomâ az kojâ hastid? /
Where are you from? (polite)
از کجا هستی؟
/ to az kojâ hasti? /
Where are you from? (informal, to a friend)
Answers:
من از ایران هستم.
/ man az Irân hastam. /
I am from Iran.
من از آمریکا هستم.
/ man az Amrikâ hastam. /
I am from America.
Question pattern:
šomâ az kojâ hastid?
“Where are you from?” (polite)
to az kojâ hasti?
“Where are you from?” (informal)
Saying your nationality
Persian often uses an adjective that comes from the country name to express nationality. In basic conversation, people also understand if you simply say the country, but it is useful to know the nationality words.
Here we use the verb “hastam” again:
مرد ایرانی هستم.
/ man irâni hastam. /
I am Iranian.
Structure:
man [nationality] hastam.
I [nationality] am.
Important examples:
من آلمانی هستم
man almâni hastam.
I am German.
من آمریکایی هستم
man amerikâyi hastam.
I am American.
من انگلیسی هستم
man engelisi hastam.
I am English.
من فرانسوی هستم
man farânsevi hastam.
I am French.
من ایتالیایی هستم
man itâliâyi hastam.
I am Italian.
من اسپانیایی هستم
man espâniâyi hastam.
I am Spanish.
من ترکی هستم
man torki hastam.
I am Turkish.
من روسی هستم
man rusi hastam.
I am Russian.
من هندی هستم
man hendi hastam.
I am Indian.
من چینی هستم
man čini hastam.
I am Chinese.
من ژاپنی هستم
man japoni hastam.
I am Japanese.
من کانادایی هستم
man kanâdâyi hastam.
I am Canadian.
من استرالیایی هستم
man ostorâliâyi hastam.
I am Australian.
To ask someone’s nationality, you can use the structure
شما … هستید؟
šomâ … hastid?
“Are you …?”
شما ایرانی هستید؟
šomâ irâni hastid?
Are you Iranian?
شما آلمانی هستید؟
šomâ almâni hastid?
Are you German?
شما چینی هستید؟
šomâ čini hastid?
Are you Chinese?
Answering:
bale, man irâni hastam.
Yes, I am Iranian.
na, man irâni nistam, man amerikâyi hastam.
No, I am not Iranian, I am American.
Saying where you live
To say where you live, we use “dar” meaning “in” and the verb “zendegi kardan” (to live). For A1, we will use a simple fixed sentence pattern:
man dar [country / city] zendegi mikonam.
I live in [country / city].
Examples:
man dar Irân zendegi mikonam.
I live in Iran.
man dar Tehrân zendegi mikonam.
I live in Tehran.
man dar Amrikâ zendegi mikonam.
I live in America.
man dar Londôn zendegi mikonam.
I live in London.
You can combine place of origin and place of living:
man az Irân hastam, ammâ dar Amrikâ zendegi mikonam.
I am from Iran, but I live in America.
man az Almân hastam, va dar Berlîn zendegi mikonam.
I am from Germany, and I live in Berlin.
Short dialogues with countries and nationalities
Here are simple mini conversations that use only the patterns from this chapter and earlier ones.
Dialogue 1:
A: salâm. šomâ az kojâ hastid?
Hello. Where are you from?
B: salâm. man az Irân hastam. šomâ če?
Hello. I am from Iran. And you?
A: man az Amrikâ hastam.
I am from America.
Dialogue 2:
A: šomâ irâni hastid?
Are you Iranian?
B: na, man irâni nistam. man farânsevi hastam.
No, I am not Iranian. I am French.
Dialogue 3:
A: to kojâ zendegi mikoni?
Where do you live? (informal)
B: man dar Tehrân zendegi mikonam. to az kojâ hasti?
I live in Tehran. Where are you from?
A: man az Hind hastam, ammâ dar Tehrân zendegi mikonam.
I am from India, but I live in Tehran.
Vocabulary list for this section
| Persian (script) | Latin transcription | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| من | man | I |
| تو | to | you (informal) |
| شما | šomâ | you (polite / plural) |
| هستم | hastam | I am |
| هستی | hasti | you are (informal) |
| هستید | hastid | you are (polite / plural) |
| از | az | from |
| در | dar | in |
| کجا | kojâ | where |
| ایران | Irân | Iran |
| ایرانی | irâni | Iranian |
| آلمان | Almân | Germany |
| آلمانی | almâni | German (nationality) |
| آمریکا | Amrikâ | America, USA |
| آمریکایی | amerikâyi | American |
| انگلستان / انگلیس | Engelestân / Engelis | England |
| انگلیسی | engelisi | English (nationality) |
| فرانسه | Farânse | France |
| فرانسوی | farânsevi | French (nationality) |
| ایتالیا | Itâliâ | Italy |
| ایتالیایی | itâliâyi | Italian (nationality) |
| اسپانیا | Espaniâ | Spain |
| اسپانیایی | espâniâyi | Spanish (nationality) |
| ترکیه | Torkiye | Turkey |
| ترکی | torki | Turkish (nationality / language) |
| روسیه | Rusiye | Russia |
| روسی | rusi | Russian (nationality / language) |
| هند | Hend | India |
| هندی | hendi | Indian |
| چین | Čin | China |
| چینی | čini | Chinese |
| ژاپن | Jâpon | Japan |
| ژاپنی | japoni | Japanese |
| کانادا | Kanadâ | Canada |
| کانادایی | kanâdâyi | Canadian |
| استرالیا | Ostorâliâ | Australia |
| استرالیایی | ostorâliâyi | Australian |
| تهران | Tehrân | Tehran |
| لندن | Londôn | London |
| زندگی میکنم | zendegi mikonam | I live |
| سلام | salâm | hello |
| نه | na | no |
| بله | bale | yes |
| اما | ammâ | but |
| و | va | and |
| چه؟ | če? | what? / and you? (short) |