Table of Contents
Talking about Jobs in Persian
In this chapter you learn how to say common jobs and how to answer simple questions about what you do in Persian. You already know about the verb “to be” from another chapter, so here we will focus on the words for jobs and how they are actually used in everyday Persian.
Saying “job” and “work”
The most common word for “job, work” is “کار” pronounced /kâr/.
You can say:
من کار دارم
Man kâr dâram.
“I have a job / I work.”
Or:
من کار میکنم
Man kâr mikonam.
“I work.”
At this level, you mainly need “کار” (kâr) and the names of jobs.
Basic pattern: I am a …
To say “I am a teacher”, “I am a doctor”, and so on, you put the person, then the job, then the correct form of the verb “to be”.
For now, remember this common spoken pattern:
من معلمام
Man mo'allem-am.
“I am a teacher.”
من دکترم
Man doktôr-am.
“I am a doctor.”
من دانشجوام
Man daneshjû-am.
“I am a student.”
“Am” at the end is the spoken, attached form of “I am”.
Important pattern in spoken Persian:
Subject + job noun + attached “to be”
Examples:
من معلمام = I am a teacher.
تو مهندسی = You are an engineer.
اون پسر کارگره = That boy is a worker.
You have already studied the verb “to be” in another chapter, so here we only show how it combines with job words.
Masculine and feminine for jobs
In Persian, job words usually do not change for male or female. Context shows if the person is a man or a woman.
For example:
doktôr = doctor (male or female)
mo'allem = teacher (male or female)
Sometimes for “teacher” you may see:
معلمِ مرد
mo'allem-e mard (male teacher)
معلمِ زن
mo'allem-e zan (female teacher)
But in everyday speech people often just say “mo'allem”.
Common jobs: people you meet every day
Here are some very common jobs you will hear or need to say about yourself or others.
A doctor is “doktôr”.
من دکترم
Man doktôr-am.
“I am a doctor.”
A nurse is “parastar”.
اون پرستاره
Un parastar-e.
“He / she is a nurse.”
A teacher is “mo'allem”.
مادرِ من معلمه
Madare man mo'allem-e.
“My mother is a teacher.”
A student is “daneshjû” (university student) or “daneš-âmoz” (school pupil). At A1 level, “daneshjû” is very common in simple sentences.
من دانشجوام
Man daneshjû-am.
“I am a student.”
A worker is “kârgar”.
پدرِ من کارگره
Pedare man kârgar-e.
“My father is a worker.”
An employee, office worker, or clerk is often “karmand”.
خواهرم کارمنده
Khâhar-am karmand-e.
“My sister is an office worker / employee.”
Shops, restaurants, and service jobs
You often talk about people who work in shops or restaurants.
A seller, shop assistant is “forushande”.
اون فروشندهست
Un forushande-e.
“He / she is a salesperson.”
A waiter is “pishkhedmat” or more colloquially “gârson”. At this level, remember at least one of them.
اون گارسونه
Un gârson-e.
“He is a waiter.”
A cook is “âshpaz”.
مادربزرگم آشپزه
Mâdar-bozorg-am âshpaz-e.
“My grandmother is a cook.”
A driver is “rânande”.
اون رانندهست
Un rânande-e.
“He / she is a driver.”
A shop owner, boss, or simply “boss” is “râis” or “sâheb-e maghâze” (owner of shop). For beginners “râis” is easier:
اون رئیسه
Un râis-e.
“He / she is the boss.”
Offices and professional jobs
Here are some jobs you often see in offices and in professional life.
An engineer is “mohandes”.
داییم مهندسه
Dâyam mohandes-e.
“My uncle is an engineer.”
A lawyer is “vâkil”.
اون وکیله
Un vâkil-e.
“He / she is a lawyer.”
An accountant is “hesâbdâr”.
عموی من حسابداره
Amu-ye man hesâbdâr-e.
“My uncle is an accountant.”
A manager is “modir”.
اون مدیره
Un modir-e.
“He / she is a manager.”
A secretary is “monshi”.
اون منشیه
Un monshi-e.
“She is a secretary.”
Other common jobs
A police officer is “police” or “mâmur-e police”. At this level you can say “police”.
اون پلیسه
Un police-e.
“He / she is a police officer.”
A soldier is “sar-bâz”.
اون سربازه
Un sar-bâz-e.
“He is a soldier.”
A farmer is “keshâvarz”.
پدربزرگم کشاورزه
Pedar-bozorg-am keshâvarz-e.
“My grandfather is a farmer.”
An artist is “honarmand”.
اون هنرمنده
Un honarmand-e.
“She is an artist.”
A musician is “musiqi-dân”.
اون موسیقیدانه
Un musiqi-dân-e.
“He is a musician.”
A writer is “nevisande”.
اون نویسندهست
Un nevisande-e.
“She is a writer.”
Asking about jobs: What is your job?
The most common simple question is:
شغلِ تو چیست؟
Shoghl-e to chist?
“What is your job?” (informal “you”)
شغلِ شما چیست؟
Shoghl-e shomâ chist?
“What is your job?” (polite/formal)
The word “shoghl” means “job, occupation”.
To answer, you can say only the job, or job plus “am / hastam”:
دکترم
Doktôr-am.
“I am a doctor.”
من دکترم
Man doktôr-am.
“I am a doctor.”
من معلمام
Man mo'allem-am.
“I am a teacher.”
If you want to say “I do not work / I am not working”, you can use the verb “to be” with “bikâr” which means “without work, unemployed”:
من بیکارم
Man bikâr-am.
“I am unemployed.”
Asking where someone works
To ask where someone works, the simplest question at this level is:
کجا کار میکنی؟
Kojâ kâr mikoni?
“Where do you work?” (informal)
کجا کار میکنین؟
Kojâ kâr mikonin?
“Where do you work?” (polite / plural)
To answer, you can say the place and then “kâr mikonam”:
من در بانک کار میکنم
Man dar bânk kâr mikonam.
“I work in a bank.”
من در مدرسه کار میکنم
Man dar madrese kâr mikonam.
“I work in a school.”
من در اداره کار میکنم
Man dar edâre kâr mikonam.
“I work in an office.”
At this level you just need to recognize this pattern. Detailed present tense explanation is in another chapter.
Talking about someone else’s job
You already know personal pronouns from another chapter. Combine them with job words and the verb “to be” to speak about family or friends.
Examples:
پدرم مهندسه
Pedar-am mohandes-e.
“My father is an engineer."
مادرم معلمه
Mâdar-am mo'allem-e.
"My mother is a teacher."
دوستم دانشجوئه
Dust-am daneshjû-e.
"My friend is a student."
برادرم کارگره
Barâdar-am kârgar-e.
"My brother is a worker."
خواهرم پرستاره
Khâhar-am parastar-e.
"My sister is a nurse."
Short self-introduction with job
You can now make very short introductions:
من علی هستم. مهندسم.
Man Ali hastam. Mohandes-am.
"My name is Ali. I am an engineer."
من سارا هستم. دانشجوام.
Man Sârâ hastam. Daneshjû-am.
"My name is Sara. I am a student."
من رضا هستم. در رستوران آشپزم.
Man Reza hastam. Dar resturân âshpaz-am.
"My name is Reza. I am a cook in a restaurant."
You already know greetings and introductions from another chapter, so here the focus is the job words and where to put them in the sentence.
Vocabulary table for this section
| Persian (script) | Transcription | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| کار | kâr | work, job |
| شغل | shoghl | job, occupation |
| دکتر | doktôr | doctor |
| پرستار | parastar | nurse |
| معلم | mo'allem | teacher |
| دانشجو | danesjû | university student |
| دانشآموز | danesh-âmoz | school pupil |
| کارگر | kârgar | worker |
| کارمند | karmand | employee, office worker |
| فروشنده | forushande | seller, shop assistant |
| گارسون | gârson | waiter |
| پیشخدمت | pishkhedmat | waiter, server |
| آشپز | âshpaz | cook |
| راننده | rânande | driver |
| رئیس | râis | boss |
| صاحبِ مغازه | sâheb-e maghâze | shop owner |
| مهندس | mohandes | engineer |
| وکیل | vâkil | lawyer |
| حسابدار | hesâbdâr | accountant |
| مدیر | modir | manager |
| منشی | monshi | secretary |
| پلیس | police | police officer |
| مأمورِ پلیس | mâmur-e police | police officer |
| سرباز | sarbâz | soldier |
| کشاورز | keshâvarz | farmer |
| هنرمند | honarmand | artist |
| موسیقیدان | musiqi-dân | musician |
| نویسنده | nevisande | writer |
| بیکار | bikâr | unemployed |
| کجا | kojâ | where |
| کار میکنم | kâr mikonam | I work |
| شغلِ تو چیست؟ | shoghl-e to chist? | What is your job? (informal) |
| شغلِ شما چیست؟ | shoghl-e shomâ chist? | What is your job? (formal) |
| من ...ام | man …-am | I am … (with job word) |
| در بانک | dar bânk | in a bank |
| در مدرسه | dar madrese | in a school |
| در اداره | dar edâre | in an office |