What it means
به جز (be joz) means “except for” or “other than.” It combines the Persian preposition be with جز (joz), which lexicographers trace to the Arabic root جُزْء (juz’, meaning part or portion). Despite that Arabic origin, be joz feels entirely natural in everyday Persian and is slightly more compact and colloquial than its synonym به غیر از (be gheyr az). Another related synonym is مگر (magar), which sits in a more formal or literary register. Be joz is the everyday speaker’s preferred choice when drawing an exception.
How to use it
- به جز سارا، بقیه رفتن. (be joz Sârâ, baqiye raftan.) “Everyone left except for Sara.”
- به جز این، چیز دیگهای نداریم. (be joz in, chiz dige-i nadârim.) “We have nothing else except for this.”
- به جز کار کردن، وقتی برای خودم ندارم. (be joz kâr kardan, vaqti barâye khodam nadâram.) “Except for working, I have no time for myself.”
- همه چیز خوب بود به جز غذا. (hame chiz khub bud be joz ghazâ.) “Everything was good except for the food.”
Cultural note
The interplay between به جز (be joz) and به غیر از (be gheyr az) illustrates a recurring feature of Persian: two or more phrases with overlapping meaning, differentiated mainly by rhythm and register. Native speakers will switch between them mid-conversation without thinking about it, choosing whichever sounds less heavy for the sentence at hand. Be joz, being two syllables shorter, often wins in fast speech. In classical poetry جز alone, without be, appears frequently as an independent particle meaning except or but, reinforcing its deep roots in the Persian literary tradition despite the Arabic source word.