Talk about jobs and working hours in Persian: engineer, nurse, how many hours a day, plus
speaking
Conversation about job ⇒ گفتگو راجب شغل
| English | Pronunciation | Persian | ||
| Sara: | what is your job? | /shoghle to chist?/ | شغل تو چیست؟ | :سارا |
| Puya: | I am a computer engineer. | /man mohandese kâmpiuter hastam, to chetor?/ | من مهندس کامپیوتر هستم | :پویا |
| Sara: | I am a nurs. | /man parastâr hastam/ | من پرستار هستم | :سارا |
| Puya: | How many hours do you work in day? | /chand sâat dar roz kâr mikoni?/ | چند ساعت در روز کار می کنی؟ | :پویا |
| Sara: | Eight hours. | /hasht sâat/ | هشت ساعت | :سارا |
Talk about jobs and working hours in Persian: engineer, nurse, how many hours a day, plus written vs spoken forms and a short quiz.
Jobs and working hours in Persian
Sara and Puya talk about their work. Puya is a computer engineer and Sara is a nurse. Puya then asks how many hours a day she works. The sentences here are fairly close to written Persian, so this lesson shows how the same lines sound in relaxed everyday speech.
The useful pattern is چند ساعت (chand sâ'at), "how many hours". چند (chand) means "how many" and is followed by a singular noun.
The dialogue
| Speaker | Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sara | شغل تو چیست؟ | /shoghl-e to chist?/ | What is your job? |
| Puya | من مهندس کامپیوتر هستم. | /man mohandes-e kâmpyuter hastam./ | I'm a computer engineer. |
| Sara | من پرستار هستم. | /man parastâr hastam./ | I'm a nurse. |
| Puya | چند ساعت در روز کار می‌کنی؟ | /chand sâ'at dar ruz kâr mikoni?/ | How many hours a day do you work? |
| Sara | هشت ساعت. | /hasht sâ'at./ | Eight hours. |
Key words and phrases
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| شغل | /shoghl/ | job, occupation |
| چیست؟ | /chist?/ | what is it? (written) |
| مهندس | /mohandes/ | engineer |
| کامپیوتر | /kâmpyuter/ | computer |
| مهندس کامپیوتر | /mohandes-e kâmpyuter/ | computer engineer |
| پرستار | /parastâr/ | nurse |
| چند | /chand/ | how many |
| ساعت | /sâ'at/ | hour; clock, watch |
| روز | /ruz/ | day |
| در روز | /dar ruz/ | per day, a day |
| کار می‌کنی | /kâr mikoni/ | you work |
| هشت | /hasht/ | eight |
Spoken vs written Persian
Here the page uses written forms and the left side of each pair shows how a Tehran speaker would usually say the same thing.
| Spoken / written | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| شغلت چیه؟ / شغل تو چیست؟ | /shoghlet chiye? / shoghl-e to chist?/ | what's your job? |
| مهندس کامپیوترم / مهندس کامپیوتر هستم | /mohandes-e kâmpyuteram / mohandes-e kâmpyuter hastam/ | I'm a computer engineer |
| پرستارم / پرستار هستم | /parastâram / parastâr hastam/ | I'm a nurse |
| روزی چند ساعت / چند ساعت در روز | /ruzi chand sâ'at / chand sâ'at dar ruz/ | how many hours a day |
Grammar notes
The ezâfe links a noun to the word that describes it: مهندس کامپیوتر is mohandes-e kâmpyuter, "engineer of computer". It is usually not written, but you must pronounce it.
After چند (chand) and after numbers, Persian uses the singular: چند ساعت, هشت ساعت, never "hours". Adding ـی to a time word gives "per": روزی (ruzi) "per day", هفته‌ای (hafte'i) "per week".
کار می‌کنی (kâr mikoni) is the present tense of کار کردن (kâr kardan), "to work": کار می‌کنم (kâr mikonam) "I work", کار می‌کنه (kâr mikone) "he or she works" in speech.
Try it yourself
- Tell someone your own job with من … هستم or the short spoken ending ـم.
- Ask a friend how many hours a day they study: روزی چند ساعت درس می‌خونی؟ (ruzi chand sâ'at dars mikhuni?).
- Answer with a number and ساعت: شش ساعت (shesh sâ'at), "six hours".
- Ask how many days a week someone works: هفته‌ای چند روز کار می‌کنی؟ (hafte'i chand ruz kâr mikoni?).
- Compare your answer with the dialogue: Sara works eight hours a day. Do you work more or less than she does?
The word ساعت (sâ'at) means both "hour" and "clock" or "watch". چند ساعت asks "how many hours", while ساعت چنده؟ (sâ'at chande?) asks "what time is it?". Learn the two questions together so you do not mix them up.
Practice
-
What is Puya's job?
Show answer
He is a computer engineer. مهندس کامپیوتر
-
Say "I'm a nurse" in two ways.
Show answer
man parastâr hastam / parastâram من پرستار هستم / پرستارم
-
Ask a friend how many hours a day they work, in spoken style.
Show answer
ruzi chand sâ'at kâr mikoni? روزی چند ساعت کار می‌کنی؟
-
Why is it {{هشت ساعت}} and not a plural?
Show answer
Nouns after numbers stay singular in Persian.
Find more dialogues in the Farsi conversation lessons series, and review the sounds behind the transliteration on the Persian pronunciation page.
Take this lesson further
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