What it means
فایل (fayl) is an English loanword meaning file in the computing sense: any collection of data stored on a device, from a photo or document to a video or program. The word is so embedded in everyday Persian that the formally proposed native equivalent پرونده (parvande) is understood only in administrative and legal contexts. In tech conversation, everyone says فایل.
How to use it
- این فایل رو برام ایمیل کن. (In fayl ro baram email kon.) “Email me this file.”
- فایلم رو پاک کردم اشتباهی. (Faylam ro pak kardam eshtebahi.) “I accidentally deleted my file.”
- حجم این فایل خیلی زیاده. (Hajm-e in fayl kheyli ziade.) “This file is very large.”
- فایلهات رو توی یه پوشه بذار. (Faylhato tu ye pushe bezar.) “Put your files in one folder.”
Cultural note
In Persian, پرونده is the Academy-recommended equivalent of “file” in both the administrative sense (a dossier or case file) and the computing sense. In practice the two uses have diverged: پرونده still appears in legal and government paperwork, while فایل has completely taken over in technology contexts. Interestingly, the word for folder, پوشه (pushe), follows the same logic as پرونده and has been more successful: even in casual speech, Iranians often say پوشه instead of the English “folder.”