Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "خریدن" in Farsi?

Say kha-ree-DAN, three syllables, kh as the raspy 'loch' sound, stress on the last syllable.

خریدن /xæriːˈdæn/

kharidan

As an infinitive, kharidan stresses its final syllable -dan; but in the subjunctive form used with modals (bekharam), stress moves onto the be- prefix instead (see sentence note).

Listen: خریدن

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Sound it out

خ kh, the raspy 'loch' sound, not an English 'k' or 'h'.

ری 'ri' — a tapped r plus a long ee like 'see'.

دن 'dan', stressed in the bare infinitive, plain d plus short a.

Hear it in a sentence

می‌خواهم نان بخرم.

Mikhāham nān bekharam.

I want to buy bread.

Listen: می‌خواهم نان بخرم.

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'می‌خواهم نان بخرم' (mikhāham nān bekharam, 'I want to buy bread') chains a modal (mikhāham, stress MI-) with a subjunctive verb (bekharam, stress BE-) with no separate word for English 'to' — Persian just juxtaposes the two conjugated verbs.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often forget the subjunctive be- prefix after a want/need verb, saying the present-tense mikharam instead of the required bekharam; they also tend to misplace the stress, saying be-KHA-ram instead of the correct BE-kharam.