LingoDrop
Farsi · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "برف" in Farsi?
Say 'barf' — yes, exactly like the informal English word for vomiting, but with a short Persian 'a' vowel.
barf
A one-syllable word; despite the amusing English homograph, there's no stress choice, just a crisp short vowel between b and rf.
Listen: برف
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
دیشب برف بارید.
Dishab barf bārid.
It snowed last night.
Listen: دیشب برف بارید.
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Dishab barf bārid. — 'It snowed last night.' As with zemestān barf mibārad earlier, Persian needs no dummy subject 'it' — bārid ('fell/rained/snowed', past tense) attaches directly to barf, and dishab ('last night') simply sets the time at the front of the sentence.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers who notice the coincidental resemblance to the slang word 'barf' sometimes exaggerate the vowel for comic effect, which distorts the sound. Keep the vowel short and neutral, like the 'a' in 'cat', and treat the resemblance as a memory aid rather than a pronunciation guide.