Azizan
Times of day and 'when' words in Persian for kids (with pronunciation)
The Persian words a small child hears all day long are sobh (صبح, morning), zohr (ظهر, noon), ba'd-az-zohr or asr (بعدازظهر / عصر, afternoon) and shab (شب, night); and for 'when', emrooz (امروز, today), farda (فردا, tomorrow), dirooz (دیروز, yesterday) and alan (الان, now). These are the first time words to teach, because a toddler meets them every single day: at breakfast, at bedtime, when you promise something will happen farda. The spelling below follows everyday Tehrani speech, not the formal written forms. Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page; this page is a plain-language word list for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad.
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 parts of the day
| English | Persian | Say it like | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | صبح | sobh | Sunrise until about noon. The word in «صبح بخیر», good morning. |
| Noon / midday | ظهر | zohr | Around the middle of the day; also lunchtime. |
| Afternoon | بعدازظهر | ba'd-az-ZOHR | Literally "after noon". In quick speech it blurs to bad az zohr. |
| Afternoon / early evening | عصر | asr | Later afternoon, while it is still light. Families use asr and ba'dazzohr for overlapping times. |
| Night | شب | shab | Evening and night together. The word in «شب بخیر», good night. |
The boundaries are not exact, and families draw them differently. Teach the child the four big ones first: sobh, zohr, asr and shab. That is enough to talk about a whole day.
When: today, tomorrow, yesterday, now
| English | Persian | Say it like | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | امروز | em-ROOZ | Everyday Tehrani often clips it to emruz. |
| Tomorrow | فردا | far-DAW | The word for "not now, the next day". |
| Yesterday | دیروز | dee-ROOZ | The day that is already gone. |
| Now | الان | a-LAAN | The most common spoken word for "now" in Iran. You also hear hala (حالا) in speech; the formal, written word is aknun (اکنون). |
| Later / after | بعد | ba'd | For "later" on its own, you also hear ba'dan (بعداً). |
| Early / soon | زود | zood | "zud bia" means "come early / come soon". |
| Late | دیر | deer | "dir shod" means "it got late". |
A toddler learns these fastest inside real sentences, not as a list: «الان نه، بعد» (not now, later), «فردا می‌ریم پارک» (tomorrow we'll go to the park), «زود بخواب» (go to sleep early).
Meal words, the anchors of a child's day
Small children tell the time by meals before they tell it by the clock, so these three are useful time words too:
| English | Persian | Say it like | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | صبحانه | sob-haa-NEH | Everyday Tehrani says sobhoone. |
| Lunch | ناهار | naa-HAAR | The zohr meal. |
| Dinner / supper | شام | shaam | The shab meal, often just before a story. |
The two greetings every child needs
| English | Persian | Say it like | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good morning | صبح بخیر | sobh be-KHEYR | A hello in the morning, not a goodbye. |
| Good night | شب بخیر | shab be-KHEYR | A warm goodbye at bedtime. |
bekheir means roughly "in goodness", so «صبح بخیر» is a small wish for a good morning. Afghan (Dari) families often say the same phrase as sobh bakhair / shab bakhair. See more Persian greetings and polite words and the words for bedtime.
How to teach the time words
- Attach the word to the moment. Say sobh bekheir every morning and shab bekheir every night; the child learns the word and the time together.
- Use "when" words for real plans. «فردا می‌ریم…» for something nice tomorrow, «الان نه، بعد» for waiting. The feeling makes the word stick.
- Do not turn it into a test. A child who answers in English is still learning. Repeat the Persian warmly, do not quiz.
- Let a relative say them. A grandparent who ends a recorded story with «شب بخیر، عزیزم» teaches the word and the love together. On Azizan, that bedtime «شب بخیر» stays on the child's shelf in the grandparent's own voice. See also the days of the week in Persian.
Related guides
- Days of the week in Persian for kids
- Bedtime words in Persian for kids
- Greetings and polite words in Persian for kids
Questions
What is 'morning' in Persian?
Morning is صبح (sobh). It covers roughly sunrise to noon, and it is the word inside «صبح بخیر» (sobh bekheir), good morning.
How do you say 'now' in Persian?
In everyday spoken Persian in Iran, 'now' is الان (alan). You also hear حالا (hala) in speech; the formal, written word is اکنون (aknun). A toddler hears alan far more often.
What is the difference between ba'dazzohr and asr?
Both mean the afternoon. بعدازظهر (ba'd-az-zohr) is literally 'after noon' and covers the whole afternoon; عصر (asr) leans to the later afternoon and early evening. Families use them for overlapping times, so either is fine with a small child.
How do you say 'tomorrow' and 'yesterday' in Persian?
Tomorrow is فردا (farda) and yesterday is دیروز (dirooz). Today is امروز (emrooz), which in quick Tehrani speech often sounds like emruz.
Are these the same in Afghan Persian (Dari) and Tajik?
The words are largely shared across the Persian-speaking world, but pronunciation differs. For example «صبح بخیر» is often said sobh bakhair in Afghanistan. This page uses the Persian of Iran; your own relatives' way is the right one for your child.
Open Azizan — record a story for your childUpdated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard
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