Azizan

Opposites in Persian: the everyday pairs for little ones

The most useful Persian opposites for a toddler are bozorg / koochik (big/small), garm / sard (hot/cold), baalaa / paayin (up/down) and baaz / baste (open/closed). Opposites are an easy early topic because you can act them out: lift the child up and down, open and close a box, fill and empty a cup. Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves reading Persian children's stories; this page is a quick word list for parents and grandparents.

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.

Common Persian opposites

Pronunciation is approximate and written the way families in Iran say these words out loud: people say koochik for کوچک and aarum for the written آرام, and both are fine for a small child. Accents vary, so ask your relatives how they say them.

Easy ways to practise

• Do the word. Lift the child baalaa (up) and paayin (down); open and close a door saying baaz and baste. The action teaches the word.
• At the tap. "Is the water garm or sard?" turns a daily moment into two words.
• Tidy-up game. A cup that is por (full) then khaali (empty); a shirt that is tamiz (clean) then kasif (dirty).
• Lights. At bedtime say roshan as you turn the lamp on and khaamush as you turn it off.

We have not found a study showing which method works best for heritage-language children, so treat these as ideas to try rather than a programme.

Opposites with a relative on video

Opposites are easy for a grandparent to show on a video call or in a recorded story: big and small animals on the page, a lamp turned on and off, a character who is happy then sad. A relative can name each pair while turning the pages, so the words arrive with a voice and a face the child knows. See how to record a story video for grandchildren, and more word lists for colors, feelings and body parts.

Related guides

• Colors in Persian for kids
• Feelings in Persian for kids
• Body parts in Persian for kids

Questions

How do you say big and small in Persian?

Big is بزرگ (bozorg) and small is کوچک, which most families say as koochik in everyday speech. Hot and cold are گرم (garm) and سرد (sard).

How do you say fast and slow in Persian?

Fast is تند (tond) and slow is آروم (aarum) in everyday speech; the written form of slow is آرام (aaraam). Both are understood by a child.

How do you say on and off in Persian?

For a light or a device, روشن (roshan) is on and خاموش (khaamush) is off, so چراغ روشن is the light on and چراغ خاموش is the light off. On its own روشن also means bright or lit, and خاموش means switched off or gone out.

Do I need to read Persian to teach opposites?

No. The pronunciation guide is enough to start, and a relative can say the pairs on a video call or in a recorded story.

Are these words the same in Dari and Tajik?

Many are similar, but accents and some words differ, and Tajik is written in a different script. We only checked the Persian of Iran here.

Open Azizan — record a story for your child

Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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