What it means
دو (do) is the cardinal number 2 in Persian. It comes from the same Indo-European root as English “two,” Latin “duo,” Sanskrit “dva.” Pronounced with a short “o,” not “doo.”
How to use it
- دو تا قهوه (do tâ qahve) “two coffees”
- دو نفر (do nafar) “two people”
- ساعت دو بعدازظهر (sâ’at-e do ba’d-az-zohr) “two in the afternoon”
How counters work
From two upward, the classifier is mandatory in spoken Persian. So “two books” is do tâ ketâb, not do ketâb. The noun stays singular: ketâb, never ketâbhâ, after a number. Type-specific classifiers replace تا when relevant: do نفر for people, do جلد for books in formal speech, do دسته for bunches.
Cultural note
Do shows up in plenty of fixed phrases: do qadami (“two steps away,” meaning very close), do delam (“I’m of two minds, undecided”), do be do (“face to face, one on one”). The expression do dare (“two-door,” a coupé) is car slang. Iranians count days by do ruz pish (“two days ago”) and do ruz dige (“in two days”).
References
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