What it means
آدرس (âdres) comes from French “adresse” and means both a postal or physical address and directions to a place. It entered Persian during the period of French cultural influence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, alongside other French borrowings like آسانسور (elevator) and بلیت (ticket). In modern spoken Persian it covers both senses naturally: giving someone your home address and telling them how to get to a location. There is no commonly used pure Persian equivalent that has displaced it.
How to use it
- آدرس هتل رو برام بفرست. (âdrese hotel ro barâm befrest.) “Send me the hotel address.”
- آدرس دقیق کجاست؟ (âdrese daqiq kojâst?) “What is the exact address?”
- آدرس رو اشتباه دادی. (âdres ro eshtebâh dâdi.) “You gave me the wrong address.”
- آدرس میدونی؟ (âdres miduni?) “Do you know how to get there?”
Cultural note
Iranian addresses traditionally follow a hierarchical format: city, district, street, alley (kucheh), then building number and unit. In older neighborhoods, especially in cities like Yazd or Kashan, alley names are hyper-local and sometimes known only to residents, making verbal directions (گفتن آدرس) essential. Sharing a pin location via WhatsApp or Telegram has become the standard modern alternative, but Iranians still say “آدرس بده” (give me the address) even when they mean “drop a pin.”