What it means
سه برابر (seh-barabar) is triple, three times as much, three times the size. The construction follows the standard Persian multiplier pattern, سه (se, three) plus برابر (barabar, equal). The number says how many copies of the original unit, barabar marks them as equal copies. Where do-barabar feels like an ordinary doubling, seh-barabar carries weight. People reach for it when something has jumped, ballooned, or got dramatically bigger.
Where it shows up
Three contexts dominate. Prices and inflation: قیمت گوشت سه برابر شد (qeymat-e gusht seh-barabar shod, the price of meat tripled). Workload complaints: کار من سه برابر همکارهامه (kar-e man seh-barabar-e hamkar-ha-mast, my work is triple that of my coworkers’). Size comparisons that surprise: اون باغ سه برابر مال ماست (un bagh seh-barabar-e mal-e mast, that garden is three times the size of ours).
The grammar matches do-barabar exactly. Pair it with شدن (shodan) to express the change, with بودن (budan) to express the state, or drop it in as a modifier. The pattern continues up the number line, چهار برابر (chahar-barabar, quadruple), پنج برابر (panj-barabar, five times), ده برابر (dah-barabar, ten times), with no exceptions.
How to use it
qeymat-e khane to-ye chand sal seh-barabar shod.
The price of the house tripled over a few years.
قیمت خانه توی چند سال سه برابر شد.
jamiyat-e in shahr seh-barabar-e gozashte ast.
The population of this city is triple what it was before.
جمعیت این شهر سه برابر گذشته است.
baraye in shoghl seh-barabar pul midahand.
They pay triple the money for this job.
برای این شغل سه برابر پول میدهند.
Where it comes from
Same components as the whole multiplier family. سه (se) is the ancient Persian three, with Indo-European cousins across the family (three, tres, drei). برابر (barabar) is the equal, level, match Persian word. The slot is old and stable. Persian has used this construction to express multiplication for as long as there are records of the language, which is part of why it sounds so plain to a native ear even when the numbers it describes are dramatic.
In our voice
If do-barabar is the workaday double, seh-barabar is the word that lands when you tell a friend how much rent has gone up. Iranians use it a lot right now, for reasons anyone who follows the economy knows. Learn the pair, do-barabar and seh-barabar, and you will use them more than you expect.
References
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