Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "با" in Farsi?

Say "bah" with a long, open vowel like in "father" — short and simple, just "b" plus that long "ā."

با /bɒː/

bā

One syllable; hold the vowel a beat longer than you would in English, since it's a genuinely long "ā," not a quick one.

Listen: با

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

ب Like English "b" in "bar."

ا A long "ā," like the "a" in "father" — held longer than an English vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

با شما به بازار می‌روم.

Bā shomā be bāzār miravam.

I'll go to the market with you.

Listen: با شما به بازار می‌روم.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Bā shomā be bāzār miravam" (با شما به بازار می‌روم) places bā directly before its object (shomā, "you"), just like English "with you" — no extra marker needed, and notice the same long-ā sound reappears inside bāzār ("market").

Where English speakers slip

Because bā and be ("to") are both common short prepositions, English speakers sometimes mix them up — bā means "with" (accompaniment), while be means "to" (direction). Saying "be shomā" instead of "bā shomā" changes "with you" into "to you."