حالا

What it means

حالا (hâlâ) means “now.” If you want one word for “now” in spoken Persian, this is it. The more formal version is alan (الان), which dominates writing and news broadcasts. Hâlâ dominates conversation. They are interchangeable in many contexts but carry different register weight.

From the Arabic root حال (hâl) “state, condition.” The doubled vowel in Persian is a phonetic stretch, not the original Arabic form. Naturalized for centuries.

How to use it

• حالا چی کار کنم؟ (hâlâ chi kâr konam?) “What should I do now?”
• حالا که اومدی، بشین (hâlâ ke umadi, beshin) “Now that you’ve come, sit down”
• تا حالا اونجا نرفتم (tâ hâlâ unjâ naraftam) “I haven’t gone there until now”
• حالا حالاها (hâlâ hâlâ-hâ) “for a long time to come” (lit. “now nows”)
• حالا بذار بهت بگم (hâlâ bezâr behet begam) “Now let me tell you”
• حالا چرا؟ (hâlâ cherâ?) “Now (of all times), why?”

Hâlâ vs alan

Both mean “now.” The split is register, not meaning.

• News anchor: الان در تهران (alan dar Tehrân) “Right now in Tehran”
• Friend on phone: حالا کجایی؟ (hâlâ kojâyi?) “Where are you right now?”

In writing, alan is preferred. In conversation, hâlâ is preferred. Mixing them is fine; nobody will correct you. But a learner who only uses alan in casual speech will sound like a textbook came to life. A learner who only uses hâlâ in writing will sound like they typed up a phone call.

The reduplicated form

حالا حالاها (hâlâ hâlâ-hâ) is one of those Persian phrases that breaks logic gracefully. Literally “now nows,” it means “for a long time still to come.” حالا حالاها اینجاست (hâlâ hâlâ-hâ injâst) means “He’s going to be here for a long time yet.” Iranians use it constantly to project something current into the indefinite future.

The same construction shows up in حالا حالاها مونده (hâlâ hâlâ-hâ munde) “there’s a long way to go yet,” often said to someone who thinks the work is almost done.

Related words

• الان (alân / alan) “now (formal)”
• تا حالا (tâ hâlâ) “until now, so far”
• از حالا به بعد (az hâlâ be ba’d) “from now on”
• همین حالا (hamin hâlâ) “right now, this very moment”

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab