Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ماه" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce ماه in Farsi?

ماه is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /mɒːh/. It means “month.” Rhymes with the English word "mah" (as in the informal word for "mother") followed by a soft breathy "h," like "mahh."

Rhymes with the English word "mah" (as in the informal word for "mother") followed by a soft breathy "h," like "mahh."

ماه /mɒːh/

māh

One syllable — the key is the long, open ā vowel (as in "father"), held a bit longer than an English speaker's instinct, before the light final "h."

Listen: ماه

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Sound it out

مـ A plain "m" as in "mom."

ا A long, open "ā" vowel, like the "a" in "father" — this is the long ا, distinct from the short "a" of other words like هر.

ه A soft, plain "h" at the end, like a gentle exhale — the same sound ه makes at the start of words, just placed at the end here.

Hear it in a sentence

ماه آینده به ایران می‌روم.

Māh-e āyande be Irān miravam.

Next month I'm going to Iran.

Listen: ماه آینده به ایران می‌روم.

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In ماه آینده به ایران می‌روم, ماه آینده means "next month," with آینده ("coming/next") following ماه — this ezafe-less noun-adjective pairing works because آینده is functioning almost like a fixed modifier for time words (compare هفتهٔ آینده, "next week," which does typically take an ezafe -e). به ایران می‌روم ("I'm going to Iran") again places the destination before the verb, which sits at the very end.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers often shorten the vowel, saying something closer to the English word "ma" clipped short — but Persian's ماه needs a fuller, longer "ah" sound, plus a light breathy "h" at the very end that shouldn't be dropped, since dropping it would make the word sound incomplete to a Persian ear.