فقیر
“فقیر” (fagir) — poor in Persian. Adjective, level A2, topic — people and family. Poor in money but not in spirit: the generous heart of a poor man is spoken of separately. The pair of the rich — and both words live in one bread line. He was from a poor family, says the example. In a live sentence: “او از خانواده فقیر بود.” — He was from a poor family. Written with the characters ف, ق, ی, ر.
In short
| Written in Persian | فقیر |
| Read in Latin letters | fagir |
| Translation | poor |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Poor in money but not in spirit: the generous heart of a poor man is spoken of separately. The pair of the rich — and both words live in one bread line. He was from a poor family, says the example
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- او از خانواده فقیر بود.u az khânevâde-e fagir bud.He was from a poor family.
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- خانوادهkhânevâdefamilyThe family as the household. The family name on forms is naam-e khanevadegi — the family-surname
- پدرpadarfatherFather — pa-dar, and the same ancient syllables ring in "pater" of Europe. Pedarbozorg is the grandfather
- مادرmâdarmotherMother — ma-dar, cousin of "mother" itself. Madarbozorg is the grandmother
- بچهbâchechildA child, and an affectionate "kid" for adults too: bache-ha, the kids. Bache-gane — childishly
- دوستdustfriendFriend — and the root of liking someone: dust dashtan, to hold as a friend. Dust-e man az Shiraz ast
- فروشندهfârushândesellerForush sale + the -ande of the doer: a selling one. Forooshgah, the shop, is its place
- مشتریmâshtaricustomerThe one who shops — from the root of "a user". The polite address to any stranger at the counter
- آدمâdâmpersonThe human being of the old stories — Adam. U aadam-e khoobi ast: he is a good person
- مردmardmanA man — mard, the same syllable as in mardomi, popular. Mard kar mikonad: the man works
- زنzanwomanWoman — zan, short and old. Zan-e man, my wife; zan-zadegi, feminism, built on it
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “poor” in Persian?
Poor in money but not in spirit: the generous heart of a poor man is spoken of separately. The pair of the rich — and both words live in one bread line. He was from a poor family, says the example
- How do you say “customer” in Persian?
The one who shops — from the root of "a user". The polite address to any stranger at the counter
- How do you say “mother” in Persian?
Mother — ma-dar, cousin of "mother" itself. Madarbozorg is the grandmother
- How do you say “woman” in Persian?
Woman — zan, short and old. Zan-e man, my wife; zan-zadegi, feminism, built on it
- How do you say “seller” in Persian?
Forush sale + the -ande of the doer: a selling one. Forooshgah, the shop, is its place
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “poor” in Persian?
«فقیر», read “fagir”. In a live sentence: “او از خانواده فقیر بود.” — He was from a poor family. Adjective, level A2, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters ف, ق, ی, ر.
How is “فقیر” written in Latin letters?
fagir. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Poor in money but not in spirit: the generous heart of a poor man is spoken of separately. The pair of the rich — and both words live in one bread line. He was from a poor family, says the example. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.