Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "قهوه" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce قهوه in Farsi?

قهوه is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɣahˈve/. It means “coffee.” Say "GHAH-veh," where the "gh" is a gargled sound made in the back of the throat, like clearing your throat gently or a Parisian French "r."

Say "GHAH-veh," where the "gh" is a gargled sound made in the back of the throat, like clearing your throat gently or a Parisian French "r."

قهوه /ɣahˈve/

ghahve

Stress falls on the final syllable, -ve, following the normal Persian pattern for nouns; don't clip that last vowel short.

Listen: قهوه

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Sound it out

ق gh, a voiced, gargled sound from the back of the throat — nothing like English "g" or "q." Think of a soft, buzzy version of clearing your throat.

ه h, a normal, audible English-style "h" here (this middle ه is a real consonant, unlike the silent-looking ه at the end of many words).

و v, like English "v" in "van."

ه e, a short "eh" vowel (this final ه is not pronounced as "h" — it just spells out the closing vowel sound).

Hear it in a sentence

قهوه‌ی ترک را دوست دارم.

Ghahve-ye Tork rā dust dāram.

I like Turkish coffee.

Listen: قهوه‌ی ترک را دوست دارم.

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

"قهوه‌ی ترک را دوست دارم" (Ghahve-ye Tork rā dust dāram) uses the ezafe -ye (the y-form of -e, used after vowels) to link قهوه to ترک, giving "Turkish coffee," and را then marks that whole phrase as the object of دوست دارم ("I like," literally "I have love").

Where English speakers slip

English speakers usually swap the throaty gh for a hard English "g," turning ghahve into something closer to "gahveh." It should come from further back in the throat, more like a soft gargle than a clean English "g."