Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "عینک" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce عینک in Farsi?

عینک is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ʔej.ˈnæk]. It means “glasses.” Say "ay-NAK", starting with a light throat catch before 'ay' (like the start of 'eye') and stressing the second syllable.

Say "ay-NAK", starting with a light throat catch before 'ay' (like the start of 'eye') and stressing the second syllable.

عینک [ʔej.ˈnæk]

eynak

Stress falls on the final syllable -nak; the opening عی is a diphthong sliding from a glottal onset into 'ey', like the vowel in English 'day'.

Listen: عینک

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

Sound it out

عی ع is a soft glottal stop at the start of the word (barely noticeable here, mainly setting off the vowel); ی combines with the preceding vowel to form 'ey', like the 'ay' in English 'day'.

نک ن is 'n' as in 'net'; ک is a hard 'k', with a short 'a' vowel (like 'cup') between them.

Hear it in a sentence

عینکم را نمی‌بینم.

Eynak-am rā nemibinam.

I can't find my glasses.

Listen: عینکم را نمی‌بینم.

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

"Eynak-am rā nemibinam" negates the verb می‌بینم ('I see', from دیدن) with the prefix ne-, giving نمی‌بینم ('I can't find/don't see') — the sentence literally says 'I don't see my glasses' rather than using a separate verb for 'find', while عینکم keeps the same possessive -am plus را pattern seen throughout this set.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often skip the initial ع entirely and just say 'aynak', which is close enough to be understood, but more importantly they tend to stress the first syllable ('EYnak') out of habit; native Tehrani speech puts the stronger stress on the second syllable, -nak.