Transportation

Getting Around: Transportation in Everyday Persian

In this chapter you learn how to talk about transportation in simple everyday Persian. You will be able to say how you go somewhere, talk about different vehicles, and understand very common phrases related to moving around a city.

Remember that Persian usually places the verb at the end of the sentence, and that concepts like present tense and prepositions are explained in other chapters. Here we focus on transportation words and the most useful ready-made patterns.

Common Transportation Words

First, learn the basic names of vehicles and transport modes that you will hear all the time in Iran.

The word “transportation” in Persian is رفت‌وآمد or حمل‌ونقل, but for daily life you mostly need the specific vehicles.

Bus is اتوبوس. A city bus is also called اتوبوس شهری. A long-distance or intercity bus is called اتوبوس بین‌شهری.

Taxi is تاکسی. In Tehran and many cities you will see shared taxis called تاکسی خطی or تاکسی اشتراکی, where several passengers go on the same route and pay per seat. A regular private taxi is sometimes called تاکسی تلفنی, especially if you order it by phone.

Metro or subway is مترو. This word is used for underground trains and urban rail.

Train is قطار. A train station is ایستگاه قطار.

Airplane is هواپیما and an airport is فرودگاه.

Car is ماشین in everyday speech. A more formal word, especially in writing, is خودرو. A personal car or private car is ماشین شخصی.

Motorbike or motorcycle is موتور. Bicycle is دوچرخه.

If you say your own vehicle, as in “my car,” you say ماشینم, literally “my car.” The ending ام is “my.” Full possession patterns will be treated in the Possession chapter, but here you can recognize the forms like ماشینم, دوچرخه‌ام, موتورم.

Public Transport and Stations

To talk about buses, metro, and trains you need a few place words.

Station or stop is ایستگاه. A bus stop is ایستگاه اتوبوس. A metro station is ایستگاه مترو. At a station you can say من در ایستگاه هستم, “I am at the station.”

Terminal for buses is ترمینال or پایانه. Long-distance buses usually depart from a ترمینال or پایانه اتوبوس.

A taxi stand or taxi stop is ایستگاه تاکسی. In many places you simply see the word تاکسی on a sign.

Ticket is بلیط. A bus ticket is بلیط اتوبوس. A metro ticket is often called بلیط مترو or کارت مترو if it is a card. A train ticket is بلیط قطار. A plane ticket is بلیط هواپیما.

The word line or route is خط. For example خط یک مترو means metro line 1. For a shared taxi route you may hear خط ونک for “Vanak route,” and so on.

In a city you may need to ask: “Where is the bus stop?” which uses the question patterns covered elsewhere, for example: ایستگاه اتوبوس کجاست؟ literally “bus station where-is?”

Saying How You Go Somewhere

To say how you go from place to place, Persian often uses the preposition با meaning “with,” followed by a vehicle, and then the verb for “to go,” رفتن. Basic verb conjugations are explained in Present Tense chapters, but here we show some typical whole phrases you can memorize.

من با اتوبوس می‌روم means “I go by bus.” Literally it is “I with bus go.” The pattern is:

با + vehicle + می‌روم / می‌روی / می‌رود ...

For example:
من با تاکسی می‌روم “I go by taxi.”
من با مترو می‌روم “I go by metro.”
من با قطار می‌روم “I go by train.”
من با ماشین می‌روم “I go by car.”
من با هواپیما می‌روم “I go by plane.”
من با دوچرخه می‌روم “I go by bicycle.”
من پیاده می‌روم “I go on foot, I walk.”

Here پیاده means “on foot.” You do not use با with پیاده. You just say: من پیاده می‌روم.

You can also talk about going “from” and “to” places. The preposition از means “from” and به means “to.”

For example:
من هر روز از خانه به دانشگاه با مترو می‌روم.
“I go from home to university by metro every day.”

In this sentence از خانه is “from home,” به دانشگاه is “to university,” and با مترو is “by metro.”

Everyday Phrases for Getting Around Town

In real life you often need short functional sentences. Learn these set phrases related to transportation.

If you want to say “I am in the bus” you say: من در اتوبوس هستم. The preposition در means “in” or “at.” Similarly:
من در مترو هستم “I am in the metro (subway).”
من در تاکسی هستم “I am in a taxi.”
من در ماشین هستم “I am in the car.”

To say “I am at the station”:
من در ایستگاه هستم.
To specify:
من در ایستگاه مترو هستم.
“I am at the metro station.”

When you talk about leaving or arriving, the exact verbs are covered in common verb lists later. For now you can recognize:
می‌آیم “I come,”
می‌روم “I go,”
میرسم (می‌رسم) “I arrive.”

For example:
الان با اتوبوس می‌آیم.
“I am coming now by bus.”

Another frequent question in daily life is “How do you go to work?” One common version is:
سرِ کار چطور می‌روی؟
Literally “to work how do you go?”
You can answer:
با مترو می‌روم.
“I go by metro.”
با ماشینم می‌روم.
“I go by my car.”

Here the word سرِ کار is a fixed expression that means “to work” as a destination.

To ask “Do you have a car?” people say:
ماشین داری؟
This uses informal “you.” You will see more about pronouns and verb endings elsewhere.

To ask “Are you in the taxi?” you can say:
در تاکسی هستی؟

Taking a Taxi: Key Words and Short Sentences

In Iran taxis are very common. Knowing a few basic taxi phrases will help you a lot, even at a beginner level.

To say “I want a taxi”:
من تاکسی می‌خواهم.
The verb می‌خواهم means “I want.”

To address a driver, you may simply say: تاکسی؟ as a call when you are on the street.

You can say where you want to go using the preposition به “to.” For example:
به فرودگاه می‌روم.
“I am going to the airport.”
You can also say: من می‌خواهم به فرودگاه بروم.
“I want to go to the airport.”
Here the infinitive form رفتن appears as بروم in subjunctive, but you can treat the whole sentence as a chunk at this level.

In a taxi, if you want to say “Please stop here” you say:
اینجا نگه دارید، لطفاً.
Literally: “Hold/keep here, please.” The verb نگه دارید is “stop” in polite plural form.

If you want the driver to stop in front of a place:
جلوی بانک نگه دارید، لطفاً.
“Please stop in front of the bank.”

To ask “How much is the fare?” you can say:
کرایه چقدر است؟
Here کرایه means “fare.”

You can also hear:
چند می‌شود؟
“How much does it become?” in the sense of “How much is it?”

To say “It is expensive”:
گران است. or just
گرونه. (informal)
To say “It is cheap”:
ارزان است. or in informal speech
ارزونه.

You do not need all price structures yet, but it is useful to recognize این گرونه “this is expensive” and این ارزونه “this is cheap.”

Using the Bus and Metro

For buses and the metro you usually need to know how to talk about the line, the direction, and getting on or off.

To say “Which bus goes to the city center?” a simple version is:
کدام اتوبوس به مرکز شهر می‌رود؟
This uses کدام “which,” and مرکز شهر “city center.”

To ask “Which line?” you can say:
کدام خط؟
In context, for example at the metro, it means “Which line?” or “Which route?”

Direction is جهت or مسیر, but in basic questions people might just say “to [place]?” as:
به تجریش؟ “To Tajrish?”
This is often heard when checking the direction for a bus or shared taxi.

To say “I am getting off here”:
من اینجا پیاده می‌شوم.
Literally “I get off on foot here.” The phrase پیاده شدن is the verb “to get off (a vehicle).”

To say “I get on the bus at 8”:
ساعت هشت سوارِ اتوبوس می‌شوم.
The verb سوار شدن means “to get on, to board.” A simple pattern is:
سوارِ + vehicle + شدن
“to get on + vehicle.”

For example:
من سوارِ مترو می‌شوم.
“I get on the metro.”
من سوارِ تاکسی می‌شوم.
“I get in the taxi.”

You may also see the short form سوار می‌شوم when the vehicle is clear from context.

In the metro, entrances are marked with مترو and exits are marked خروج “exit.” The word ورود means “entrance,” though often just the symbol or the word itself is shown.

Talking About Distance and Time of Travel

Even at A2 it is useful to say how long a trip takes or whether a place is far or near.

Far is دور and near is نزدیک.

To say “My house is far”:
خانه‌ام دور است.
To say “My office is near”:
اداره‌ام نزدیک است.

You can also say “near the station”:
نزدیکِ ایستگاه.
And “far from here”:
دور از اینجا.

To talk about duration, the word دقیقه means “minute,” ساعت means “hour.” To say “It is ten minutes by bus”:
با اتوبوس ده دقیقه است.
Literally “with bus it is ten minutes.”

For example:
از خانه تا دانشگاه با مترو بیست دقیقه است.
“From home to university it is twenty minutes by metro.”
Here تا means “until / to” and will also appear in the time expressions chapter.

Another useful pattern is:
چقدر طول می‌کشد؟
“How long does it take?”
You can answer:
ده دقیقه طول می‌کشد.
“It takes ten minutes.”

At this level you do not need to produce this pattern perfectly, but understanding it will help you follow everyday talk about transportation times.

Short Dialogues with Transportation

Here are a few short model exchanges that illustrate the vocabulary and patterns in this chapter. Focus on recognizing the transport words and the با + vehicle pattern.

Dialogue 1: Going to work

الف: سرِ کار با چی می‌روی؟
“By what do you go to work?”
ب: با مترو می‌روم.
“I go by metro.”
الف: ایستگاه مترو نزدیکِ خانه‌ات است؟
“Is the metro station near your house?”
ب: بله، نزدیک است.
“Yes, it is near.”

Dialogue 2: Taking a taxi to the airport

الف: به فرودگاه چطور می‌روی؟
“How do you go to the airport?”
ب: با تاکسی می‌روم.
“I go by taxi.”
الف: کرایه چقدر است؟
“How much is the fare?”
ب: فکر می‌کنم گرانه!
“I think it is expensive!”

Dialogue 3: Bus and time

الف: از اینجا تا دانشگاه با اتوبوس چقدر طول می‌کشد؟
“How long does it take from here to the university by bus?”
ب: حدود نیم ساعت.
“About half an hour.”
الف: همیشه با اتوبوس می‌روی؟
“Do you always go by bus?”
ب: نه، بعضی وقت‌ها با ماشینم می‌روم.
“No, sometimes I go by my car.”

In these examples, focus on recognizing اتوبوس, مترو, تاکسی, فرودگاه, کرایه, and the patterns با + vehicle + می‌روم, نزدیک است, دور است, چقدر طول می‌کشد.

At this stage, memorizing whole sentences like من با مترو می‌روم or من اینجا پیاده می‌شوم gives you ready-made expressions for real-life situations.

Vocabulary for “Transportation”