اجازه

What it means

اجازه (ejâze) means permission, leave, or allowance. It comes from Arabic and is fully at home in modern Persian across all registers. The most common construction is اجازه دادن (ejâze dâdan, to give permission) and اجازه گرفتن (ejâze gereftan, to get permission or to ask leave). In practice, saying اجازه? or اجازه دارم? before entering a room, stepping out of a meeting, or doing something that affects others is a basic social courtesy that Iranians observe regularly, especially in formal settings like offices and classrooms. The single word اجازه said as a question is itself a complete polite request: “May I?”

How to use it

• اجازه هست؟ (ejâze hast?) “May I? / Is it permitted?”
• اجازه داری بری (ejâze dâri beri) “You have permission to go.”
• بدون اجازه نرو (bedun-e ejâze naro) “Don’t go without permission.”
• اجازه می‌دی یه سوال بپرسم؟ (ejâze midi ye su’âl beporsam?) “Do you mind if I ask a question?”

Cultural note

Saying اجازه before walking into a room where someone is working, or before leaving a gathering, is a standard courtesy in Iranian culture that cuts across ages and settings. Children are explicitly taught to say اجازه هست? before entering a teacher’s office or a guest room. In professional settings, asking اجازه دارم? before speaking up in a meeting signals respect for hierarchy without being submissive. The phrase اجازه بدین (ejâze bedin, with your permission, formal plural) is a polished way to excuse yourself or introduce a point in a formal speech.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab