Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "دوست" in Farsi?

Pronounced like English "doost" — rhymes with "boost", not with the English word "dust" (which has a completely different vowel).

دوست /dust/

dust

Single syllable; the trap is entirely in the vowel, not stress.

Listen: دوست

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Sound it out

د English "d" as in "dog".

و Here و represents a long "oo" vowel, as in "boot", not a "w" or short "u" sound.

س ت A straightforward "st" cluster, exactly like the end of English "boost".

Hear it in a sentence

دوست من در تهران زندگی می‌کند.

Dust-e man dar Tehrān zendegi mikonad.

My friend lives in Tehran.

Listen: دوست من در تهران زندگی می‌کند.

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

"دوست من در تهران زندگی می‌کند" ("My friend lives in Tehran") shows زندگی کردن ("to live/reside") in the present tense with می‌ prefixed to the verb stem — the standard marker of the Persian present indicative.

Where English speakers slip

The word looks like the English word "dust" when transliterated, which tricks English speakers into using the short "uh" vowel from "dust" the appliance-cleaning word. It should instead be a long, rounded "oo" as in "food" or "boost".