Basic Prepositions in Persian

In Brief

Persian normally puts a preposition before a noun or pronoun: در تهران dar Tehrān “in Tehran,” به مدرسه be madrese “to school,” and با من bā man “with me.” Start by learning the contrast between در for a location, به for movement toward a destination, and از for movement or origin away from a point; then add با، برای، بدون، تا as complete phrases.

Overview

A preposition is a short word that shows how one part of a sentence relates to another—often in place, direction, time, purpose, or companionship. English words such as “in,” “to,” “from,” and “with” are prepositions. Persian uses them heavily too, and the basic word order will feel familiar to an English speaker: the preposition comes first, followed by its complement (the noun or pronoun that completes its meaning).

At A1, seven forms cover a large share of everyday needs: در dar “in/at,” به be “to,” از az “from,” با bā “with,” برای barāye “for,” بدون bedun-e “without,” and تا tā “to/until.” They let you say where you live, where you are going, where you come from, whom you are with, and how long something lasts.

Do not expect a perfect one-to-one match with English. English chooses different prepositions in expressions such as “at school,” “in Tehran,” and “on Friday”; Persian organizes some of these relationships differently. Learn each preposition’s central meaning first, then learn frequent verb-and-preposition combinations as whole phrases.

How It Works

The basic pattern

The usual pattern is:

preposition + noun or pronoun

• در خانه dar xāne — in/at home
• به سارا be Sārā — to Sara
• از ایران az Irān — from Iran
• با شما bā šomā — with you

Persian has no equivalent of English “the” or “a” before every noun, so در مدرسه can mean “at school” or “in the school,” depending on context. The prepositional phrase usually appears before the verb because Persian verbs generally come at the end: من در تهران زندگی می‌کنم “I in Tehran live.” Natural English rearranges this as “I live in Tehran.”

The seven core prepositions

Persian	Transliteration	Core meaning	Typical use
در	dar	in, at	a location or setting
به	be	to, toward	a destination or recipient
از	az	from, out of	origin, source, or starting point
با	bā	with, by means of	company or instrument
برای	barāye	for	beneficiary, purpose, or intended recipient
بدون	bedun-e	without	absence of something
تا	tā	to, as far as, until	spatial or temporal endpoint

Transliteration in this article is a pronunciation aid, not a separate Persian spelling system. In ordinary writing, short vowels are usually not shown, so the script alone does not display every vowel you hear.

در: being in or at a place

Use در when someone or something is located within a place or at a setting:

• در اتاق dar otāq — in the room
• در دانشگاه dar dānešgāh — at the university
• در ایران dar Irān — in Iran

English alternates between “in” and “at,” but Persian often uses در for both. In everyday speech, تو tu “in/inside” is also very common, especially for physical interiors: تو ماشین tu māšin “in the car.” در remains the safe neutral choice and is especially common in writing.

به: movement or orientation toward something

Use به with a destination, direction, or recipient:

• به خانه می‌روم be xāne miravam — I go home / to the house.
• به دوستم گفتم be dustam goftam — I told my friend.

The basic contrast is در مدرسه “at school” versus به مدرسه “to school.” English sometimes omits “to,” as in “go home,” but Persian still normally has به: به خانه رفتن “to go home.”

Do not confuse به be with بِـ be- in forms where spelling or pronunciation belongs to another construction. At beginner level, focus on recognizing the separate preposition به before its complement.

از: origin, source, and movement away

Use از for the point where movement, identity, information, or an action begins:

• از شیراز az Širāz — from Shiraz
• از خانه آمدم az xāne āmadam — I came from home.
• از دوستم پرسیدم az dustam porsidam — I asked my friend.

That last example is important: Persian says, literally, “I asked from my friend.” This is a verb pattern, not a claim that the friend is a place of origin. Learn از کسی پرسیدن “to ask someone” as a unit.

با: company and means

Use با for a companion or for something used to perform an action:

• با مریم bā Maryam — with Maryam
• با اتوبوس bā otobus — by bus
• با چاقو bā čāqu — with a knife

English uses “by” for transport, but Persian commonly uses با: با قطار رفتم “I went by train.”

برای: beneficiary, recipient, or purpose

برای answers questions such as “for whom?” or “for what purpose?”

• برای علی barāye Ali — for Ali
• برای کار barāye kār — for work
• برای یادگیری فارسی barāye yādgiri-ye fārsi — for learning Persian

Before a following noun, speakers pronounce an ezafe link after برای: barāye. Ezafe is a short linking vowel that joins related words. The final sound is part of the normal phrase even though it is not usually marked with a vowel sign in everyday Persian script.

بدون: absence

Use بدون for “without.” Before a noun, it is normally pronounced بدونِ bedun-e, again with ezafe:

• بدون شکر bedun-e shekar — without sugar
• بدون من bedun-e man — without me
• بدون اجازه bedun-e ejāze — without permission

You may see the ezafe marked as بدونِ in teaching material, but ordinary text usually writes بدون and leaves the short vowel unmarked.

تا: a spatial or temporal endpoint

Use تا for the endpoint of a route or period:

• تا خانه tā xāne — as far as home / to home
• تا فردا tā fardā — until tomorrow
• از نه تا پنج az noh tā panj — from nine to five

For destinations, به simply marks movement toward a destination, while تا emphasizes the limit or full stretch of the route. به تهران رفتم means “I went to Tehran”; تا تهران رانندگی کردم means “I drove as far as Tehran/all the way to Tehran.” In casual speech, the distinction can depend on context, but this beginner contrast is reliable.

With pronouns

Independent pronouns follow the same pattern as nouns:

Pattern	Meaning
با من bā man	with me
برای تو barāye to	for you (singular, informal)
از او az u	from him/her
به ما be mā	to us
بدون شما bedun-e šomā	without you (plural or polite)

This is the clearest pattern for beginners. Persian also has attached pronoun endings, introduced under “Beyond the Basics.”

Examples in Context

Persian	Transliteration	English	Note
من در تهران زندگی می‌کنم.	Man dar Tehrān zendegi mikonam.	I live in Tehran.	در marks location.
کتاب در کیف است.	Ketāb dar kif ast.	The book is in the bag.	A physical interior.
او به مدرسه می‌رود.	U be madrese miravad.	He/She goes to school.	به marks the destination.
امشب به خانه برمی‌گردیم.	Emšab be xāne barmigardim.	We are returning home tonight.	Persian keeps به before “home.”
من از ایران هستم.	Man az Irān hastam.	I am from Iran.	از expresses origin.
از دوستم پرسیدم.	Az dustam porsidam.	I asked my friend.	پرسیدن commonly takes از.
با دوستم رفتم.	Bā dustam raftam.	I went with my friend.	با introduces a companion.
هر روز با مترو می‌روم.	Har ruz bā metro miravam.	I go by metro every day.	با marks means of transport.
این هدیه برای شماست.	In hediye barāye šomāst.	This gift is for you.	برای marks the intended recipient.
قهوه را بدون شکر می‌خورم.	Qahve rā bedun-e shekar mixoram.	I drink coffee without sugar.	بدون marks absence.
تا فردا اینجا می‌مانم.	Tā fardā injā mimānam.	I will stay here until tomorrow.	A temporal endpoint.
از تهران تا قم با اتوبوس رفتیم.	Az Tehrān tā Qom bā otobus raftim.	We went from Tehran to Qom by bus.	از ... تا ... gives a range; با gives transport.

Common Mistakes

Using در for movement toward a destination

• Wrong: من در مدرسه می‌روم.
• Right: من به مدرسه می‌روم.
• Why: در locates someone at or in a place. Movement toward the place normally takes به.

Dropping به because English drops “to” before “home”

• Wrong: من خانه می‌روم.
• Right: من به خانه می‌روم.
• Why: Standard Persian normally uses به with رفتن when stating a destination, even though natural English says “I go home.” Informal speech may reduce sounds, but that is not a reason to omit the preposition in careful beginner Persian.

Translating every English preposition word for word

• Wrong: از دوستم را پرسیدم.
• Right: از دوستم پرسیدم.
• Why: Persian پرسیدن “to ask” uses از for the person asked. The object marker را does not replace or accompany از here. Learn common verbs together with their required preposition.

Forgetting the linking vowel after برای or بدون

• Awkward pronunciation: barāy doostam; bedun shekar
• Natural: برای دوستم barāye dustam; بدون شکر bedun-e shekar
• Why: Before a following complement, these words normally carry the ezafe sound -e/-ye. It is heard even when ordinary spelling does not show it.

Confusing به and تا

• Less suitable: تا تهران می‌روم when you only mean “I am going to Tehran.”
• Neutral: به تهران می‌روم.
• Why: به is the ordinary destination marker. تا تهران highlights Tehran as the endpoint or “as far as Tehran.”

Usage Notes

In formal writing, در is frequent and neutral. In conversation, تو tu often replaces it when the meaning is physically “inside”: تو خونه‌ام tu xune-am “I’m at home/in the house.” The colloquial pronunciation خونه corresponds to standard خانه. Use در and standard spellings while building a dependable foundation, but learn to recognize conversational forms.

Prepositional phrases can move for emphasis. Because the verb tends to remain at the end, both من با علی به بازار رفتم and من به بازار با علی رفتم can be understood, but the first is often a clearer neutral order: subject, companion, destination, verb. Context and emphasis influence the order; the preposition must remain directly connected in meaning to its complement.

English “for” is especially broad. Persian برای covers beneficiaries and purposes, but not every English phrase containing “for.” Duration, exchange, cause, and verb-specific patterns may require another construction. Likewise, English “at,” “on,” and “in” do not each have one fixed Persian equivalent. Treat dictionary equivalents as starting points, not substitution rules.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A1, but you will see them often.

Attached pronouns

Persian can attach short pronoun endings to some prepositions or related forms. برایم barāyam means “for me,” and برایت barāyat means “for you.” Conversational Persian also has very common contracted forms such as باهام bāhām “with me” and باهات bāhāt “with you.” For now, برای من and با من are transparent and always useful; later, learn attached forms by register and phrase rather than inventing them mechanically.

Compound prepositions

Many precise location expressions are built from a simple preposition plus a location word and ezafe:

• در کنارِ خانه dar kenār-e xāne — beside the house
• رویِ میز ru-ye miz — on the table
• زیرِ صندلی zir-e sandali — under the chair
• جلویِ مدرسه jelo-ye madrese — in front of the school

These connect directly with Location and Direction Words. They show why ezafe matters: it links the location word to the noun that defines it.

Prepositions in fixed verb patterns

As your vocabulary grows, record verbs with the prepositions they select: فکر کردن به “to think about,” صحبت کردن با “to speak with,” and ترسیدن از “to be afraid of.” The grammatical relationship may not match English. A good dictionary entry or a complete example sentence is more reliable than translating the English preposition alone.

Finally, را rā is not one of these prepositions. It is an object marker—a word placed after a specific direct object, meaning the person or thing directly affected by the verb. Compare کتاب را خواندم “I read the book” with در کتاب خواندم “I read in the book.” Its position and job are different.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-way place sets. Choose five places and make a location, destination, and origin phrase for each: در دانشگاه، به دانشگاه، از دانشگاه. Say a full sentence with each phrase.
2. Learn chunks, not isolated translations. Put از کسی پرسیدن, با اتوبوس رفتن, and برای کسی خریدن on cards as complete patterns. This prevents English prepositions from taking over.
3. Listen for hidden ezafe. Read برای دوستم and بدون شکر aloud as barāye dustam and bedun-e shekar. Then compare careful written Persian with conversational audio and notice forms such as تو and باهام without forcing yourself to use them yet.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Location and Direction Words — combine basic prepositions with words such as “above,” “beside,” and “in front of” to describe space more precisely.