HSC Persian Continuers key terms

Everyday greeting exchanges such as asking how someone is and replying politely. Candidates hear these at the start of conversations and must recognise formal versus informal forms to identify relationships and tone.

Stating one's name, age, school, family and interests in a short spoken or written self-introduction. Common in listening tasks and in the personal-information section of the writing paper.

Basic biographical details such as name, nationality, address, phone number and date of birth. Listeners must catch numbers and spelled-out names accurately, since distractors often repeat similar figures.

Numbers used for times, prices, dates, phone numbers and quantities. Persian numbers may be given in colloquial speech, so practise recognising both written forms and fast spoken delivery.

Expressions for telling the time and arranging when something happens, including phrases like 'half past' and 'quarter to'. These appear in timetable and appointment tasks across listening and reading.

Names of weekdays and the Solar Hijri months used in Persian calendars. Necessary for understanding dates on notices, invitations and itineraries, and for writing about future plans.

Kinship words such as mother, father, cousin, uncle and in-law, including the distinct terms for paternal and maternal relatives. Understanding these helps track who is being discussed in a dialogue.

Vocabulary for friendships, classmates and peer relationships, including inviting, agreeing and declining. Frequently tested in listening items where speakers negotiate social arrangements.

Phrases for inviting someone, accepting, declining politely and giving a reason. Recognising the difference between a genuine acceptance and a softened refusal is a common listening challenge.

Language for making arrangements, changing plans and confirming appointments, including time and place details. Candidates must notice when a plan is altered mid-conversation rather than accepting the first version.

School-related vocabulary such as subjects, timetable, exams, homework and school rules. Appears in both listening and reading texts about student life and study routines.

Words for tests, results, marks and passing or failing. Useful in reading tasks about academic pressure and in writing about personal goals and study habits.

Terms for homework, assignments, revision and study methods. Candidates meet these in advice texts and use them when writing about managing time between school and leisure.

Job titles and workplace vocabulary, plus phrases for describing duties and ambitions. Common in listening interviews and in writing tasks about future careers.

Words for offices, shops, factories and working conditions, including hours and colleagues. Helps candidates interpret short workplace dialogues and job advertisements.

Shopping vocabulary covering prices, quantities, bargaining, receipts and shop types. Reading tasks often use advertisements and price lists where precise figures must be matched.

Food names, menu items, ordering phrases and dietary preferences. Listening dialogues in restaurants require catching what was ordered, how much it cost and any changes requested.

Vocabulary about illness, symptoms, appointments with a doctor and healthy habits. Appears in dialogues at a clinic and in reading texts giving health advice.

Terms for sports, hobbies, leisure activities and frequency of doing them. Candidates describe their own routines in writing and identify speakers' preferences in listening.

Travel vocabulary covering tickets, timetables, destinations, luggage and means of transport. Listening tasks often involve announcements where times and platforms are corrected.

Words and phrases for location and direction, such as opposite, next to, far and turn left. Needed to follow directions and to describe where places are in reading maps or notices.

Vocabulary describing urban and rural life, amenities, traffic and environment. Reading texts frequently compare city and country living, requiring candidates to match opinions to speakers.

Terms for pollution, recycling, water and energy use, and environmental responsibility. Common in persuasive reading texts and in writing tasks asking for solutions to local problems.

Words for television, internet, mobile phones, social media and their effects. Texts often present contrasting views on technology, so candidates must distinguish support from criticism.

Names of festivals and national occasions such as Nowruz, plus vocabulary for historical events. Useful for understanding invitations and cultural references in reading passages.

Customs, traditions and etiquette, including hospitality, gift-giving and celebration practices. Reading texts about cultural identity rely on this vocabulary, and it enriches writing responses.

Phrases for expressing likes, dislikes and preferences, such as 'I prefer' and 'I would rather'. Essential for identifying a speaker's attitude when several options are mentioned.

Language for giving opinions, agreeing, disagreeing and hedging, including phrases like 'in my view' and 'it seems to me'. Candidates must separate the speaker's own view from views they merely report.

The way stress and intonation change meaning, signalling surprise, doubt, annoyance or enthusiasm. Recognising tone helps candidates infer feelings that are not stated in words.

Choosing between formal and informal address, including polite plural verbs and colloquial contractions. The register used reveals the relationship between speakers and the setting of a text.

Verb forms marking past, present and future, including the continuous and perfect constructions. Accurate recognition of tense is essential for sequencing events in listening and for correct writing.

Subject and object pronouns and the personal endings attached to verbs. Tracking who does what to whom prevents confusion in passages where several people are mentioned.

Prepositions and postpositions such as 'in', 'from', 'to' and 'with', including their combination with verbs. Wrong choices change meaning, so these are tested in cloze and sentence-completion items.

How Persian builds new words through prefixes, suffixes and compound nouns or adjectives. Knowing common patterns lets candidates guess unfamiliar words in reading texts instead of stopping.

Synonyms and antonyms, tested through matching items and paraphrase questions. Recognising equivalence helps candidates locate the sentence in a text that answers a question.

Reading for main idea, specific detail and inference, including identifying purpose and audience. Candidates should skim for gist first, then scan for the exact words that support an answer.

The central point or purpose of a spoken or written text, as distinct from supporting details. Many questions ask for the main message, so candidates must generalise rather than copy one sentence.

Structuring informal and semi-formal messages with greeting, body, closing and signature. The writing paper rewards correct layout, consistent register and clear linking of ideas.

Organising writing into paragraphs with topic sentences and linking words such as 'however' and 'therefore'. Cohesive devices make an argument easy to follow and are explicitly assessed in extended responses.

Planning how long to spend on listening, reading and writing sections, and checking work. In the writing paper, allocating minutes for planning, drafting and proofreading protects marks.

Phrases for hopes, intentions and future plans, using forms such as 'I hope to' and 'I intend to'. Frequent in personal writing and in listening texts where speakers discuss ambitions.