Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "که" in Farsi?

Just "keh," rhyming with English "Kay" said short and clipped, almost like the start of "Kevin."

که /ke/

ke

One syllable, typically unstressed — it's a grammatical connector that glues onto the clause it introduces.

Listen: که

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Sound it out

ک Like English "k" in "kettle" — keep it distinct from گ ("g"); Persian treats these as two separate, non-interchangeable sounds.

ه A short "e" vowel here, like "e" in "bed."

Hear it in a sentence

می‌دانم که شما خسته‌اید.

Midānam ke shomā khaste-id.

I know that you are tired.

Listen: می‌دانم که شما خسته‌اید.

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"Midānam ke shomā khaste-id" (می‌دانم که شما خسته‌اید) uses ke to introduce a subordinate clause, exactly like English "that" in "I know that you are tired." Unlike English, this ke can almost never be dropped in Persian the way "that" often is in casual English.

Where English speakers slip

Because English speakers are used to optionally dropping "that" ("I know you're tired"), they sometimes try to drop ke in Persian too — but Persian ke is much closer to obligatory, so leaving it out sounds like broken grammar rather than a casual shortcut.