Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "نیاز داشتن" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce نیاز داشتن in Farsi?

نیاز داشتن is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /niˈɒːz ˈdɒːʃtæn/. It means “to need.” Say 'nee-AHZ DAHSH-tahn'. Niāz is 'need' (the noun) and dāshtan is 'to have', so it's literally 'to have need'.

Say 'nee-AHZ DAHSH-tahn'. Niāz is 'need' (the noun) and dāshtan is 'to have', so it's literally 'to have need'.

نیاز داشتن /niˈɒːz ˈdɒːʃtæn/

niāz dāshtan

Niāz stresses its second syllable ('-āz'); dāshtan stresses its first ('dāsh-') — two separate stress peaks, ni-ĀZ DĀSH-tan, rather than one word with one beat.

Listen: نیاز داشتن

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Sound it out

نی 'ni' as in English 'knee'.

ا ز ا here is the long 'ā' sound like 'father'; ز is a plain 'z' — together the stressed syllable 'āz'.

د ا ش ت ن 'dāshtan' — د is 'd', ا ش gives 'āsh' (long 'ā' plus 'sh' as in 'shop'), ت ن gives 'tan' rhyming with 'John'; stress falls on 'DĀSH'.

Hear it in a sentence

به کمک نیاز دارم.

Be komak niāz dāram.

I need help.

Listen: به کمک نیاز دارم.

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'به کمک نیاز دارم' (Be komak niāz dāram, 'I need help') uses به کمک ('to help'), not کمک را: niāz dāshtan takes its object with the preposition به rather than the direct-object marker را, so the structure is closer to 'I have need of help' than 'I need help [object]'.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers instinctively want to say 'komak rā niāz dāram', treating 'help' as a direct object with رā — but Persian requires the preposition here: 'be komak niāz dāram', since niāz dāshtan idiomatically takes 'be' plus a noun, not a رā-marked object.