زحمت

What it means

زحمت (zahmat) means trouble, hardship, effort, or inconvenience. It is borrowed from Arabic زَحْمَة (zahma), which carries a sense of crowding and pressure. In everyday Persian, زحمت covers two overlapping areas. One is the literal cost of effort: going to a lot of trouble, doing hard work, or enduring difficulty. The second is the social register of imposing on someone: زحمت دادن (zahmat dâdan) means to put someone to trouble, and apologizing for the زحمت you cause is a standard politeness move. The compound verb زحمت کشیدن (zahmat keshidan), literally to pull or bear trouble, means to go to the trouble of doing something, to work hard, or to take pains over a task.

How to use it

• زحمت کشیدی، ممنونم (zahmat keshidi, mamnunam) “You went to a lot of trouble, thank you” (said to someone who made an effort for you).
• زحمت نده، خودم میرم (zahmat nade, khodam miram) “Don’t trouble yourself, I’ll go myself” (polite refusal of help).
• این کار زحمت زیادی داره (in kâr zahmat-e ziâdi dâre) “This work takes a lot of effort.”
• ببخشید که زحمت میدم (bebakhshid ke zahmat midam) “I’m sorry to put you to trouble” (standard apology for imposing).

Cultural note

زحمت is deeply embedded in Persian politeness culture. Thanking someone for the زحمت they took, even for small acts, is expected and valued. Refusing to acknowledge someone’s effort by omitting the word can come across as cold or ungrateful. The phrase زحمت نکشید (zahmat nakeshid, don’t trouble yourself) is also a standard ta’arof response when someone offers to do something for you, though the offer and refusal may both be performed without either side literally meaning what they say.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab