چطور

What it means

چطور (chetour) is the spoken colloquial form of چگونه (chegune), meaning how. It is an interrogative adverb used to ask about manner, method, or state. In practice it covers three overlapping uses: asking how something is done (چطور درست می‌شه? how is it made?), greeting someone and asking how they are (چطوری? how are you?), and floating a suggestion (چطوره بریم? how about we go?). The form chetour is the universal spoken register; chegune appears in formal writing and official announcements but almost never in conversation. Learners who use chegune in casual speech sound overly stiff; chetour is the right choice in virtually any face-to-face context.

How to use it

• چطوری؟ (chetouri?) “How are you?” (greeting, very common)
• این کار رو چطور انجام دادی؟ (in kâr ro chetour anjâm dâdi?) “How did you do this?”
• چطوره فردا بریم بیرون؟ (chetour-e fardâ brim birun?) “How about we go out tomorrow?”
• چطور شد که این تصمیم رو گرفتی؟ (chetour shod ke in tasmim ro gereft-i?) “How did you end up making this decision?”

Cultural note

چطوری is one of the most common greetings in Iranian daily life, functioning as a warmer and more personal alternative to حالت چطوره (hâl-et chetour-e, how is your state). Among friends and family it is often the first word out of someone’s mouth when picking up the phone. Answering with a brief مرسی، خوبم (mersi, khubam, thanks, I’m good) and returning the question is standard. The word signals closeness: strangers or formal acquaintances tend to use حال شما چطور است (hâl-e shomâ chetour ast) with the formal plural pronoun, while intimates drop straight to چطوری.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab