شما الان در خانه هستید یا به کار میروید؟

A common pronunciation is:

shomâ alân dar khâne hastid yâ be kâr miravid?

More carefully, word by word:

• شما = shomâ
• الان = alân
• در خانه = dar khâne
• هستید = hastid
• یا = yâ
• به کار = be kâr
• میروید / می‌روید = miravid

In everyday speech, some sounds may be reduced a little, but this is a good learner-friendly pronunciation.

شما means you.

It is used for:

• plural you: addressing more than one person
• polite/formal singular you: addressing one person respectfully

So in this sentence, it could mean either:

• Are you at home now, or are you going to work?
  when speaking politely to one person

or

• Are you all at home now, or are you going to work?
  when speaking to multiple people

That is why the verbs are also in the plural/formal form.

Because they agree with شما.

In Persian, شما takes the second person plural verb form, even when it is being used politely for just one person.

So:

• هستی = you are (informal singular, for تو)
• هستید = you are (plural or formal, for شما)

and:

• می‌روی = you go / you are going (informal singular)
• می‌روید = you go / you are going (plural or formal)

This is similar to how some languages use plural forms for politeness.

الان means now.

It gives the sentence a current-time meaning:

• شما در خانه هستید؟ = Are you at home?
• شما الان در خانه هستید؟ = Are you at home now?

Its position here is very natural. Persian often places time words like الان near the beginning of the sentence.

در usually means in / inside / at depending on context.

So:

• خانه = home / house
• در خانه = at home / in the house

In this sentence, در خانه هستید means are at home.

In everyday Persian, people may sometimes omit در in similar expressions, especially in speech, but در خانه is perfectly correct and clear.

یا means or.

It connects the two alternatives:

• در خانه هستید = you are at home
• به کار می‌روید = you go / are going to work

So the whole structure is:

Are you at home now, or are you going to work?

Because the sentence is combining two different ideas:

1. being somewhere

   • در خانه هستید = you are at home

2. going somewhere

   • به کار می‌روید = you go / are going to work

So one part uses the verb to be (هستید), and the other uses the verb to go (می‌روید).

This is completely natural in Persian, just as in English:

• Are you at home now, or are you going to work?

می‌روید comes from the verb رفتن (to go).

The prefix میـ often marks the present/imperfective form. Depending on context, this form can mean:

• you go
• you are going
• sometimes something close to you will go

In this sentence, because of الان (now), the most natural understanding is something like:

• are you going to work now?

So Persian does not always match English tenses one-for-one. The same Persian present form can cover several English translations depending on context.

به means to.

So:

• به کار = to work
• به کار می‌روید = you go to work / you are going to work

This is a very common Persian pattern:

• به مدرسه می‌روم = I go to school
• به خانه می‌رود = he/she goes home
• به کار می‌روید = you go to work

So به marks the destination.

Yes. کار means work.

In this sentence, به کار رفتن literally means to go to work.

So the phrase is very close to English in meaning:

• کار = work
• به کار رفتن = to go to work

In Persian, yes/no questions are often understood simply from:

• intonation
• context
• and, in writing, the question mark

So:

• شما الان در خانه هستید یا به کار می‌روید؟

is a perfectly normal question without آیا.

You could add آیا in some contexts, especially in more formal or careful language, but it is not necessary here.

Yes, it is normal.

Persian often prefers a word order closer to:

subject + time + place/other information + verb

So here you get:

• شما = you
• الان = now
• در خانه = at home
• هستید = are
• یا = or
• به کار = to work
• می‌روید = go / are going

English puts the verb earlier, but Persian commonly puts the verb toward the end of each clause.

The more standard modern spelling is:

می‌روید

with a zero-width non-joiner between می and روید.

Many learners also see:

میروید

without that mark, especially in informal typing.

Both refer to the same word, but می‌روید is usually considered the more standard written form.

The same applies to many other verbs:

• می‌روم
• می‌خورد
• می‌بینیم

Yes. If you are speaking informally to one person, you would usually use تو and change the verbs accordingly.

So the informal version would be:

تو الان در خانه هستی یا به کار می‌روی؟

Changes:

• شما → تو
• هستید → هستی
• می‌روید → می‌روی

So the original sentence sounds formal/polite or plural, while this version sounds informal singular.

Not necessarily in exactly the same way English does.

The first part:

• در خانه هستید = are you at home

describes a current state.

The second part:

• به کار می‌روید = are you going to work / do you go to work

describes a movement/action, and with الان it is understood as relevant right now.

So the sentence is contrasting two possibilities:

• Are you at home now?
• Or are you on your way to work / going to work?

The precise English tense depends on context, but the Persian is perfectly natural.

In isolation, می‌روید can sometimes have a habitual sense:

• you go

But in this sentence, the presence of الان strongly pushes the meaning toward right now rather than a general habit.

So the most natural reading is not:

• Do you go to work?

but rather:

• Are you going to work now?
• Are you headed to work?

Context is very important in Persian tense interpretation.