Azizan

Dari words for kids: everyday words Afghan families say differently

Dari and Iranian Persian are the same language. They share their grammar and most of their words, and an Afghan grandmother and an Iranian one can talk to each other. What changes is the accent and a set of everyday words, many of them the very words a small child hears first. In Dari, grandma is mâdar-kalân (مادرکلان), a potato is kachâlu (کچالو), a chair is chawki (چوکی), a car is motar (موتر) and thank you is tashakor (تشکر). In Iranian Persian the same things are mâdar-bozorg, sib-zamini, sandali, mâshin and mersi or mamnun. Below are 28 of these pairs, in three tables: family, food and home, and everyday phrases. A child who knows both words for a thing has lost nothing. They can understand two sets of relatives. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

One language, two everyday vocabularies

Dari is the name used in Afghanistan for its Persian, and Iranian Persian is what most people call Farsi. They are one language with more than one national standard, a bit like British and American English. Written Dari and written Iranian Persian are very close. The spoken forms differ more, in two ways: pronunciation, and a set of everyday words for family, food, the house and small talk. Those everyday words are exactly the ones a toddler learns first, which is why parents notice them.

Dari is also an official language. The 2004 constitution of Afghanistan names Pashto and Dari as the two official languages of the state. Some children grow up hearing Dari from one side of the family and Iranian Persian from the other. For what the names Farsi, Persian, Dari and Tajik mean, see Farsi vs Persian vs Dari vs Tajik.

A note on spelling: Dari is written in the same Persian alphabet. The transliterations below follow the way the words are said in Kabul, so padar rather than the Iranian pedar, and khâla rather than khâle.

Family words in Dari and Iranian Persian

The family words matter most, because they are what a child calls the people who love them. Some are the same in both. Others are completely different, and two are false friends.

Kalân means big, great or old, so mâdar-kalân is the same idea as the Iranian mâdar-bozorg, "big mother". Two words trip up mixed families. The first is mâmâ. In Dari it is the mother's brother. To an Iranian ear it sounds like "mum", and in Iranian Persian it can also mean a midwife. A child who calls an Afghan uncle mâmâ is saying exactly the right thing.

Bacha is the other one. In Iranian Persian bacche means any child. In Kabul speech bacha usually means a boy or a son, though it can also mean a child. For a little child people also say tefl, and awlâd when they mean their own children. For the Iranian family words in more depth, see Family words in Persian for kids.

Food and home words

Kitchens are where the differences pile up. Several Dari words came in through India or through English, where Iranian Persian took a French word or built its own.

The tomato is a nice one to explain to a child. Bânjân is an eggplant and rumi means "Roman", so in Dari a tomato is a "Roman eggplant". The Iranian gowje-farangi means "foreign plum". Both names compare the new red vegetable to something people already knew. Some words cross over too: lebâs for clothes is also used in Dari, especially in writing. For more food words, see Food words in Persian for kids.

Everyday phrases and describing words

These are the words of small talk, and the ones a grandparent uses many times a day: how are you, now, very, big, small, pretty.

Most of these are the same word in a different form, not a different word. Dari keeps ast ("is") where Iranian speech drops it, so khub asti? and khubi? are the same question. Besyâr is also good Iranian Persian, just more formal there. And the sounds shift a little: Kabul speech often says âw for water where Tehran says âb.

Mixed Afghan and Iranian families: keep both words

In a family with an Afghan side and an Iranian side, a child may hear kachâlu from one grandmother and sib-zamini from the other, often in the same week. Parents sometimes worry that this is confusing. It is closer to what bilingual children already do every day. A child who knows "potato" and sib-zamini can also learn kachâlu. Knowing that one thing can have two names, and which grandmother uses which, is a skill, not a muddle.

A few habits that help:

• Let each grandparent speak the way they speak. A Dari-speaking grandfather does not need to switch to Iranian words for the child's sake, and the other way round.
• Name both when it comes up: "Mâdar-kalân says kachâlu, Mâmân-bozorg says sib-zamini." Children enjoy collecting pairs like this.
• Treat the false friends as a game, especially mâmâ and bacha, so nobody is embarrassed.
• Do not correct the child for using the "other" word. Either one is right Persian.

The point is that the child can talk to everyone who loves them. A Dari-speaking grandmother can read a Persian picture book aloud in her own accent and her own words, and that is the voice the child will remember. On Azizan, for example, she can record a story page by page in her own voice from wherever she lives. For the wider question of which variety to teach, see Farsi vs Persian vs Dari vs Tajik.

Related guides

• Farsi vs Persian vs Dari vs Tajik: which one to teach
• Family words in Persian for kids
• Food words in Persian for kids

Questions

Is Dari the same as Farsi?

Yes, they are the same language. Dari is the name used in Afghanistan for its Persian, and Farsi usually means Iranian Persian. Speakers understand each other. The differences are mostly in accent and in a set of everyday words, such as kachâlu and sib-zamini for potato, or chawki and sandali for chair.

What is grandma and grandpa in Dari?

Grandmother is mâdar-kalân (مادرکلان) and grandfather is padar-kalân (پدرکلان). Kalân means big or old, so these match the Iranian mâdar-bozorg and pedar-bozorg.

How do you say thank you in Dari?

Tashakor (تشکر). In Iranian Persian people more often say mersi or mamnun. How are you is chetor asti? or khub asti? in Dari, and chetori? or khubi? in Iranian Persian.

What does mâmâ mean in Dari?

In Dari, mâmâ (ماما) is the mother's brother, the uncle an Iranian family calls dâyi. The father's brother is kâkâ, where Iranian Persian says amu.

Should my child learn the Dari word or the Iranian word?

Both, if the family uses both. They are words of the same language, and a child who knows both can talk easily with relatives on each side. Let each grandparent speak in their own words, and name the pairs when they come up.

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Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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