کار کردن is the ordinary neutral verb for “to work.” With a human subject, it can describe employment or effort; with a machine, system, method, or bodily organ, it means “function, operate, work.” The noun کار supplies the lexical content, while light verb کردن carries tense and agreement: کار میکنم، کار کردیم، کار نکند.
English work is equally flexible, but the complements do not map word for word. Persian commonly says در یک شرکت کار کردن “work at a company,” برای یک شرکت کار کردن “work for a company,” and روی یک پروژه کار کردن “work on a project.” The preposition identifies the relation; none of these complements is automatically a direct object.
Principal parts and paradigm
| Form | Persian | Romanization | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | کار کردن | kâr kardan | to work/function |
| past base | کار کرد | kâr kard | کار کردم |
| present base | کار کن | kâr kon | کار میکنم |
| past participle | کار کرده | kâr karde | کار کردهاند |
| imperative | کار کن / کار کنید | kâr kon / kâr konid | work |
| negative imperative | کار نکن / کار نکنید | kâr nakon / kâr nakonid | do not work/operate |
| Person | Present | Simple past | Present perfect | Present subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | کار میکنم | کار کردم | کار کردهام | کار کنم |
| you (sg.) | کار میکنی | کار کردی | کار کردهای | کار کنی |
| he/she/it | کار میکند | کار کرد | کار کرده است | کار کند |
| we | کار میکنیم | کار کردیم | کار کردهایم | کار کنیم |
| you (pl./polite) | کار میکنید | کار کردید | کار کردهاید | کار کنید |
| they | کار میکنند | کار کردند | کار کردهاند | کار کنند |
Negation is کار نمیکنم، کار نکردم، کار نکردهام، کار نکنم. Only کردن changes. The compound remains two orthographic words, and imperfective می joins the light verb with a ZWNJ. See کردن kardan: to Do and Make for the simple verb's broader morphology.
امروز از خانه کار میکنم چون دفتر بسته است.
emruz az khâne kâr mi-konam chun daftar baste ast.
I'm working from home today because the office is closed. (neutral standard)
اگر میخواهی اینجا کار کنی، باید درخواست بفرستی.
agar mi-khâhi injâ kâr koni, bâyad darkhâst be-feresti.
If you want to work here, you have to submit an application. (neutral; subjunctive)
Employment: workplace, employer, and role
For a workplace or institutional setting, use در: در بیمارستان کار میکند. For an employer or beneficiary, برای is common: برای یک ناشر کار میکنم. To name the role, use بهعنوان in careful prose: بهعنوان مترجم کار میکند. Everyday speech can instead state the occupation directly with the copula: مترجم است.
لیلا در یک آزمایشگاه خصوصی کار میکند.
Leylâ dar yek âzmâyeshgâh-e khosusi kâr mi-konad.
Leyla works at a private laboratory. (neutral standard; workplace)
پیش از بازنشستگی برای شهرداری کار کرده بود.
pish az bâzneshastegi barâ-ye shahrdâri kâr karde bud.
Before retirement, he had worked for the municipality. (neutral standard; employer)
برادرم سه سال بهعنوان پرستار در بندرعباس کار کرد.
barâdar-am se sâl be-onvân-e parastâr dar Bandar-Abbâs kâr kard.
My brother worked as a nurse in Bandar Abbas for three years. (formal-neutral role phrase)
سر کار means “at/to work” as a conventional location: سر کار هستم “I'm at work,” سر کار میروم “I go to work.” It does not replace the verb in “I work”: من سر کار هستم answers where you are, whereas من در بانک کار میکنم states your employment.
Working on a task and working with someone
روی + noun profiles an activity's target: روی پایاننامه کار کردن “work on a thesis.” با + person/tool/material means collaborate with someone or use/deal with something: با یک تیم کوچک کار کردن, با این نرمافزار کار کردن. These are prepositional complements, so English “work a project” does not justify a Persian را object.
این هفته روی نسخهی تازهی برنامه کار میکنیم.
in hafte ru-ye noskhe-ye tâze-ye barnâme kâr mi-konim.
This week we're working on the new version of the application. (neutral standard)
قبلا با این دستگاه کار نکردهام؛ روشش را نشانم میدهی؟
qablan bâ in dastgâh kâr nakarde-am; ravesh-ash râ neshân-am mi-dahi?
I haven't used this machine before; will you show me how? (neutral spoken standard)
Manner words normally precede the compound: سخت کار کردن “work hard,” دقیق کار کردن “work accurately,” تماموقت کار کردن “work full-time.” Persian سخت کار کردن describes the manner or intensity; کار سخت is a noun phrase meaning “hard work/a difficult job.” Word order and Ezafe therefore change the analysis.
Functioning and effectiveness
With an inanimate subject, کار کردن means that a device, organ, service, rule, or solution functions. It is syntactically intransitive here: the thing that functions is the subject. این کلید کار نمیکند may mean a physical key/button fails, or that a proposed solution is ineffective, depending on context.
بعد از تعویض باتری، ساعت دوباره کار کرد.
ba'd az ta'viz-e bâtri, sâ'at dobâre kâr kard.
After the battery was replaced, the clock worked again. (neutral standard; functioning)
این روش برای گروههای کوچک خوب کار میکند، اما برای صد نفر نه.
in ravesh barâ-ye goruh-hâ-ye kuchek khub kâr mi-konad, ammâ barâ-ye sad nafar na.
This method works well for small groups, but not for a hundred people. (neutral standard; effectiveness)
For machines, روشن بودن only says “be switched on”; کار کردن says “operate/function.” A laptop can be on but not working properly. Formal technical prose may use عمل کردن “operate/function,” but everyday diagnostics strongly favor کار کردن.
کار as a noun versus کار کردن as a predicate
کار is independently a noun meaning “work, job, task, business.” In کار سخت است, کار is the subject and سخت است is the predicate: “The work is hard.” In سخت کار میکند, the full predicate is کار میکند and سخت describes how the person works. کار دارم means “I have work/something to do,” not “I work.”
امروز کار زیادی دارم، ولی تا ساعت شش کار میکنم.
emruz kâr-e ziyâdi dâram, vali tâ sâ'at-e shesh kâr mi-konam.
I have a lot of work today, but I'll work only until six. (neutral; noun versus verb)
Tehran conversational forms
Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) has کار میکنه، کار میکنیم، کار میکنین، کار میکنن. The compound itself does not require a special colloquial light verb. Workplace در may become تو / توی, and را elsewhere in the sentence becomes رو / ـو.
الان توی یه کافه کار میکنم، ولی دنبال کار ثابتتری میگردم.
alân tu-ye ye kâfe kâr mi-konam, vali donbâl-e kâr-e sâbet-tari mi-gardam.
Right now I work in a café, but I'm looking for something more stable. (informal, regional: Tehran)
این شارژر اصلا کار نمیکنه؛ یکی دیگه داری؟
in shârzher aslan kâr nemi-kone; yeki dige dâri?
This charger doesn't work at all; do you have another one? (informal, regional: Tehran)
Common Mistakes
1. Replacing the verb with a copula
❌ من در بیمارستان کار هستم.
Incorrect — employment requires کار کردن; کار هستم does not mean ‘I work.’
✅ من در درمانگاه نزدیک خانه کار میکنم.
man dar darmângâh-e nazdik-e khâne kâr mi-konam.
I work at the clinic near my home.
2. Marking an employer as a direct object
❌ ناهید آن شرکت را کار میکند.
Incorrect — use برای for an employer or در for a workplace.
✅ ناهید برای یک شرکت دارویی کار میکند.
Nâhid barâ-ye yek sherkat-e dâruyi kâr mi-konad.
Nahid works for a pharmaceutical company.
3. Confusing hard work with working hard
⚠️ او کار سختی میکند.
u kâr-e sakhti mi-konad.
This means ‘He or she does difficult work,’ not ‘works hard.’
✅ او سخت کار میکند تا پروژه زودتر تمام شود.
u sakht kâr mi-konad tâ poruzhe zud-tar tamâm shavad.
She works hard so that the project will be finished sooner.
4. Separating می from the light verb
❌ این برنامه روی گوشی من کار می کند.
Incorrect standard orthography — write میکند with a ZWNJ.
✅ این برنامه روی گوشی قدیمی من هم کار میکند.
in barnâme ru-ye gushi-ye qadimi-ye man ham kâr mi-konad.
This application works even on my old phone.
Key Takeaways
- Inflect only کردن: کار میکنم، کار کردم، کار کردهام، کار کنم.
- Use در for a workplace, برای for an employer, روی for a task, and با for a collaborator or tool.
- An inanimate subject can کار کند when it functions or proves effective.
- کار دارم is “I have work/something to do”; کار میکنم is “I work.”
- Keep standard میکند / میکنند separate from Tehran میکنه / میکنن.
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- Compound Verbs as Single Lexical PredicatesA1 — Learn why Persian noun- or adjective-plus-verb combinations function as one predicate and must be stored with their light verb and complement pattern.
- کردن kardan: to Do and MakeA1 — Reference guide to کردن as a lexical verb, a causative partner, and Persian’s most productive light verb.
- داشتن dâshtan: to HaveA1 — Reference guide to داشتن for possession, experience, progressive aspect, idioms, and its standard and Tehran paradigms.