شنا کردن
“شنا کردن” (shenâ kân) — to swim in Persian. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. To move through the water. On Caspian beaches swimming days are separate for men and women — good to know, says the example. In a live sentence: “من خوب شنا میکنم” — I swim well. Written with the characters ش, ن, ا, ک, ر, د, ن. One of 107 words in the set “verbs” in the Persian course.
In short
| Written in Persian | شنا کردن |
| Read in Latin letters | shenâ kân |
| Translation | to swim |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
To move through the water. On Caspian beaches swimming days are separate for men and women — good to know, 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.
- من خوب شنا میکنمman khub shenâ mi-kânamI swim well
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
- میخواهمmi-khâhamI wantThe present stem of khastan plus -am: one word says "I want". No pronoun needed — mikhaham already carries the I
- نوشیدنnâshidanto drinkThe dictionary form. Speech uses the stem nush — mi-nusham, I drink. From the same root as nushidani, any drinkable thing
- خوردنkhârdanto eatThe dictionary form, from the stem khor. It doubles as "to consume": sandal mikhore — it eats the wood, it corrodes
- دوست دارمduste dârâmI likeLiterally "I hold [you as] a friend": dus is friend, daram I hold. Love here is stated as friendship held in the hand
- رفتنrâftanto goThe dictionary form; the present stem is ro — miram, I go. Walking and riding are the same verb here
- داشتنdâshtanto haveHaving is holding: vaqt daram — I have time, literally "I hold time". No verb rises to say it twice
- زندگی کردنzendegi kânto liveLiterally "to do life": zendegi life + kardan to do. Living somewhere takes no preposition — dar Tehran zendegi mikonam
- کار کردنkâr kânto workTo do work — the compound that says half of everyday activity. Dar resturan kar mikonam: I work at a restaurant
- یاد گرفتنyâd gereftanto learnLiterally "to take into memory": yad memory + gereftan to take. Learning is taking, teaching is yad dadan — giving
- انتخاب کردنentekhâb kânto chooseEntekhab is choice — mive entekhab mikonam: I choose fruit. The verb of the market and of elections alike
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to swim” in Persian?
To move through the water. On Caspian beaches swimming days are separate for men and women — good to know, says the example
- How do you say “to live” in Persian?
Literally "to do life": zendegi life + kardan to do. Living somewhere takes no preposition — dar Tehran zendegi mikonam
- How do you say “to eat” in Persian?
The dictionary form, from the stem khor. It doubles as "to consume": sandal mikhore — it eats the wood, it corrodes
- How do you say “to choose” in Persian?
Entekhab is choice — mive entekhab mikonam: I choose fruit. The verb of the market and of elections alike
- How do you say “to have” in Persian?
Having is holding: vaqt daram — I have time, literally "I hold time". No verb rises to say it twice
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 “to swim” in Persian?
«شنا کردن», read “shenâ kân”. In a live sentence: “من خوب شنا میکنم” — I swim well. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”; written with the characters ش, ن, ا, ک, ر, د, ن.
How is “شنا کردن” written in Latin letters?
shenâ kân. 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?
To move through the water. On Caspian beaches swimming days are separate for men and women — good to know, 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.