What it means
جواب (javāb) is an answer, a reply, a response. This is the workhorse word, the one that comes out of an Iranian’s mouth when someone has asked them something and they are about to reply. It is A1 vocabulary because you will hear it within minutes of any conversation that involves a question.
The word is fully naturalized into Persian despite its Arabic origin. Iranians do not perceive it as a loanword; it is just the word for answer. The Pure Persian alternative پاسخ (pāsokh) exists and dominates formal writing, but spoken Persian belongs to javāb.
How to use it
The verb pairings: جواب دادن (javāb dādan, to answer, to give an answer), جواب گرفتن (javāb gereftan, to get an answer), and جواب کردن (javāb kardan, to fire someone or to break up with someone, a much more loaded use). The thing being answered takes a direct object marker or به (be, to).
chera javāb-e telefon-o nemidi?
Why aren’t you answering the phone?
چرا جواب تلفن رو نمیدی؟
az ostad porsidam, javāb dād.
I asked the professor, he answered.
از استاد پرسیدم، جواب داد.
javāb-e tu khune-ye man-am.
The answer’s at my place.
جواب تو خونهی منم.
Javab vs pasokh
The same pair from the other direction. جواب is Arabic, from the root j-w-b (ج-و-ب), borrowed early and now indistinguishable from native vocabulary in daily speech. پاسخ is pure Persian and lives in writing. If you are speaking, use javāb. If you are writing anything formal (a letter, an email to a teacher, a news article, a school exercise), use pāsokh. The Pure Persian Movement (Farhangestan-e Zabān-e Fārsi) pushes pāsokh as the proper choice; spoken Persian has politely ignored the campaign for a hundred years.
The idiom: javab kardan
One non-obvious use. جواب کردن (javāb kardan) does not mean to answer. It means to dismiss, to fire, to break up with someone. صاحبکار جوابش کرد (sāhebkār javābesh kard) means the boss fired him. دوستدخترش جوابش کرد (dust-dokhtaresh javābesh kard) means his girlfriend dumped him. The logic is that you have given the person their final “answer” and ended the relationship. Mistaking this for the basic verb is a classic learner trap.
References
ZabanYar is a Persian app built for heritage learners, the people who can speak a little but want to read, write, and really get it. Free early access at launch.
Join the waitlist →