چیکار

What it means

چیکار (chikâr) is the contracted colloquial form of چه کار (che kâr), meaning what work or what to do. In written and formal Persian the full form چه کار is used, but in spoken everyday Persian the two words contract into چیکار, with the vowel of چه (che) blending into a long i sound. This kind of phonetic contraction is common in colloquial Persian: چه طور becomes چطور, چه جور becomes چجور, and چه کار becomes چیکار. The word appears most often in questions about action or course of action. چیکار کنم is the core phrase, meaning what should I do or what am I to do, and it expresses both genuine uncertainty and frustrated resignation depending on tone.

How to use it

• چیکار کنم؟ (chikâr konam?) “What should I do?”
• اون چیکار کرد؟ (un chikâr kard?) “What did she do?”
• چیکار داری؟ (chikâr dâri?) “What do you want? / What business do you have?”
• چیکار کنم که نیومد؟ (chikâr konam ke nayumad?) “What am I supposed to do, he did not come?”

Cultural note

The phrase چیکار کنم, said with a certain intonation and a slight shrug, is one of the most recognizable sounds of frustrated acceptance in Iranian everyday speech. It is how you say I am stuck, I have no good options, or what can you do about it. The question is not always asking for advice; often it is expressing helplessness or mild exasperation at a situation outside one’s control. Learning to deliver this phrase with the right tone is one of those small fluency milestones that marks the difference between textbook Persian and the way Iranians actually talk.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab