What it means
پارکینگ (pârking) is a loanword from English, used in Persian to mean both a parking lot or garage and the act of parking a vehicle. It covers indoor multi-story car parks, surface lots, and the designated parking space beneath an apartment building. The verb form is پارک کردن (pârk kardan), meaning to park. A related formal term is توقفگاه (tavaqqofgâh), but this appears mainly on official signage rather than in speech.
How to use it
- پارکینگ این هتل چقدر میگیره؟ (pârking-e in hotel cheghadr migire?) “How much does this hotel’s parking charge?”
- جای پارک پیدا نمیشه اینجا. (jâye pârk peydâ nemisheh injâ.) “There is no parking spot to be found here.”
- ماشینو بردم پارکینگ طبقاتی. (mâshino bordam pârking-e tabaqâti.) “I took the car to the multi-story car park.”
- پارکینگ آپارتمان ما زیرزمینیه. (pârking-e âpârtmân-e mâ zirzamini-yeh.) “Our apartment building’s parking is underground.”
Cultural note
Parking is a chronic problem in dense Iranian cities, particularly Tehran, where car ownership has outpaced urban infrastructure for decades. Many older apartment buildings were constructed without dedicated parking, and street parking disputes are a common source of neighborhood tension. Multi-story parking garages (پارکینگ طبقاتی) have been built in city centers as a partial solution. In some districts, municipalities operate timed paid parking zones managed by attendants or meter systems.