Asking for Directions

Orientation: How Asking for Directions Works in Persian

In Persian, asking for directions is very formulaic and polite. At A2 level you already know simple present tense, basic verbs, and simple questions. In this chapter, you will learn how to combine these with location words and typical expressions used in the street when you are lost or looking for something.

You will see both the Persian script and a simple Latin transcription. The goal is not to perfect your pronunciation yet, but to recognize and use the core patterns.

Starting a Polite Request

Before you ask the actual question, you almost always call the person’s attention in a polite way. These short phrases are extremely common on the street.

The most frequent one is:

Persian: ببخشید
Transcription: bebakhšid
Meaning: “excuse me,” “sorry”

You can use bebakhšid at the start of almost any question to a stranger. You can also add آقا (âqâ, “sir”) or خانم (khânom, “madam”) after it, especially in more formal or polite contexts.

Examples:
ببخشید آقا...
bebakhšid âqâ...
“Excuse me, sir ...”

ببخشید خانم...
bebakhšid khânom...
“Excuse me, madam ...”

You can also add لطفاً (lotfan, “please”) inside the sentence, often after the verb or before the main phrase.

Example:
ببخشید، لطفاً راهنمایی می‌کنید؟
bebakhšid, lotfan râhnamâyi mikonid?
“Excuse me, could you please guide (me)?”

Key Question Patterns for Directions

Most direction questions in Persian use a small set of recurring patterns. Learn these as ready made “chunks” and then you can change one word to create many new sentences.

“Where is ... ?”

The most basic pattern is “Where is X?” This is used for buildings, streets, or places.

Persian uses کجاست؟ (kojâst?) or in more spoken style کجاست؟ pronounced kojâst? or kojâst-e?.

Pattern:
[place] کجاست؟
[place] kojâst?
“Where is [place]?”

A very common polite version includes “please” and “excuse me”:

ببخشید، [place] کجاست؟
bebakhšid, [place] kojâst?
“Excuse me, where is [place]?”

Examples:
ببخشید، مترو کجاست؟
bebakhšid, metro kojâst?
“Excuse me, where is the metro?”

ببخشید، خیابان انقلاب کجاست؟
bebakhšid, xiyâbân‑e enghelâb kojâst?
“Excuse me, where is Enghelab Street?”

ببخشید، مسجد کجاست؟
bebakhšid, masjed kojâst?
“Excuse me, where is the mosque?”

“How can I go to ... ?”

Another very natural pattern is “How can I go to X?” This sounds very polite and is great for asking more than just the location, for example the best route.

Key question word: چطور (chetor, “how”).

Pattern:
چطور می‌تونم برم [place]؟
chetor mitunam beram [place]?
“How can I go to [place]?”

This uses the present tense of “can” and “go”, but you do not need to analyze the grammar here. Just learn the whole sentence.

Examples:
ببخشید، چطور می‌تونم برم ایستگاه اتوبوس؟
bebakhšid, chetor mitunam beram istgâh‑e otobus?
“Excuse me, how can I go to the bus station?”

چطور می‌تونم برم مرکز شهر؟
chetor mitunam beram markaz‑e shahr?
“How can I go to the city center?”

You can also use a shorter, very colloquial version with برم (beram, “(that I) go”) directly after the place:

راهِ [place] کجاست؟
râh‑e [place] kojâst?
“Where is the way to [place]?”
This is less common than the “how can I go” version, but good to recognize.

“Is [place] near/far?”

Sometimes you want to know if you can walk or if you should take transport. Then you ask if something is near or far.

Two key adjectives:
نزدیک (nazdik, “near”)
دور (dur, “far”)

Patterns:
[place] نزدیک است؟
[place] nazdik ast?
“Is [place] near?”

In spoken Persian:
[place] نزدیکه؟
[place] nazdike?

[place] دوره؟
[place] dure?
“Is [place] far?”

Examples:
ببخشید، ایستگاه مترو اینجا نزدیکه؟
bebakhšid, istgâh‑e metro injâ nazdike?
“Excuse me, is the metro station near here?”

مرکز شهر دوره؟
markaz‑e shahr dure?
“Is the city center far?”

Names of Common Places

To use the patterns, you need some frequent place words. Here are typical locations that appear in direction questions and answers.

City and transport:
خیابان (xiyâbân), “street”
کوچه (kuche), “small street, alley”
میدان (meydân), “square, roundabout”
ایستگاه (istgâh), “station, stop”
ایستگاه اتوبوس (istgâh‑e otobus), “bus stop”
ایستگاه مترو (istgâh‑e metro), “metro station”
ترمینال (terminal), “bus terminal”
فرودگاه (forudgâh), “airport”
مرکز شهر (markaz‑e shahr), “city center, downtown”

Public buildings and services:
بانک (bânk), “bank”
بیمارستان (bimârestân), “hospital”
داروخانه (dârxâne or dârukhâne), “pharmacy”
پلیس (polis), “police”
کلانتری (kalântari), “local police station”
دانشگاه (dâneshgâh), “university”
مدرسه (madrese), “school”
مسجد (masjed), “mosque”
پارک (pârk), “park”

Shops and daily places:
سوپرمارکت (supermârket), “supermarket”
نانوایی (nânvâyi), “bakery”
رستوران (resturân), “restaurant”
کافی‌شاپ (kâfi shâp), “coffee shop, café”
هتل (hotel), “hotel”
موزه (muze), “museum”

You can now combine these with the question patterns:

ببخشید، داروخانه کجاست؟
bebakhšid, dârxâne kojâst?
“Excuse me, where is the pharmacy?”

چطور می‌تونم برم هتل؟
chetor mitunam beram hotel?
“How can I go to the hotel?”

Basic Direction Words and Prepositions

To understand answers, you must know some essential prepositions and direction words. Some of these are prepositions you will study in more detail in another chapter, but here we focus on their use in direction phrases.

Very common position words:

اینجا (injâ), “here”
آنجا (ânjâ), “there”
اونجا (unjà), “there” more colloquial
بالا (bâlâ), “up, uphill”
پایین (pâin), “down, downhill”
چپ (chap), “left”
راست (râst), “right”
جلو (jelow), “in front”
عقب (aghab), “behind, back”
روبرو (ruberu), “opposite, across from”
کنار (kenâr), “next to, beside**
بین (beyn), “between”

To say “on the left/right” you usually say:

سمت چپ (samt‑e chap), “on the left side”
سمت راست (samt‑e râst), “on the right side”

You often hear سمتِ with an extra short “e” sound: samte.

Examples:
سمت چپِ شما
samt‑e chap‑e shomâ
“on your left side”

سمت راستِ خیابون
samt‑e râst‑e xiyâbun
“on the right side of the street”

A very useful preposition for destinations is به (be, “to”). You will see it more in the prepositions chapter, but here notice sentences like:

به سمت راست بپیچید.
be samt‑e râst bepichid.
“Turn to the right.”

Common Verbs Used in Directions

Some verbs appear again and again in direction instructions. Learn them in their basic “you” forms used for giving directions. For now, focus on how they sound and what they do in these special phrases.

Important verbs:

رفتن (raftan), “to go”
Imperative: بروید (beravid, polite), برید (berid, spoken polite), برو (boro, informal “go”)

پیچیدن (pichidan), “to turn”
Imperative: بپیچید (bepichid, polite), بپیچ (bepich, informal)

رسیدن (residan), “to arrive, to reach”
Sentence pattern: “When you reach X” or “You will reach X.”

بودن (budan), “to be”
Used as “it is after X”, “it is before Y”.

دیدن (didan), “to see”
Used in “when you see the park”.

Examples of full instruction sentences:

از اینجا مستقیم برید.
az injâ mostaghim berid.
“From here go straight.”

سرِ چهارراه به راست بپیچید.
sar‑e chahâr râh be râst bepichid.
“At the intersection, turn right.”

وقتی پارک رو دیدید، داروخانه کنارشه.
vaqti pârk ro didid, dârxâne kenâr‑eshe.
“When you see the park, the pharmacy is next to it.”

Typical Answer Patterns

When Iranians answer your question, they will often use a combination of short instruction phrases instead of long sentences.

“It is here / there / over there”

Very short answers:

اینجاست.
injâst.
“It is here.”

اونجاست.
unjâst.
“It is there.”

همین‌جاست.
haminjâst.
“It is right here.”

اون‌طرفه.
un‑tarafe.
“It is that way / on that side.”

These often come with a pointing gesture. Even if you do not understand every word, “injâst” and “unjâst” tell you that the place is here or there.

“Go straight, then turn ...”

One of the most standard answer structures is:

“Go straight, then turn left/right.”

In Persian:

مستقیم برید، بعد به چپ بپیچید.
mostaghim berid, ba’d be chap bepichid.
“Go straight, then turn left.”

مستقیم برید، بعد به راست بپیچید.
mostaghim berid, ba’d be râst bepichid.
“Go straight, then turn right.”

You can add landmarks like “at the light”, “at the square”.

Useful landmarks:

چهارراه (chahâr râh), “intersection, crossroads”
میـدان (meydân), “square, roundabout”
چراغ قرمز (cherâgh‑e qermez), “red light, traffic light”
اولین (avvalin), “the first”
دومین (dovvomin), “the second”

Example:

تا چراغ قرمز مستقیم برید، بعد اولین کوچه سمت چپ.
tâ cherâgh‑e qermez mostaghim berid, ba’d avvalin kuche samt‑e chap.
“Go straight to the traffic light, then the first alley on the left.”

“It is next to / opposite / after / before ...”

More detailed answers include relations to another place.

Patterns:

[place A] کنارِ [place B] است.
[place A] kenâr‑e [place B] ast.
“[place A] is next to [place B].”

[place A] روبروی [place B] است.
[place A] ruberu‑ye [place B] ast.
“[place A] is opposite [place B].”

[place A] بعد ازِ [place B] است.
[place A] ba’d az‑e [place B] ast.
“[place A] is after [place B].”

[place A] قبل ازِ [place B] است.
[place A] ghabl az‑e [place B] ast.
“[place A] is before [place B].”

In spoken style, the final “ast” becomes “e” or disappears:

کنارِ بانکِ ملیه.
kenâr‑e bânk‑e melli‑e.
“It is next to Bank Melli.”

روبروی پارکه.
ruberu‑ye pârk‑e.
“It is opposite the park.”

بعد ازِ داروخونه‌ست.
ba’d az‑e dârxune‑st.
“It is after the pharmacy.”

Short Survival Exchanges

Here are some simple mini dialogues that combine the patterns above. The focus is on recognizing structures and using them, not on deep grammar analysis.

Dialogue 1:

A:
ببخشید، ایستگاه مترو کجاست؟
bebakhšid, istgâh‑e metro kojâst?
“Excuse me, where is the metro station?”

B:
مستقیم برید، بعد از میدون، سمت راست.
mostaghim berid, ba’d az meydun, samt‑e râst.
“Go straight, after the square, on the right.”

Dialogue 2:

A:
ببخشید خانم، چطور می‌تونم برم دانشگاه؟
bebakhšid khânom, chetor mitunam beram dâneshgâh?
“Excuse me, madam, how can I go to the university?”

B:
خیلی نزدیکه. از اینجا برید بالا، دانشگاه روبروی پارکه.
xeyli nazdike. az injâ berid bâlâ, dâneshgâh ruberu‑ye pârk‑e.
“It is very close. From here go up, the university is opposite the park.”

Dialogue 3:

A:
سوپرمارکت اینجا نزدیکه؟
supermârket injâ nazdike?
“Is a supermarket near here?”

B:
بله، همین‌جاست، کنارِ داروخانه.
bale, haminjâst, kenâr‑e dârxâne.
“Yes, it is right here, next to the pharmacy.”

Understanding Approximate Distance

Sometimes people answer using an estimated walking time. A common pattern is “X minutes on foot” or “with a taxi”.

Key words:

پیاده (piâde), “on foot, walking”
با تاکسی (bâ tâxi), “by taxi”
دقیقه (daqiqe), “minute”
حدوداً (hodudan), “approximately”

Examples:

پیاده ده دقیقه‌ست.
piâde dah daqiqe‑st.
“It is ten minutes on foot.”

با تاکسی پنج دقیقه‌ست.
bâ tâxi panj daqiqe‑st.
“It is five minutes by taxi.”

خیلی دوره، با مترو برید.
xeyli dure, bâ metro berid.
“It is very far, go by metro.”

Asking for Clarification

If you do not understand the answer, it is useful to ask for repetition or clarification in simple ways.

Useful phrases:

ببخشید، دوباره می‌گید؟
bebakhšid, dobare migid?
“Excuse me, can you say it again?”

یواش‌تر لطفاً.
yavâš‑tar lotfan.
“More slowly, please.”

من فارسی زیاد بلد نیستم.
man fârsi ziyâd balad nistam.
“I do not know Persian very well.”

People in Iran are usually very patient with learners. Using these short phrases will make the conversation easier and more friendly.

Vocabulary List for “Asking for Directions”