The Persian alphabet, explained

The Persian alphabet looks daunting, but a few rules explain most of how it behaves.

Persian is written in a version of the Arabic script, adapted with extra letters. It has 32 letters and is written from right to left. There are no capital letters.

The four Persian-only letters

Persian adds four letters that Arabic does not have: پ (pe), چ (che), ژ (zhe), and گ (gaf). These cover sounds Persian needs, like the p in "park."

Letters connect and change shape

Most letters join to the ones beside them, so a letter can look different at the start, middle, or end of a word. A few letters, such as ا, د, ر, and و, never connect to the letter that follows them.

The hidden short vowels

This is the part that surprises learners most: the short vowels (a, e, o) are usually not written. Readers supply them from knowing the word. The long vowels (â, i, u) are written, using ا, ی, and و.

That is why Learn Farsi leads with romanised pronunciation and shows the script alongside it: you can speak first, and the letters start to make sense once you already know the sounds.