دیگه

What it means

دیگه (digeh) is the colloquial Tehran pronunciation of دیگر (digar), and the two forms illustrate a classic diglossic split in Persian: دیگر appears in writing and formal speech, دیگه belongs to everything else. The meaning shifts with context. After a negative verb it means anymore, نمی‌تونم دیگه (nemi-tunam digeh, I cannot anymore). After a statement it can signal that something is now settled, خب دیگه (khob digeh, well then, that is that). It can add emphasis or mild resignation, دیگه چیکار کنم (digeh chikâr konam, what else am I supposed to do). Learners who master دیگه and its placement patterns will sound dramatically more natural in spoken Persian.

How to use it

• نمی‌خوام دیگه ببینمش (nemi-khâm digeh bebinam-esh) “I do not want to see him anymore.”
• خب دیگه، بریم (khob digeh, berim) “Alright then, let us go.”
• دیگه داره دیر میشه (digeh dâre dir mishe) “It is getting late now.”
• دیگه چی می‌خوای؟ (digeh chi mi-khâi?) “What else do you want?”

Cultural note

دیگه is one of the clearest markers separating written Persian from spoken Persian. A foreigner who uses دیگر in casual conversation signals that they learned from textbooks; switching to digeh signals real exposure to Iranian speech. The word also anchors the phrase خب دیگه, a closing gesture Iranians use to signal that a topic is finished and it is time to move on, not unlike the English well, anyway. Noticing where Iranians drop دیگه in a sentence is one of the fastest routes to sounding natural in Tehran-register Persian.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab