قسمت بود
“قسمت بود” (gesmat bud) — it was meant to be, fate so willed in Persian. Phrase, level B1. Literally "it was the lot": the same word as the episode of a series means also "the share, the fallen lot". So one consoles when a plan broke through no fault of yours. Whatever happens, it was meant to be, says the example. In a live sentence: “هر چی شد, قسمت بود.” — Whatever happens, it was meant to be.
In short
| Written in Persian | قسمت بود |
| Read in Latin letters | gesmat bud |
| Translation | it was meant to be, fate so willed |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "it was the lot": the same word as the episode of a series means also "the share, the fallen lot". So one consoles when a plan broke through no fault of yours. Whatever happens, it was meant to be, 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.
- هر چی شد, قسمت بود.har chi shâd, gesmat bud.Whatever happens, it was meant to be.
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 “it was meant to be, fate so willed” in Persian?
«قسمت بود», read “gesmat bud”. In a live sentence: “هر چی شد, قسمت بود.” — Whatever happens, it was meant to be. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters ق, س, م, ت, ب, و, د.
How is “قسمت بود” written in Latin letters?
gesmat bud. 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?
Literally "it was the lot": the same word as the episode of a series means also "the share, the fallen lot". So one consoles when a plan broke through no fault of yours. Whatever happens, it was meant to be, 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.