Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "پرسیدن" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce پرسیدن in Farsi?

پرسیدن is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /porˈsiːdæn/. It means “to ask.” Say 'por-SEE-dahn' — the same middle-syllable stress pattern as fahmidan and residan.

Say 'por-SEE-dahn' — the same middle-syllable stress pattern as fahmidan and residan.

پرسیدن /porˈsiːdæn/

porsidan

Stress falls on the syllable before '-dan' — 'si' — giving por-SI-dan, following the regular -idan infinitive pattern.

Listen: پرسیدن

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Sound it out

پ ر س 'pors' — پ is a crisp, unaspirated 'p' (lighter than English 'p'), ر is a tapped 'r', س is 's'; like 'pors' in 'sports' without the final 't'.

ی د ن 'idan' — ی makes a long 'ee', so 'si' rhymes with 'see' and 'dan' rhymes with 'John'; this 'si' syllable is stressed.

Hear it in a sentence

می‌توانم یک سؤال بپرسم؟

Mitavānam yek so'āl beporsam?

Can I ask a question?

Listen: می‌توانم یک سؤال بپرسم؟

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'می‌توانم یک سؤال بپرسم؟' (Mitavānam yek so'āl beporsam?, 'Can I ask a question?') uses beporsam, the subjunctive form (ب- prefix plus stem plus -am), because it follows the modal mitavānam ('I can') — a very common pattern. Note that یک سؤال ('a question') takes no رā, since it's indefinite rather than a specific, known question.

Where English speakers slip

Learners sometimes attach رā to yek so'āl out of habit, but indefinite objects marked with یک ('a/one') never take رā in Persian — only specific, definite objects do, which is why 'yek so'āl beporsam' is correct without رā, unlike 'kelid rā peydā kardam' where the key is definite.