Порядок слів у реченні

Persian is a verb-final language: the basic order is subject, object, verb (SOV). Everything else, from 'every day' to 'by metro', is lined up before the verb, which closes the sentence. In speech the order is freer, but the written standard keeps the verb last.

Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop.

The usual order

• من هر روز صبحانه در آشپزخانه می‌خورم. - I have breakfast in the kitchen every day.
• مریم دیروز کتاب را به برادرش داد. - Maryam gave the book to her brother yesterday.

A definite object with را often comes early, right after the subject or time; a bare object without را sits next to the verb, almost as part of it: من هر روز چای می‌خورم - I drink tea every day.

Inside the phrase

• Before the noun: demonstratives, numbers, superlatives - این سه کتاب (these three books), بهترین رستوران (the best restaurant).
• After the noun, with ezafe: adjectives and possessors - رستورانِ خوبِ شیراز (the good restaurant of Shiraz).

Questions and negation

A question keeps statement order, and the question word sits where the answer would be: مریم کتاب را به کی داد؟ - Who did Maryam give the book to? The negative is a prefix on the verb, so it also comes at the end: مریم کتاب را به برادرش نداد - Maryam didn't give the book to her brother.

Spoken Tehran

In conversation the destination of a verb of motion usually follows the verb, without به: دیروز رفتم بازار (diruz raftam bâzâr) - I went to the bazaar yesterday; written دیروز به بازار رفتم. Speakers also put a topic first for emphasis (چایی رو من درست کردم - the tea, I made it) and add afterthoughts after the verb.

For English speakers

Listen to the end of the sentence: the verb, its tense and its negation all arrive last, so 'Tomorrow with my brother to Isfahan by train...' becomes 'I am going' or 'I am not going' with the final word. When you speak, plan the verb last and let the time words come first: 'Every day at seven I breakfast eat'.

Mistakes English speakers make

• English SVO order in writing: *من می‌خورم صبحانه - say من صبحانه می‌خورم.
• Moving the verb forward in a question: *می‌کنی کجا زندگی؟ - say کجا زندگی می‌کنی؟
• Time at the end in formal writing: به تبریز رفتم دیروز sounds like speech with an afterthought; write دیروز به تبریز رفتم.
• Adjective before the noun: *خوب رستوران - say رستورانِ خوب.