How old the children are in Persian
A playground, two parents on the bench in Persian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «این بچههای تو هستند؟» — Are these your children?; «بله, یک پسر و یک دختر. دارند بازی می‌کنند.» — Yes, a boy and a girl. They are playing.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a playground, two parents on the bench. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- این بچههای تو هستند؟in bâchehâe tâ hastand؟Are these your children?
- بله, یک پسر و یک دختر. دارند بازی می‌کنند.bale, yek pesar va yek dâkhtar. dârand bâzi mi-kânand.Yes, a boy and a girl. They are playing.
- چند سال دارند؟chand sâl dârand؟How old are they?
- پسر هفت ساله است, دخترک چهار ساله.pesare hâft sâle ast, dâkhtareke châhâr sâle.The boy is seven, the girl four.
- من هم بچه دارم, سه ساله است.man ham bâche dâram, se sâle ast.I have a child too, three years old.
- بچههای ما با هم بازی می‌کنند.bâchehâe mâ ba ham bâzi mi-kânand.Our children play together.
- خیلی خوب! فردا هم اینجا بازی می‌کنند.kheyli khub! fardâ ham indzhâ bâzi mi-kânand.Very good! Tomorrow they will play here too.
Lines one by one
| Persian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| این بچههای تو هستند؟ | in bâchehâe tâ hastand؟ | Are these your children? |
| بله, یک پسر و یک دختر. دارند بازی می‌کنند. | bale, yek pesar va yek dâkhtar. dârand bâzi mi-kânand. | Yes, a boy and a girl. They are playing. |
| چند سال دارند؟ | chand sâl dârand؟ | How old are they? |
| پسر هفت ساله است, دخترک چهار ساله. | pesare hâft sâle ast, dâkhtareke châhâr sâle. | The boy is seven, the girl four. |
| من هم بچه دارم, سه ساله است. | man ham bâche dâram, se sâle ast. | I have a child too, three years old. |
| بچههای ما با هم بازی می‌کنند. | bâchehâe mâ ba ham bâzi mi-kânand. | Our children play together. |
| خیلی خوب! فردا هم اینجا بازی می‌کنند. | kheyli khub! fardâ ham indzhâ bâzi mi-kânand. | Very good! Tomorrow they will play here too. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Persian in this situation?
“این بچههای تو هستند؟” (in bâchehâe tâ hastand؟) — Are these your children? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.