Farsi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "توانستن" in Farsi?

Say ta-vah-nes-TAN, four syllables, with a long open 'ah' in the second syllable and stress on the last.

توانستن /tævɒːnesˈtæn/

tavānestan

As an infinitive, tavānestan stresses its final syllable -tan, despite its length.

Listen: توانستن

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Sound it out

ت A crisp unaspirated t, like t in 'stop' rather than 'top'.

وا 'vā' — here the و is fully pronounced as an English v, unlike the silent و in khāstan; followed by a long open ā.

نستن 'nestan', with n and s as in English, ending in the stressed final syllable -tan.

Hear it in a sentence

می‌توانید کمک کنید؟

Mitavānid komak konid?

Can you help?

Listen: می‌توانید کمک کنید؟

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'می‌توانید کمک کنید؟' (mitavānid komak konid?, 'Can you help?') stacks a modal (mitavānid, stress on MI-) with a bare subjunctive (komak konid, no be- prefix). This is typical: after a modal like mitavānid, a light-verb compound like komak kardan usually drops its imperative/subjunctive be- prefix.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often mix up this word's و with the silent one in khāstan and drop the v sound, saying something like 'ta-ā-nestan' instead of the fully pronounced 'ta-vā-nestan'.