Curriculum · Unit 1 · Lesson 4
Greetings for Every Occasion
صبح بخیر
After this lesson you can greet by the time of day, choose the right "you" (casual to vs respectful shomâ), ask how someone is formally, and thank a friend the warm Tehrani way.
The phrase map
sobh bekheir
good morning
bekheir = may it be good
shab bekheir
good night
same ending, new hour
hâl-e shomâ chetore?
how are you? (formal)
for elders & new people
ghorbânet
thanks! (warm, casual)
literally "your sacrifice"
to
you (casual)
one friend
shomâ
you (respectful · plural)
when in doubt, this one
The dialogue
| Leila | Sam — Amir! Amir — Sam! | Sam — meet Amir! |
| Sam | Salâm! Hâl-e shomâ chetore? | Hello! How are you? (formal) |
| Amir | Ghorbânet! Khubam! | Thanks, man! I'm good! |
| Amir | Shomâ?! Na bâbâ — begu "to"! | "Shomâ"?! C'mon — say "to"! |
| Sam | Khob… to chetori? | OK… how are YOU? |
| Amir | Khubam! Âfarin! | I'm good! Nice one! 🤝 |
| Leila | Che khub! | How nice! |
The rule of thumb
When in doubt → shomâ. Nobody was ever offended by too much respect. Being invited to "to" is a little ceremony of friendship.
Elder respect, two free rules
Greet the oldest person first. Stand when an elder enters. Small moves, huge signal.
🎧 Speak-along drill · 3 min
Headphones on, out loud, eyes free. Prompt → pause → you speak → native answer. This is where the lesson becomes yours.
Practice
Play the practice game for this lesson — listening rounds, matching, and dialogue replies, all in the real course voices. The PDF has 8 written exercises with an answer key.