Salām! Hello and how are you

In this lesson

Every conversation in Iran starts the same way: a greeting, then a question about how you are, often asked two or three times. In this lesson you’ll learn to do both, the friendly way you’d speak to a friend or neighbour, and the polite way you’d use with a shopkeeper, an older person or anyone you’ve just met.

How to read this guide. Every word is shown in Persian script, in transliteration and in English. You don’t need to read the script yet to learn to speak. In our transliteration, ā is the long “a” in father, a is the short “a” in cat, kh is the throaty sound in Scottish loch, and u is the “oo” in food.

Key words and phrases

سلام	salām	hello
چطوری؟	chetori?	how are you? (informal)
خوبی؟	khubi?	are you well? (informal)
خوبم	khubam	I’m well / I’m fine
مرسی	mersi	thanks
ممنون	mamnun	thank you (literally ‘grateful’)
بد نیستم	bad nistam	not bad
تو چطوری؟	to chetori?	and how are you? (informal)
شما چطورین؟	shomā chetorin?	how are you? (polite)
خوبین؟	khubin?	are you well? (polite)
چه خبر؟	che khabar?	what’s new?
سلامتی	salāmati	all good (literally ‘health’)
خداحافظ	khodāhāfez	goodbye
فعلاً	fe’lan	bye for now, see you

Pronunciation tip. The kh in khubam and khodāhāfez is made at the back of the throat, like clearing it gently. It is one of only two sounds in Persian with no English equivalent, so practise it a little every day.

Spoken and written Persian

Notice the endings. -am means “I am”: khub-am, “I’m well”. -i means “you are” when you’re talking to a friend: khub-i?, “are you well?”. -in is the polite “you are”, used with people you don’t know well: khub-in?.

That polite -in is a spoken form. In writing you’d see -id instead: spoken شما خوبین؟ shomā khubin?, written شما خوب هستید؟ shomā khub hastid?. The way people speak is consistently different from the way they write, and you need both. Throughout this course we teach the spoken form first and show the written form next to it.

Dialogue 1: Neighbours on the stairs

Sārā and Rezā live in the same apartment block in north Tehran. They are friends, so they use informal Persian.

Sārā	سلام رضا! چطوری؟	Salām Rezā! Chetori? Hi Reza! How are you?
Rezā	سلام! مرسی، خوبم. تو چطوری؟	Salām! Mersi, khubam. To chetori? Hi! Thanks, I’m fine. How are you?
Sārā	بد نیستم. چه خبر؟	Bad nistam. Che khabar? Not bad. What’s new?
Rezā	سلامتی!	Salāmati! All good!
Sārā	خب، فعلاً!	Khob, fe’lan! Right, see you!
Rezā	خداحافظ!	Khodāhāfez! Bye!

Culture note. Che khabar? (“what’s new?”) is rarely a real request for news. The standard answer, salāmati, literally means “health”, as in “nothing new, but we’re all healthy”. Answer it the same way and you’ll sound like a local.

Dialogue 2: At the corner shop

Now a customer greets Mr Ahmadi, the older man who runs the shop on her street. She uses polite Persian, with shomā and the -in ending.

Customer	سلام آقای احمدی. خوبین؟	Salām, āghā-ye Ahmadi. Khubin? Hello, Mr Ahmadi. Are you well?
Mr Ahmadi	سلام، خوش اومدین! مرسی. شما چطورین؟	Salām, khosh umadin! Mersi. Shomā chetorin? Hello, welcome! Thank you. How are you?
Customer	ممنون، خوبم.	Mamnun, khubam. Thank you, I’m well.

آقای …	āghā-ye …	Mr …
خانم …	khānom-e …	Mrs / Ms …
خوش اومدین	khosh umadin	welcome (polite)

Culture note. Iranians almost always answer “how are you?” positively, even on a bad day. Khub nistam (“I’m not well”) is understood, but it signals that something is genuinely wrong and invites a real conversation about it.

Practice

Try each question, then open it to check your answer.

1. You meet a friend’s grandmother for the first time. How do you ask how she is?
   
   Show answer

   shomā chetorin? Use the polite form with older people and anyone you don’t know well.

2. A friend asks che khabar?. What’s the most natural reply?
   
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   salāmati: all good.

3. What does the ending -am in khubam mean?
   
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   I am: khub-am, I’m well.

4. What is the written form of the spoken khubin?
   
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   khub hastid? Written Persian uses -id where speech uses -in.

5. Translate into Persian: Thanks, I’m fine.
   
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   Mersi, khubam. (or Mamnun, khubam.)

6. Translate into Persian: Not bad. What’s new?
   
   Show answer

   Bad nistam. Che khabar?

Finished the lesson?

Next up: Lesson 2, What’s your name? Introducing yourself. Unlock the full course with a free 14-day trial.