شما دارید با تلفن صحبت میکنید؟

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• شما — you
  Used for plural you or formal singular you
• دارید — are having / are in the state of
  Here it helps form the present progressive, like English are ... -ing
• با — with / by
• تلفن — telephone / phone
• صحبت می‌کنید — speak / are speaking
  From the compound verb صحبت کردن, meaning to speak / to talk

So the structure is basically:

you + are + by phone + speaking?

That sounds unusual in English if translated literally, but it is normal Persian.

شما can mean either:

• you when talking to more than one person, or
• you when talking to one person politely/formally

A native English speaker often expects one separate word for plural you and one for formal you, but Persian uses شما for both.

If you were speaking informally to one person, you would usually use تو instead.

For example:

• تو داری با تلفن صحبت می‌کنی؟ — informal singular
• شما دارید با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟ — formal singular or plural

This is a very common learner question.

Persian can use داشتن plus a present-tense verb to show an action that is happening right now, similar to the English present progressive.

So:

• دارید = you are
• صحبت می‌کنید = speaking / speak

Together, they give the sense of:

Are you talking right now?

Without دارید, the sentence can still be grammatical, but it may sound less explicitly ongoing.

Compare:

• شما دارید با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟ — Are you talking on the phone right now?
• شما با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟ — can mean Are you talking on the phone? or Do you talk by phone?, depending on context

It is a compound verb.

In Persian, many verbs are made of:

• a noun or verbal element
• plus a light verb such as کردن, زدن, دادن, etc.

Here:

• صحبت = speech / conversation
• کردن = to do

So صحبت کردن literally looks like to do conversation, but it simply means to speak / to talk.

In this sentence, می‌کنید is the present form of کردن for you (formal/plural).

Persian often uses با in places where English uses on, by, or other prepositions.

So با تلفن صحبت کردن means:

• to talk by phone
• to talk on the phone

This is just the normal Persian expression. A literal English translation like talk with the phone would sound odd, but the Persian phrasing is perfectly natural.

Yes. Very often, Persian drops subject pronouns when the verb already shows who the subject is.

So you can say:

• دارید با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟

This still clearly means Are you talking on the phone?, because دارید and می‌کنید already show you (formal/plural).

Including شما can add clarity, emphasis, or politeness, but it is not always necessary.

No. In everyday Persian, yes/no questions are often made just with:

• rising intonation
• and, in writing, the Persian question mark ؟

So this is completely natural:

• شما دارید با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟

If you add آیا, the sentence becomes more formal or bookish:

• آیا شما دارید با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟

That is grammatical, but less common in casual conversation.

Not exactly.

• شما دارید با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟ strongly suggests an action happening right now
• شما با تلفن صحبت می‌کنید؟ is less specific and depends more on context

It could mean:

• Are you talking on the phone?
• Do you talk by phone?
• Are you speaking by telephone?

So adding دارید makes the ongoing action more explicit.

It is formal or plural, because of شما and the matching verb forms دارید and می‌کنید.

A more informal singular version would be:

• تو داری با تلفن صحبت می‌کنی؟

In everyday spoken Persian, you may also hear more colloquial pronunciations such as:

• داری با تلفن صحبت می‌کنی؟
• دارین با تلفن صحبت می‌کنین؟ for you all or polite you

So the sentence you were given is standard and polite.

Both can mean to talk / to speak.

• صحبت کردن often sounds a bit more neutral or slightly more formal
• حرف زدن is very common in everyday speech and can feel a bit more conversational

So instead of this sentence, you could also hear:

• شما دارید با تلفن حرف می‌زنید؟

That means almost the same thing.

For learners, it is good to know both, because both are very common.

The prefix می is used in present-tense verb forms in Persian.

In می‌کنید:

• می is the present/imperfective marker
• کن is the present stem of کردن
• ید marks you (formal/plural)

So می‌کنید means you do / you are doing, depending on context.

In careful modern spelling, it is usually written with a small invisible separator:

• می‌کنید

But you may also see:

• میکنید

The first spelling is more standard.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

shomâ dârid bâ telefon sohbat mikonid?

Approximate notes:

• شما → sho-mâ
• دارید → dâ-rid
• با → bâ
• تلفن → te-le-fon
• صحبت → soh-bat
• می‌کنید → mi-ko-nid

In natural speech, it flows together smoothly, and the voice usually rises at the end because it is a yes/no question.

Persian and English organize sentences differently.

English says:

Are you talking on the phone?

Persian more naturally builds it like:

you are by phone speaking?

A few important things are happening:

• Persian often puts the subject first
• the progressive helper دارید comes before the main verb
• prepositional phrases like با تلفن come before the final verbal part
• in compound verbs, the nonverbal element often comes before the light verb:
  صحبت + می‌کنید

So even if the sentence feels backward from an English perspective, it follows normal Persian patterns.