اگر

What it means

اگر (agar) means “if” and introduces conditional clauses in Persian. It is a pure Persian word inherited from Middle Persian, making it one of the foundational building blocks of the language. اگر is neutral in register: you use the same word in a text message, a conversation, a business letter, and a legal contract. In very colloquial Tehran speech it sometimes shortens to اگه (age), but اگر itself is never considered stiff or old-fashioned. It typically appears at the start of a clause and pairs with a verb in either the present, simple past, or subjunctive depending on the type of condition.

How to use it

• اگر بیای، خوشحال میشم. (agar biây, khoshhâl misham) “If you come, I’ll be happy.”
• اگر پول داشتم، میخریدم. (agar pul dâshtam, mikharīdam) “If I had money, I would buy it.”
• اگر سوال داری، بپرس. (agar su’âl dâri, bepors) “If you have a question, ask.”
• اگر فردا بارون بیاد، نمیریم. (agar fardâ bârun biâd, nemirim) “If it rains tomorrow, we won’t go.”

Cultural note

Persian conditional sentences built with اگر follow a flexible word order that can feel different to English speakers: the condition clause usually comes first, and the result clause follows. In poetry and classical literature اگر appears in the same form as it does today, showing how stable this word has been over centuries. The colloquial shortening to اگه is very common in informal Tehran speech and in text messages, but in any situation requiring care, اگر is the correct and expected form.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab