Question Words and Patterns in Persian

Overview

Asking questions is essential from day one of learning Persian. The good news is that Persian question formation is relatively straightforward — you can often turn a statement into a yes/no question simply by changing your intonation, without altering the word order at all.

For information questions (who, what, where, when, why, how), Persian has a set of question words that typically appear at the beginning of the sentence or in place of the information you are asking about. These words are consistent and do not change form, making them easy to learn and use.

At the A1 level, mastering the basic question words and the two question patterns (yes/no and information questions) will allow you to navigate everyday situations — asking for directions, prices, names, and basic information.

How It Works

Question words:

Persian	Transliteration	Meaning
چه / چی	che / chi	what
کی	ki	who
کجا	kojā	where
کِی	key	when
چرا	cherā	why
چطور / چگونه	chetor / chegune	how
چند	chand	how many
چقدر	cheqadr	how much
کدام	kodām	which

Yes/No questions:

• Rising intonation: تو ایرانی هستی؟ (Are you Iranian? — same words as statement, rising tone)
• With آیا āyā (optional formal marker): آیا فارسی بلدی؟ (Do you know Persian?)

Information questions:

• Question word typically goes where the answer would be: کجا می‌روی؟ (Where are you going?)
• Or at the beginning: چرا نیامدی؟ (Why didn't you come?)

Examples in Context

Persian	English	Note
اسم شما چیست؟	What is your name?	Formal
اسمت چیه؟	What's your name?	Colloquial
کجا می‌روی؟	Where are you going?	Direction
چرا نیامدی؟	Why didn't you come?	Reason
آیا فارسی بلدی؟	Do you know Persian?	Yes/no with آیا
کی آمد؟	Who came?	Person
کِی می‌رسی؟	When do you arrive?	Time
چطوری؟	How are you?	Greeting (colloquial)
چند سالته؟	How old are you?	Age (colloquial)
این چقدره؟	How much is this?	Price (colloquial)

Common Mistakes

Confusing کی (who) and کِی (when)

• Wrong: Using کی for "when"
• Right: کی ki = who, کِی key = when (different vowel)
• Why: These two words look identical in unvoweled script but have different pronunciations and meanings. Context usually makes it clear.

Adding آیا when it is unnecessary

• Wrong: Overusing آیا in casual speech
• Right: In informal Persian, just use rising intonation: فارسی بلدی؟
• Why: آیا is formal and literary. In everyday conversation, it can sound stiff or overly formal.

Using English question word order

• Wrong: چی تو می‌خوری؟ (What you eat? — English SVO order)
• Right: تو چی می‌خوری؟ or چی می‌خوری؟
• Why: In Persian, the question word usually occupies the position of the expected answer, and the verb stays at the end.

Practice Tips

1. Practice the five essential question-answer pairs: اسمت چیه؟ (what's your name?), از کجایی؟ (where are you from?), چند سالته؟ (how old are you?), چه کاره‌ای؟ (what do you do?), حالت چطوره؟ (how are you?).
2. Turn statements into yes/no questions by simply adding rising intonation. Take any sentence you know and try it as a question.
3. When watching Persian media, listen for question words — they are stressed and easy to pick out. Notice whether the speaker uses آیا or just intonation.

Related Concepts

• Personal Pronouns — the pronouns that appear in questions and answers