Persian Script, Orthography and Vocabulary
Script and sound
Persian uses the Arabic-derived alphabet with four Persian additions: پ, چ, ژ, گ. Letters change shape according to position: isolated, initial, medial, final. Non-connecting letters - ا, د, ذ, ر, ز, ژ, و - do not join to the following letter.
Orthography rules
- Distinguish Persian ی from Arabic ي and Persian ک from Arabic ك.
- Use همزه on ا, و, ی where required: مسئله, مؤمن, شیء.
- Write تنوین only in Arabic loanwords: کتاباً, تدریجاً.
- Use ZWNJ (نیم‌فاصله) in plural and suffix combinations: کتاب‌ها, می‌روم, خانه‌ام.
- Final ه is often silent; final ة appears in Arabic loans.
- Plural: -ها for most nouns; -ان in formal or classical words: مردان. کتابان is not the normal Persian plural.
- Learn word families: علم, عالم, معلوم, تعلیم share a root.
Worked example
Spell and explain: «کتاب‌ها». Reasoning: کتاب + ها = plural. Because ها is a separate plural suffix, Persian orthography prefers نیم‌فاصله, not a space or a full join: کتاب‌ها. The ک is Persian kāf, not Arabic ك; the ا is a non-connector; the final ه is silent. Meaning: 'books'.
Vocabulary building
Group words by root and by topic. Note collocations: درس خواندن, تصمیم گرفتن, وقت گذاشتن. Learn antonyms in pairs: بزرگ/کوچک, دور/نزدیک, سخت/آسان.
Traps
- Dropping dots: ب/پ/ت/ث, ج/چ/ح/خ, ر/ز/ژ.
- Writing Arabic ي or ك in Persian text.
- Joining می to the verb without نیم‌فاصله.
- Using -ان with nouns that take -ها.
- Confusing همزه with ی.
- Misreading a word because a dot was omitted in handwriting.