Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "خواندن" in Farsi?

Say khahn-DAN, with kh as the raspy 'loch' sound and a silent و, stress on the second syllable.

خواندن /xɒːnˈdæn/

khāndan

As an infinitive, khāndan stresses its final syllable -dan.

Listen: خواندن

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Sound it out

خوا Pronounced 'khā' — the و is silent, the same pattern as khāstan and khābidan; kh is the raspy 'loch' sound.

ن n, exactly like English 'n'.

دن 'dan', stressed, plain d plus short a.

Hear it in a sentence

روزنامه می‌خوانم.

Ruznāme mikhānam.

I read the newspaper.

Listen: روزنامه می‌خوانم.

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'روزنامه می‌خوانم' (ruznāme mikhānam, 'I read the newspaper') stresses MI- in mikhānam. روزنامه (ruznāme, 'newspaper') is itself a compound of ruz ('day') and nāme ('letter/document') — literally 'day-paper'.

Where English speakers slip

The same verb khāndan also means 'to study' (paired with dars, as in #82) and 'to sing' (paired with āvāz) — learners who only know it as 'read' can be confused when it shows up meaning something quite different depending on its object noun.