How to Pronounce 'در حالی که': Farsi Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce در حالی که in Farsi?

در حالی که is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dær hɒːˈliː ke/. It means “while.” Four words that act as one phrase: "dar" like "dark" without the k, then "HAH-lee" with a long, open "ah," then a quick "keh."

How do you pronounce "در حالی که" in Farsi?

Four words that act as one phrase: "dar" like "dark" without the k, then "HAH-lee" with a long, open "ah," then a quick "keh."

در حالی که /dær hɒːˈliː ke/

dar hāli-ke

The heaviest stress sits on حالی, specifically on its long ā vowel, while در and که stay light and unstressed — much like unstressed English "while" versus a stressed content word.

Listen: در حالی که

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Sound it out

در A short "dar," like the start of "dart" — the ر is a light tap, not a heavy American "r."

حالی "Hā" is a long, open "ah" (as in "father") followed by a light "h" from ح — even though ح looks different from ه, both are pronounced as a plain English "h." Then "-li" closes it out like "lee."

که A quick, unstressed "ke," rhyming with the English word "keh" or the start of "kettle" — it's the same که used to mean "that" elsewhere.

Hear it in a sentence

در حالی که تلویزیون نگاه می‌کنم، چای می‌نوشم.

Dar hāli-ke televizyon negāh mikonam, chāy minusham.

While I watch TV, I drink tea.

Listen: در حالی که تلویزیون نگاه می‌کنم، چای می‌نوشم.

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In در حالی که تلویزیون نگاه می‌کنم، چای می‌نوشم, this whole phrase functions as a single subordinating conjunction meaning "while," introducing an action happening at the same time as the main clause — notice both verbs, نگاه می‌کنم and می‌نوشم, are in the ongoing present tense, which is typical for two simultaneous actions. Literally در حالی که breaks down as "in the state that," a compound phrase rather than one word, but Persian speakers treat and say it as a single fixed unit.

Where English speakers slip

Because it's written as three separate words, English speakers often pause between them as if each were its own beat — but native speakers run it together smoothly as one phrase with a single stress peak on حالی. Don't confuse it with the shorter وقتی ("when"): در حالی که specifically implies two things happening at the same time, not just a triggering moment.