Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "منتظر بودن" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce منتظر بودن in Farsi?

منتظر بودن is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /mon.tæˈzer buːˈdæn/. It means “to wait.” Say it like 'mon-tuh-ZAIR BOO-dahn'. Montazer means 'waiting' and budan just means 'to be', so together it's literally 'to-be-waiting'.

Say it like 'mon-tuh-ZAIR BOO-dahn'. Montazer means 'waiting' and budan just means 'to be', so together it's literally 'to-be-waiting'.

منتظر بودن /mon.tæˈzer buːˈdæn/

montazer budan

Montazer stresses its final syllable ('-zer'), as most Persian words do; budan keeps its own separate stress on 'bu', so the phrase has two beats rather than one dominant stress.

Listen: منتظر بودن

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Sound it out

م ن ت Sounds like the start of English 'monster' without the s: 'mon-t'.

ظ ر ظ is just a plain 'z' in Iranian Persian (its old Arabic value has merged into 'z'), and ر is a light tapped 'r' like Spanish or Italian 'r', giving the stressed syllable 'ZER'.

ب و 'bu' as in English 'boo'.

د ن 'dan' rhymes with English 'John' — د is a clear 'd', ن is 'n'.

Hear it in a sentence

اینجا منتظر باشید.

Injā montazer bāshid.

Wait here.

Listen: اینجا منتظر باشید.

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The example 'اینجا منتظر باشید' (Injā montazer bāshid, 'Wait here') uses بāshid, the polite imperative of بودن, rather than بودن itself — montazer stays frozen while only the 'to be' part conjugates. This formal second-person form is the standard, polite way to instruct someone in Persian.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers often try to conjugate montazer itself, adding endings directly to it — but montazer never changes; only budan/bāshid changes for tense and person, exactly like English 'be waiting' where only 'be' conjugates.