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### Better Alternatives

Workplace efficiency often involves deciding what *not* to do. In this lesson, we will talk about focusing on useful tasks, prioritizing your workflow, and minimizing distractions.

### Substitution: "Instead of doing..."

To express "instead of doing [something]", Farsi uses the conjunction **به جای اینکه**.

{{item:788148}}

Because the action following this conjunction is an alternative you are *not* doing, it is treated as hypothetical. Therefore, the verb in the **به جای اینکه** clause takes the **present subjunctive**.

The main clause describes the action actually taking place and uses whatever tense or mood fits the situation (often the present indicative).

{{item:788151}}

{{item:788152}}

### Prioritizing and Delegating

This structure is perfect for discussing smart office habits, like establishing priorities (**اولویت**) or avoiding time-wasting tasks. 

You will often see **به جای اینکه** paired with an imperative (command) in the main clause to give direct, productive advice. Remember that the subjunctive stem for "to be" is **باش**, which is useful when advising someone "instead of being" a certain way.

{{item:788156}}

{{item:788167}}

Substitution (be jâ-ye inke)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

suffix

verb

Singular pronouns and copula (man, -am)

Plural pronouns and copula (mâ, -im)

Subject pronoun omission

Singular demonstratives (in, ân)

Plural demonstratives (inhâ, ânhâ)

Independent copula (hastam, hast)

Negative present copula (nistam, nist)

Yes/No questions (âyâ)

Regular plurals (-hâ)

Animate plurals (-ân)

Indefiniteness (yek)

Indefinite marker (-i)

Describing nouns (-e / -ye)

Possession (-e / -ye)

Singular possessives (-am, -at, -ash)

Plural possessives (-emân, -etân, -eshân)

Basic prepositions (dar, be, az, bâ)

Spatial prepositions (ru-ye, zir-e...)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yek, do, se...)

Numbers and singular nouns

Numbers 11 to 20 (yâzdah, davâzdah...)

Counting by tens to 100

Telling time (sâ'at)

The verb to have (dâram)

Negative to have (nadâram)

Basic word order (SOV)

Infinitives and present stems (-an)

Present indicative (mi-)

Negative present indicative (nemi-)

Compound verbs

Question words (che, kojâ)

How many (chand)

The definite object marker (râ)

Object pronouns (man râ, to râ)

Singular commands (be-)

Formal and plural commands (be- ... -id)

Negative commands (na-)

The present subjunctive (be-)

The negative present subjunctive (na-)

Must (bâyad)

Might (shâyad)

Wanting to do something (khâstan)

Being able to do something (tavânestan)

Forming the past stem

The simple past of to be (budan)

The simple past tense

Negative simple past (na-)

Attached object pronouns on verbs (-am, -at, -ash)

Comparative adjectives (-tar)

Basic conjunctions (va, ammâ, yâ)

Giving reasons (chon)

Adverbs of frequency and degree (hamishe, hargez, kheyli, kam)

Everyday actions (kâr kardan, bâz kardan)

Non-human plural subjects

Indefinite pronouns (kasi, chizi, jâyi)

Negative indefinite pronouns (hich-kas, hich-chiz, hich-jâ)

Reciprocal pronouns (hamdigar, yekdigar)

Reflexive pronouns (khod-)

Reflexive direct objects (khod râ)

Emphatic pronouns (khod)

The quantifier every (har)

The quantifier all (hame)

The quantifier some (ba'zi)

Another and other (-i digar)

Which (kodâm)

How much (cheghadr)

Comparisons of equality (mesl-e)

Superlative adjectives (-tarin)

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Ordinal numbers (-om)

Pre-nominal ordinal numbers (-omin)

Fractions and percentages

Prepositions of theme (dar mored-e)

Prepositions of time (ghabl az, ba'd az)

Preposition of exclusion (bedun-e)

Resultative conjunctions (banâbarin, pas)

Hortative construction (biyâ, biyâyid)

The present progressive tense (dâram mi-)

The past continuous tense (mi-)

Negative past continuous (ne-mi-)

Past continuous of to have (dâshtam)

The past progressive tense (dâshtam mi-)

The past participle (-e)

Present perfect tense (-e-am, -e-ast)

Negative present perfect (na-)

Question	Answer
instead of (+ clause)	به جای اینکهbe jâ-ye in-ke
to waste	هدر دادنhadar dâdan
to advance / to push forward	پیش بردنpish bordan
Instead of wasting our time, we advance the project.	به جای اینکه وقتمان را هدر دهیم، پروژه را پیش می‌بریم.be jâ-ye in-ke vaght-emân râ hadar dahim, poroje râ pish mibarim.
Instead of wasting the company's money, they hire new employees.	آنها به جای اینکه پول شرکت را هدر دهند، کارمند جدید استخدام می‌کنند.ânhâ be jâ-ye in-ke pul-e sherkat râ hadar dahand, kârmand-e jadid estekhdâm mikonand.
priority	اولویتowlaviyat
I want to specify my priorities so that I advance my tasks better.	من می‌خواهم اولویت‌هایم را مشخص کنم تا کارهایم را بهتر پیش ببرم.man mikhâham owlaviyat-hâyam râ moshakhkhas konam tâ kârhâyam râ behtar pish bebaram.
to review	مرور کردنmorur kardan
Instead of just reading emails, review today's priorities.	به جای اینکه فقط ایمیل بخوانید، اولویت‌های امروز را مرور کنید.be jâ-ye inke faqat imeyl bekhânid, owlaviyat-hâ-ye emruz râ morur konid.
to delegate / to entrust	سپردنsepordan
distraction	حواس‌پرتیhavâs-parti
The manager delegates simple tasks to colleagues so that he doesn't have distractions.	مدیر کارهای ساده را به همکاران می‌سپارد تا حواس‌پرتی نداشته باشد.modir kârhâ-ye sâde râ be hamkârân mi-sepârad tâ havâs-parti nadâshte bâshad.
in person	حضوریhozuri
useful / productive	سودمندsudmand
Are in-person meetings always useful?	آیا جلسه‌های حضوری همیشه سودمند هستند؟âyâ jalase-hâ-ye hozuri hamishe sudmand hastand?
If you want to delegate the project to me, explain it in person.	اگه می‌خوای پروژه رو به من بسپاری، حضوری توضیح بده.age mikhâi poroje ro be man besepâri, hozuri tozih bede.
Instead of wasting time, we do useful tasks.	به جای اینکه وقت هدر دهیم، کارهای سودمند انجام می‌دهیم.be jâye inke vaght hadar dahim, kârhâye sudmand anjâm midahim.
unnecessary	غیرضروریgheyrzaruri
We never review unnecessary reports.	ما هیچ‌وقت گزارش‌های غیرضروری را مرور نمی‌کنیم.mâ hich-vaght gozâresh-hâ-ye gheyrzarûri râ morur nemikonim.
Instead of being worried, review the priorities.	به جای اینکه نگران باشی، اولویت‌ها رو مرور کن.be jâye inke negarân bâshi, avlaviyat-hâ ro morur kon.
We have wasted our time in unnecessary meetings.	ما وقتمان را در جلسه‌های غیرضروری هدر داده‌ایم.mâ vaghtemân râ dar jalase-hâ-ye gheyr-e-zarouri hadar dâde-im.
Instead of paying attention to distraction, you must focus on the project.	به جای اینکه به حواس‌پرتی توجه کنید، باید روی پروژه تمرکز کنید.be jâ-ye inke be havâs-parti tavajjoh konid, bâyad ru-ye prozhe tamarkoz konid.