What it means
یکشنبه (yek-shanbeh) is Sunday. The word is a compound: یک (yek) is the Persian word for one, and شنبه is the Aramaic-derived word for the Sabbath day. Together they mean “the first day after Saturday.” This counting pattern applies to all the Persian weekdays from Sunday through Thursday: each is simply a number plus شنبه. Because یکشنبه falls within the Iranian working week (the week runs Saturday through Wednesday or Thursday), Sunday is a regular workday in Iran, not a day off.
How to use it
- یکشنبه مدرسه داریم. (Yek-shanbeh madrese dârim.) “We have school on Sunday.”
- یکشنبه دیدمش تو خیابون. (Yek-shanbeh didamesh tu khiyâbun.) “I saw them on the street on Sunday.”
- هر یکشنبه صبح ورزش میکنم. (Har yek-shanbeh sobh varzesh mikonam.) “Every Sunday morning I exercise.”
- یکشنبهها بازار شلوغه. (Yek-shanbehâ bâzâr sholughe.) “Sundays the bazaar is busy.”
Cultural note
Iranians unfamiliar with Western calendars sometimes find it striking that Sunday is a holiday in Christian-majority countries. In Iran, Sunday is an ordinary working and school day. If you are arranging a call or meeting with someone in Iran from Europe or North America, remember that their Sunday is fully active while yours may be quiet. The Persian phrase آخر هفته (âkhar-e hafteh), meaning “the weekend,” refers to Thursday evening and Friday, not Saturday and Sunday.