Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "بهار" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce بهار in Farsi?

بهار is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [bahɒːr]. It means “spring.” Say 'ba-HAHR' — a quick opening syllable followed by a stressed, long 'ah' plus a rolled or tapped 'r'.

Say 'ba-HAHR' — a quick opening syllable followed by a stressed, long 'ah' plus a rolled or tapped 'r'.

بهار [bahɒːr]

bahār

Stress falls firmly on the second syllable, -hār; the initial ba- is light and unstressed.

Listen: بهار

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Sound it out

ب Pronounced 'ba' — a plain English 'b' plus a short 'a' as in 'bat'.

ها Pronounced 'hā' — an English 'h' followed by the long open 'ah' of 'father'; this is the stressed syllable.

ر Pronounced 'r' — a light tap or trill of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, not the English 'r'.

Hear it in a sentence

بهار فصل مورد علاقه‌ی من است.

Bahār fasl-e mored-e alāghe-ye man ast.

Spring is my favorite season.

Listen: بهار فصل مورد علاقه‌ی من است.

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Bahār fasl-e mored-e alāghe-ye man ast. — 'Spring is my favorite season.' This sentence strings together the ezāfe construction (the unstressed -e linking word) three times in a row: fasl-e mored-e alāghe-ye man literally chains 'season' + 'of' + 'favorite' + 'of' + 'my', which is how Persian builds up a noun phrase like 'my favorite season' without a single word for 'favorite'.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often pronounce the ر at the end as a full American 'r' with the tongue curled back; Persian ر is a light tap, closer to the 'r' in Spanish 'pero' or British 'very'. Don't let it swallow the preceding long 'ā'.