Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "سخت" in Farsi?

Say "sakht," with a short a like in "cat" and a raspy "kh" before the final t.

سخت /sæxt/

sakht

One syllable, so the challenge is entirely in getting the raspy kh sound right, not in stress.

Listen: سخت

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Sound it out

س s, as in English "sun," followed by a short "a" as in "cat."

خ the same raspy, throat-scraping sound as in khub — like Scottish "loch" — never a plain English k or h.

ت t, as in English "top," closing the word crisply.

Hear it in a sentence

فارسی برایم سخت است.

Fārsi barāyam sakht ast.

Persian is difficult for me.

Listen: فارسی برایم سخت است.

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"Fārsi barāyam sakht ast" uses barāyam ("for me") — barāye ("for") plus the possessive suffix -am — to show who finds something difficult, a very common and useful construction for describing personal experience with a subject.

Where English speakers slip

The consonant cluster خت at the end trips up English speakers, who tend to insert a vowel between kh and t or swallow the kh entirely; both sounds need to be pronounced back-to-back with no extra vowel. Also remember this is the opposite of āsān, not a synonym.