بس

What it means

بس (bas) means enough, sufficient, or that will do. It is pure Persian and among the older stratum of the language. On its own it functions as an adverb or exclamation: بس! means enough! or that’s it! The colloquial contracted form بسه (base) is the most frequent way to tell someone they have gone too far or that a situation has reached its limit. بس کن (bas kon) is the direct command: stop it, cut it out, that’s enough. The conjunction بس که (bas ke) introduces a clause meaning so much that or to such a degree that, as in بس که گریه کرد چشماش قرمز شد (bas ke gerye kard cheshmâsh ghermez shod, she cried so much her eyes went red). بس نیست (bas nist) means it is not enough, it won’t do.

How to use it

• بسه، دیگه حرف نزن. (base, dige harf nazan.) “That’s enough, don’t say another word.”
• بس کن این کارو. (bas kon in kâro.) “Stop doing this.”
• این پول برام بسه. (in pul barâm base.) “This money is enough for me.”
• بس که خندیدیم، شکممون درد گرفت. (bas ke khandidim, shekommun dard gereft.) “We laughed so much our stomachs hurt.”

Cultural note

بسه is one of those words every Persian learner hears within the first weeks, usually from a parent or teacher setting a boundary. In Iranian family dynamics it is the word that ends arguments, stops a child’s tantrum, or signals that patience has run out, all without the harshness of a formal command. The phrase بس کن has the same boundary-setting function between peers and can range from firm to playful depending on tone. In literature and poetry, بس appears with the nuance of enough of this world or enough of sorrow, giving the word a resigned, philosophical quality that the everyday exclamation does not carry.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab