تکلیف

What it means

تکلیف (taklif) means homework, an assigned task, or an obligation. The word is borrowed from Arabic, where the root ک-ل-ف (k-l-f) carries the sense of imposing a burden or a responsibility on someone. In Islamic jurisprudence the word means a religious duty, and that older meaning still surfaces in formal or religious contexts. In everyday modern Persian, however, تکلیف is simply homework: the work a teacher assigns for students to complete at home. The phrase تکلیف مدرسه (taklif-e madrese) makes the meaning unmistakable when context alone does not.

How to use it

• تکالیفتو کردی؟ (Takâlifeto kardi?) “Have you done your homework?”
• معلم خیلی تکلیف میده. (Mo’allem kheyli taklif mide.) “The teacher gives a lot of homework.”
• تکلیف ریاضی سخته. (Taklif-e riyâzi sakhte.) “The math homework is hard.”
• تکلیفت با خودته. (Taklifat bâ khodete.) “It is your own responsibility to decide.”

Cultural note

In Iran, homework pressure is a well-known feature of school life, particularly in the years leading up to کنکور (konkur), the national university entrance exam. Private tutors, called کلاس کمک‌درسی (kelâs-e komak-darsi), have become a significant industry partly because the volume of تکلیف assigned can exceed what many students manage alone. The dual meaning of تکلیف, both homework and moral duty, also makes it a word that carries subtle weight when used in non-school contexts, as in the common phrase تکلیفت رو روشن کن (clarify your position or make up your mind).

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab