What it means
پشت (posht) means “back” as a body part, “behind” as a spatial position, and “rear” as a descriptor. It is a native Persian word with deep roots in the language, present in Middle Persian as the same word. You use it to describe where something is located (behind the building), the physical back of a person or animal, or the back surface of an object like a door or page. Its direct directional counterpart is جلو (jelo), meaning in front. A near synonym for spatial use is عقب (aqab), borrowed from Arabic, which tends to describe falling behind or moving backward rather than static position.
How to use it
- ماشین پشت خونهست. (Mashin posht-e khunast.) “The car is behind the house.”
- کیفم پشت صندلیه. (Kifam posht-e sandalie.) “My bag is behind the chair.”
- پشتم درد میکنه. (Poshtam dard mikone.) “My back hurts.”
- نوشته پشت کاغذه. (Neveshte posht-e kaghaze.) “The writing is on the back of the paper.”
Cultural note
پشت appears in several fixed Persian expressions. پشتبند (posht-band) means a brace or support, and پشتیبانی (poshtibani) means support or backup, a word used constantly in customer service and technical contexts. The phrase پشت کسی بودن (posht-e kasi budan), literally “being behind someone,” means to have someone’s back or to support them, a common idiom for loyalty. پشت در پشت (posht dar posht) means generation after generation, describing successive lineage, and is synonymous with نسل در نسل (nasl dar nasl).