Question words in Persian for kids: what, who, where, when, why, how, which, how many

The Persian question words are chi (what), ki (who), kojâ (where), key (when), cherâ (why), chetor or chejuri (how), kodum (which) and chand or chand-tâ (how many). Two of them look the same in writing: کی is ki, "who", and also key, "when". Persian does not move the question word to the front or flip the verb the way English does. The question word sits where the answer would go: to kojâ miri?, "you where are going?". A yes/no question is the same sentence as a statement, with the voice rising at the end. 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.

The question words, written and spoken

Here are the question words a young child actually hears at home, in the written form you would see in a book and the spoken form a grandparent uses. Most are the same in both. The example sentences are spoken Persian, the way a family really talks.

Written	Spoken	Say it like	Meaning	A line a child hears or says
چه	چی	chi (written: che)	what	این چیه؟ in chiye? What is this?
کی	کی	ki	who	کی اومد؟ ki omad? Who came?
کجا	کجا	ko-JÂ	where	توپم کجاست؟ tupam kojâst? Where is my ball?
کِی	کِی	key (rhymes with "day")	when	بابا کِی میاد؟ bâbâ key miyâd? When is Dad coming?
چرا	چرا	che-RÂ	why	چرا آسمون آبیه؟ cherâ âsemun âbiye? Why is the sky blue?
چطور	چطور / چه‌جوری	che-TOR / che-ju-RI	how	اینو چه‌جوری درست کنم؟ ino chejuri dorost konam? How do I make this?
کدام	کدوم	ko-DUM (written: kodâm)	which	کدومو می‌خوای؟ kodumo mikhây? Which one do you want?
چند	چند / چندتا	chand / chand-TÂ	how many, how much	چندتا سیب داری؟ chand-tâ sib dâri? How many apples do you have?

Two small notes on the spoken forms. Chejuri is the everyday spoken way to say "how", next to chetor; both are fine with a child, and chetor is also the word in hâlet chetore?, "how are you?". Chand alone is used before a measure, as in chand sâlete?, "how old are you?", while chand-tâ counts things a child can point at: apples, cars, fingers. For the answers to those, see numbers to 100 in Persian.

Ki or key: who or when?

This is the one that catches learners and bilingual children. کی is written the same way for two different words. Said ki, with a long "ee", it means "who". Said key, like the English word "day" with a k, it means "when". Books for beginners sometimes add a small mark under the first letter, کِی, to show the "when" word, but most writing leaves it out.

In speech there is no problem, because you hear the vowel. On paper, a short sentence such as کی اومد؟ can mean "Who came?" or "When did he come?", and only the rest of the sentence or the picture tells you which. A simple way to practise at home: ask both in a row about the same thing. Ki omad? Mâmânbozorg. Key omad? Diruz. "Who came? Grandma. When did she come? Yesterday." The child hears the two vowels side by side and the difference sticks.

No flipping: the question word stays where the answer goes

English moves the question word to the front and often adds "do" or flips the verb: "You are going to school" becomes "Where are you going?". Persian does none of that. Take the statement, put the question word in the slot where the answer would be, and keep everything else the same.

to madrese miri. "You are going to school." becomes to kojâ miri? "Where are you going?"
Sârâ omad. "Sara came." becomes ki omad? "Who came?"
se-tâ sib dâri. "You have three apples." becomes chand-tâ sib dâri? "How many apples do you have?"

This is good news for a small child. Once they know how to say a sentence, they already know how to ask about it. For the verbs that go at the end of these questions, see Persian action words for kids.

Yes/no questions: it is all in the voice

A Persian yes/no question needs no question word. It is the statement itself, with the voice going up at the end instead of down.

goshnete. (voice falls) "You are hungry."
goshnete? (voice rises) "Are you hungry?"

In formal or written Persian, a question can start with آیا (âyâ), a word whose only job is to say "this is a question": âyâ gorosne hasti? You will see it in books, school texts and the news. It is optional, and at home almost nobody uses it, so a child does not need it to speak. It is worth knowing so that it does not puzzle them when it turns up in a story.

Question games for home

Question words stick when the child gets to ask, not only answer. A few games that need nothing but a little time:

Twenty questions, Persian style. Iranian families call it bist so'âli. One person thinks of an animal or a thing in the house. The others ask yes/no questions with a rising voice: bozorge? tu âbe? pashmâlue? "Is it big? Is it in the water? Is it fluffy?" With a small child, cut it to ten questions and stick to animals.
Ask the picture. Open a picture book and take turns asking about one page: in kiye? kojâ mire? cherâ mikhande? chand-tâ gorbe hast? "Who is this? Where is she going? Why is he laughing? How many cats are there?" Let the child ask you too, and get one answer wrong now and then so they can correct you. It works just as well after a grandparent's recorded story on Azizan: go back to a page and ask about what is in the picture.
Where is it? Hide a toy and let the child ask kojâst? while you answer garme, sarde, "warm, cold". Then swap.
The why chain. Around age three, many children ask cherâ? after every answer. On a video call with a grandparent, that is not a problem but a whole conversation. Answer simply, then hand it back now and then: to chi fekr mikoni? "What do you think?" For more things a child can ask a grandparent, see questions to ask grandparents.

Related guides

Questions

What are the question words in Persian?

The everyday set is chi (what), ki (who), kojâ (where), key (when), cherâ (why), chetor or chejuri (how), kodum (which) and chand or chand-tâ (how many). In writing, chi is usually spelled che (چه) and kodum is spelled kodâm (کدام).

How do you say why in Persian?

Why is cherâ (چرا). It works on its own as a one-word question, cherâ?, and at the start of a sentence: cherâ âsemun âbiye? "Why is the sky blue?"

What is the difference between ki and key in Persian?

Both are written کی. Ki, with a long "ee" sound, means who. Key, which sounds like "day" with a k, means when. In speech you hear the difference. In writing, the rest of the sentence tells you which one is meant, and beginners' books sometimes write "when" as کِی.

Does Persian change the word order in questions?

No. The question word goes where the answer would be and everything else stays in the statement order. "You are going to school" is to madrese miri, and "Where are you going?" is to kojâ miri? There is no extra word like "do" and no flipping of the verb.

How do you ask a yes/no question in Persian?

Say the statement with your voice rising at the end: goshnete? means "Are you hungry?" Formal and written Persian can add âyâ (آیا) at the start, but it is optional and is rarely used at home.

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Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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