دیگر

What it means

دیگر (digar) is a workhorse word that shifts meaning depending on what surrounds it. When it modifies a noun it means “other” or “another,” as in دیگران (digarân, others, other people). When it follows a verb in a negative sentence it means “anymore” or “no longer,” so نمی‌ره دیگه (nemi-re digeh) means “he doesn’t go anymore.” In questions and affirmative sentences it can signal “else,” as in چی دیگه؟ (chi digeh?, what else?). The colloquial spoken form is دیگه (digeh), which is far more common in everyday Tehran and most regional speech than the written دیگر. The two forms are identical in meaning; the difference is register only.

How to use it

• یه چیز دیگه می‌خوام (ye chiz-e dige mikhâm) “I want something else.”
• دیگه نمی‌آم اینجا (digeh nemi-âm injâ) “I’m not coming here anymore.”
• کس دیگه‌ای هست؟ (kas-e dige-i hast?) “Is there anyone else?”
• دیگه بسه (digeh base) “That’s enough now / enough already.”

Cultural note

دیگه / دیگر is one of those particles Iranians drop into almost every other sentence, so its absence can make your Persian sound stilted and textbook-ish. Pay particular attention to دیگه بسه and دیگه نه (digeh na, no more / that’s it) as complete conversational utterances. The written form دیگر appears in news, formal writing, and literature, but in any conversation you will hear دیگه.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab