If you know some Persian words, I can guess (“āre” Yes and “na” No) are among them. If you had not seen these words before reading this text, then congrats, now you know two simple words in Persian.
ĀRE & NA!
However, we are talking about answering a negative yes/no question in Persian.
Imagine the question: /Chāyi nemikhāy?/
Translated to: Don’t you want tea?
If your answer is negative, you can simply say “na, mersi“!
How about when you want to answer positively? Can we simply say “Are”?
Of course NOT!
This is the moment I help you step BEYOND PERSIAN!
When answering a negative yes/no question like the example above and your answer is positive or simply a “yes”, in Persian you answer the question with “cherā”! Which means “why” in Persian!!
So next time you hear “cherā” as an answer to your question, know it means “YES”!
Example:
/Chāyi nemikhāy?/ Don’t you want tea?
/cherā, mersi/ Yes, thanks!
Thanks for reading and I hope you are happy with this post.
You will learn more examples of these little but very important cultural and linguistic points of Persian language by following our courses!