از

See also: ار, أر, آر, and اَز

Persian

Alternative forms

• ز (ze) (poetic)
• ا (a) (dialectal, Hamadan, Herati)

Etymology

From Middle Persian 𐭬𐭭 (az), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎨𐎠 (hacā), from Proto-Iranian *háčā, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔaz]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäz]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäz]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔäz]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔäz]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæz]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäz]

Readings
Classical reading?	az
Dari reading?	az
Iranian reading?	az
Tajik reading?	az

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Preposition

Dari	از
Iranian Persian
Tajik	аз

از • (az)

1. of, from

   از او پرسیدم اگر می‌خواهد به ایران برود. (more literary)

   az u porsidam agar mi-xâhad be irân be-ravad.

   ازش پرسیدم اگه می‌خواد به ایران بره. (more colloquial)

   az-aš porsidam age mi-xâd be irân be-re.

   I asked of him if he wanted to go to Iran.

2. since

   از کی تا حالا؟ ― az key tâ hâlâ? ― Since when?

3. than

   این کتاب از آن کتاب بهتر است. (more literary)

   in ketâb az ân ketâb behtar ast.

   این کتاب از اون کتاب بهتره. (more colloquial)

   in ketâb az un ketâb behtar-e.

   This book is better than that one.

Usage notes

In standard and colloquial modern Persian (more so in colloquial Persian), the preposition is used with an enclitic pronoun when a pronoun is the object of the sentence. For instance, the phrase “از او پرسیدم” (az u porsidam, lit. “from him (I) asked”) becomes “ازش پرسیدم” (az-aš porsidam) when using the enclitic third-person singular pronoun.

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian از (az).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /əz/

Preposition

از • (az) (Hindi spelling अज़)

1. from, by

   Synonym: سے (se)