Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "نه" in Farsi?

nah — a single short, open syllable, rhyming with English 'nah', not 'neh'.

نه [næ]

na

One syllable, so no stress contrast is possible; the vowel is a short, open 'a' as in 'cat', not 'e'.

Listen: نه

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Sound it out

ن A plain 'n' as in English 'no'.

ه Here the ه simply marks the short 'a' vowel (as in 'cat') that follows the ن — together they're pronounced 'na', not 'neh'.

Hear it in a sentence

نه، متشکرم.

Na, moteshakkeram.

No, thank you.

Listen: نه، متشکرم.

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'نه، متشکرم' pairs the bare negative particle نه with متشکرم and needs no verb at all — Persian allows single-word or particle-only replies just like English 'No, thanks.'

Where English speakers slip

Because the word ends in the letter ه, English speakers who've seen it rendered as 'na' but also seen other Persian words pronounced with a final '-eh' often second-guess themselves and say 'neh' — the vowel here is firmly 'a' as in 'cat', not 'e'.