Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "خیلی" in Farsi?

Say "KHAY-lee," with a raspy "kh" at the start (like clearing your throat gently) and stress up front.

خیلی /ˈxejli/

kheyli

Unusually for Persian, everyday spoken stress lands on the first syllable, KHEY-, rather than the final syllable — this is a fixed, memorized exception worth noting.

Listen: خیلی

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Sound it out

خی kh, a raspy sound made at the back of the throat (like Scottish "loch"), plus a short "ey" as in "they" — the stressed syllable, KHEY-.

لی l + a long "ee" (like "lee"), unstressed.

Hear it in a sentence

این غذا خیلی خوب است.

In ghazā kheyli khub ast.

This food is very good.

Listen: این غذا خیلی خوب است.

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"این غذا خیلی خوب است" (In ghazā kheyli khub ast) means "This food is very good." خیلی sits directly before the adjective it intensifies (خوب, "good"), exactly where English "very" would go.

Where English speakers slip

The biggest mistake is softening or dropping the خ sound into a plain English "k" — it needs that raspy, throat-clearing friction, not a hard stop. Learners also often mis-stress it as khey-LI by analogy with other Persian words, when native speech strongly favors KHEY-li.