Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ببخشید" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce ببخشید in Farsi?

ببخشید is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈbe.bæx.ʃiːd]. It means “excuse me.” BEH-bakh-sheed, with the stress punched right at the start, on the imperative 'be-' prefix, not spread evenly across the word.

BEH-bakh-sheed, with the stress punched right at the start, on the imperative 'be-' prefix, not spread evenly across the word.

ببخشید [ˈbe.bæx.ʃiːd]

bebakhshid

This is a polite imperative verb form, and Persian imperative be- prefixes always take the primary stress — so the emphasis is front-loaded, unlike most Persian nouns which stress the final syllable.

Listen: ببخشید

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Sound it out

بِ The imperative prefix 'be-', short 'e' as in 'bet' — and the stressed syllable of the whole word: BE-bakhshid.

بخ 'b' plus the raspy back-of-throat 'kh' (like Scottish 'loch'), forming unstressed 'bakh'.

شید 'sh' (as in 'shoe') plus a long 'i' (like 'ee' in 'see') and final 'd' — said clearly but without stress.

Hear it in a sentence

ببخشید، ساعت چند است؟

Bebakhshid, sā'at chand ast?

Excuse me, what time is it?

Listen: ببخشید، ساعت چند است؟

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'ببخشید، ساعت چند است؟' shows ساعت چند است literally as 'hour how-much is', the standard idiom for 'what time is it?' — چند ('how many/what amount') doesn't map onto a literal English 'what'.

Where English speakers slip

Learners usually default to English-style stress near the end ('beh-bakh-SHEED') because that's where the 'interesting' long vowel is; Persian actually front-loads the stress onto the imperative 'be-', which takes practice to internalize.