What it means
به ندرت (be nodrat) is a formal adverbial phrase meaning “rarely” or “seldom.” It is a mixed-origin expression: به (be) is a native Persian preposition, while ندرت (nodrat) comes from the Arabic root ن-د-ر (n-d-r), which carries the meaning of scarcity or rarity. The Arabic noun نُدرة (nudra) passed into Persian as ندرت, and the phrase به ندرت is the standard literary way to say that something happens very infrequently. In casual spoken Persian, Iranians almost always prefer خیلی کم (kheili kam) or کمتر (kamtar) over به ندرت, which sounds bookish in conversation.
How to use it
- به ندرت برف میباره. (be nodrat barf mibare.) “It rarely snows.”
- به ندرت این غذا رو میپزم. (be nodrat in ghazâ ro mipazam.) “I rarely cook this dish.”
- به ندرت پیش میاد که اشتباه کنه. (be nodrat pish miyâd ke eshtebaah kone.) “It rarely happens that he makes a mistake.”
- چنین فرصتی به ندرت دست میده. (chenin forsati be nodrat dast mide.) “Such an opportunity rarely comes along.”
Cultural note
به ندرت belongs to the formal register that shapes Iranian journalism, academic prose, and official speech. If you read a Persian newspaper or watch a news broadcast, you will encounter it regularly. In everyday spoken Persian it is largely replaced by simpler phrasing, so using به ندرت in a casual conversation can signal education or a formal upbringing. Writers and public speakers reach for it to add weight or precision to a statement about frequency.