Locale Fa 001

Reference data for the Persian locale — endonym فارسی, written in the Arabic script, right-to-left (RTL).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: fa-001
• ISO 639-1: fa
• ISO 639-3: fas
• Script: Arab (Arabic)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: rtl — right-to-left (RTL)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 91,000,000
• L2 (additional): 35,000,000
• L1+L2 (total): 127,000,000

Set dir="rtl" for this locale (per Locale's text-direction guidance) rather than assuming left-to-right layout.

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Persian. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

• Locale Fa Ir (Persian (Iran))

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — i = 0 or n = 1 (e.g. 0, 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 2~17, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Persian (Farsi) is written in a Perso-Arabic script from right to left. The Academy of Persian Language and Literature (فرهنگستان زبان و ادب فارسی) approves Persian equivalents for foreign terms. See Locale Fa Ir. Dari (Afghanistan) and Tajik are related varieties; see Locale Prs Af and Locale Tg 001.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Persian is subject-object-verb with prepositions and the ezafe construction (-e) linking nouns and adjectives (کتابِ جدید); the ezafe is normally not written. Reorder English sentences; do not translate word for word.
• Persian has no grammatical gender and no articles; indefiniteness is marked with ی or یک, definiteness of a direct object with را.
• Prefer Persian equivalents approved by the Academy where they are in use (رایانه for computer, پیام‌رسان for messenger); accept common loanwords (فایل, اپلیکیشن) when readers use them.
• Persian uses compound verbs (انجام دادن, استفاده کردن); choose natural verbs and avoid mechanical کردن for English "do".
• Re-express idioms by meaning: "it's a piece of cake" is "آب خوردن است" or "مثل آب خوردن است".

Grammar that trips translators.

• Plural is marked with -ها (things) or -ان (people), but not after a numeral: سه فایل, not سه فایل‌ها.
• The verb agrees with the subject in person and number. The prefix می‌ marks the present and continuous aspect; ب‌ marks the subjunctive and imperative.
• Zero-width non-joiner (ZWNJ, نیم‌فاصله, U+200C) is essential in Persian: in می‌کنم, کتاب‌ها, خانه‌ام. Missing ZWNJ is the commonest typographic error; using a space instead is also wrong.
• Politeness is built into verb and noun choices (ta'arof); see below.

Register.

• شما (polite or plural) is the standard "you" for UI, support, and public text; تو is informal. Use شما with plural verb forms and polite vocabulary (لطفاً, خواهشمند است).
• UI commands use the polite imperative or the infinitive (ذخیره کنید, ذخیره). Be consistent.
• Persian business and official writing is more formal and elaborate than English; courtesy phrases and honorific nouns are expected.

Orthography and typography.

• Use the Persian letters ک and ی, not the Arabic ك and ي; mixing them breaks searching and sorting. Persian adds پ, چ, ژ, گ.
• Persian digits (۰۱۲۳۴۵۶۷۸۹) differ from Arabic-Indic digits in the shapes of 4, 5, and 6 (۴ ۵ ۶). Use the Persian forms in Persian text, or Western digits per project convention.
• Punctuation: comma ،, semicolon ؛, question mark ؟; quotation marks «…».
• Calendar: the Solar Hijri (Jalali) calendar is the official calendar of Iran (17 October 2026 is 25 Mehr 1405); show Gregorian dates alongside when needed. The weekend is Friday (with Thursday off in many offices), and the week starts on Saturday.
• Currency: the official currency is the rial, but prices are commonly quoted in tomans (1 toman = 10 rials). State the unit clearly in prices.

Common pitfalls

• Using Arabic ك and ي instead of ک and ی.
• Missing ZWNJ or using spaces instead.
• Adding the plural after a numeral.
• Showing prices in rials when readers expect tomans, or the reverse.
• Mixing شما and تو.
• Breaking right-to-left display with unmarked Latin text or numbers.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Academy of Persian Language and Literature, approved equivalents
• Microsoft Localization Style Guide, Persian (https://aka.ms/persian-styleguide)