Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "خیابان" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce خیابان in Farsi?

خیابان is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /xiɒːˈbɒːn/. It means “street.” Say "khee-ah-BAHN," starting with a raspy "kh" (like clearing your throat softly, as in Scottish "loch"), and stress the last syllable.

Say "khee-ah-BAHN," starting with a raspy "kh" (like clearing your throat softly, as in Scottish "loch"), and stress the last syllable.

خیابان /xiɒːˈbɒːn/

khiābān

Stress falls on the final syllable -bān; the raspy خ at the start is often the hardest part for English speakers, so focus practice there rather than on the stress.

Listen: خیابان

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Sound it out

خی khi, "kh" is a raspy, throat-scraping sound like Scottish "loch" or German "Bach" — quite different from a plain English "k" — followed by a short "ee."

ا ā, the long open "ah" of "father."

ب b, like English "b" in "boy."

ان ān, a nasal-tinged long "ahn," like "on" said with an open Southern-English "a" and held a bit longer.

Hear it in a sentence

خانه‌ی ما در این خیابان است.

Khāne-ye mā dar in khiābān ast.

Our house is on this street.

Listen: خانه‌ی ما در این خیابان است.

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"خانه‌ی ما در این خیابان است" (Khāne-ye mā dar in khiābān ast) chains two ezafe links — خانه‌ی ما ("house of us," i.e. "our house") — then places the location phrase در این خیابان ("on this street") before the verb است ("is"), since Persian keeps the verb at the very end of the sentence.

Where English speakers slip

The biggest trap is turning خ into a plain English "k" or "h," which erases a meaningful sound contrast in Persian (خ vs. ک vs. ه are all different letters/sounds). Practice the raspy, back-of-throat friction of "kh" separately before attaching it to the rest of the word.