LingoDrop
Farsi · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "نیست" in Farsi?
Rhymes with English "heist" but starting with "n" — one syllable, "neest."
nist
One syllable, so no internal stress choice; said with full weight since it's a negative copula carrying real meaning ("is not"), not a light clitic.
Listen: نیست
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
این درست نیست.
In dorost nist.
This is not correct.
Listen: این درست نیست.
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"In dorost nist" (این درست نیست) places nist at the end of the sentence as the negative "is not," mirroring how the affirmative ast ("is") also comes last — Persian verbs, including the copula, go at the very end of the clause.
Where English speakers slip
Because nist looks like it should mean "not" as a standalone negator, learners sometimes try to pair it with another verb (like adding it before a separate "is"), but nist already is the negative copula by itself — you don't need or want a second "is" alongside it.