Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "سریع" in Farsi?

Q: How do you pronounce سریع in Farsi?

سریع is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sæˈɾiːʔ/. It means “fast.” Say "sa-REE," with a tapped r, a long "ee," and a very brief catch in the throat at the very end.

Say "sa-REE," with a tapped r, a long "ee," and a very brief catch in the throat at the very end.

سریع /sæˈɾiːʔ/

sari'

Stress is on the second syllable, RI; the final ع is a glottal stop, often reduced to a slight catch or barely audible in casual Tehrani speech rather than a hard consonant.

Listen: سریع

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Sound it out

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

ر a light tapped r, like the single r in Spanish "pero."

ی a long "ee" as in "see," carrying the main stress.

ع a glottal stop — the little catch in your throat you make in the middle of "uh-oh" — often very subtle in casual speech but technically closes the syllable.

Hear it in a sentence

او سریع راه می‌رود.

U sari' rāh miravad.

He/She walks fast.

Listen: او سریع راه می‌رود.

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"U sari' rāh miravad" literally means "he/she quickly walks" — sari' here functions adverbially even though it's an adjective form, sitting right before the verb miravad ("goes/walks"), which is the normal position for manner words in a Persian sentence.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers usually drop the final ع entirely since English has no letter for it, turning the word into just "sari"; a fluent Persian speaker will still register a faint glottal catch at the end, so don't let the vowel just trail off into nothing.