Greetings - PersianPod101 (2024)

Salām be hamegi! Man Anita hastam. Hi everybody! I’m Anita Welcome to PersianPod101.com’s “Persian in 3 minutes.” The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Persian. In the last lesson, we learned how to show gratitude by saying thank you. In this lesson we’ll learn some of the most common greetings used in Iran. Are you ready? Then let's get started! The most commonly used informal greeting is: Salām! [slowly] Salām. Salām means “hi,” or “hello.” We use it when we meet someone or enter a room with people in it. We can use it as a greeting almost anywhere. After Salām, we almost always say "how are you?" when we greet friends or close relatives. It might seem strange to say it every time, but this is a part of normal every day conversation in Persian. Let's try out the informal way of saying "Hello, how are you?" Salām, chetori? [slowly] Chetori? The "i" in Chetori makes this sentence second-person. The formal way becomes slightly longer. Add "hāl-e shomā," which means “your health”. Salām, hāl-e shomā chetore? [slowly] Hāl-e shomā chetore? Hāl-e shomā Chetore, literally means "How is your health?" We use the word shomā "you" instead of saying "chetori" to make this more formal. Now if you remember the first lesson, adding "-et" to a word made it informal. Therefore, if you add "-et" to Hāl instead of -e shomā, you make the whole sentence informal: Salām, hālet Chetore? [slowly] Hālet Chetore? Notice that there are many ways of saying the same phrase in Persian, making it shorter or longer. But remembering the basic words will help you get through almost any conversation! Literally, Salām means "Hello." We use other phrases too, but we always add Salām at the start of a greeting! In the morning, we say: Salām, sobh bekheir! [slowly] Sobh bekheir. Sobh is Persian for “morning,” and bekheir means "to be good." So it really means "Wishing you a good morning." In Persian, we don’t say "good afternoon" or "good evening" very much. "Good morning" and "good night" are used more often. During the rest of the day, the most common greeting is just "Salām." "Good Night" is Shab bekheir! [slow] Shab bekheir! Notice that we didn’t say Salām before Shab bekheir! That’s because we don’t say “Good night” when we meet someone. It is only used when leaving. In Persian, there is only one word for saying goodbye, but there is a small difference between the formal and informal versions: Formal: Khodāhāfez [slowly] Khodāhāfez. Informal: Khodāfez [slowly] Khodāfez. Khodāhāfez literally means “May God protect you,” but it is used to say "Goodbye". Now you have learned many different ways to greet people in Persian! Let’s review them all one more time. When meeting friends or relatives: Salām, chetori? Salām, hālet chetore? When meeting a stranger, someone older, or someone we don’t know well: Salām, hāl-e shomā chetore? To say Good Morning: Salām, sobh bekheir! To say Good Night: Shab bekheir! When leaving, in a formal situation, we say: Khodāhāfez! When leaving, in an informal situation: Khodāfez! It’s easy, isn’t it? Now it’s time for Anita's Advice. In formal situations, Persian people of the same gender commonly greet each other by shaking hands. However, if we meet someone we are very friendly with, we hug and kiss each other on both cheeks. Don’t be afraid to do this with your Persian friends, and don’t be shocked when someone from the same gender tries to hug you or kiss your cheeks—it’s perfectly normal! Remember that this is only if both people are the same gender. In Persian-speaking countries like Iran, you cannot shake hands or hug and kiss a person from the other gender "in public." During the next lesson, we’ll learn the meaning of the phrase Ingilisi Sohbat nemikonid? Do you already know what this means? I'll be looking forward to talking about it with you in our next Persian in 3 minutes lesson. Khodāfez!