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### Anyway: به هر حال

When a conversation wanders, you need a polite way to dismiss the tangent and return to the main topic (مطلب). The discourse marker به هر حال (anyway / in any case) is perfect for brushing past digressions and steering things back on track. It is typically placed at the beginning of the clause.

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### In Any Case: در هر صورت

A highly common and synonymous alternative is در هر صورت (in any case / at any rate). You will hear this frequently in meetings to wave off a minor objection or concede that a particular detail is time-consuming (وقت‌گیر) before moving on to the broader picture.

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### Digressions and Summaries

To manage a meeting effectively, you might need to point out when you are digressing (منحرف شدن) from the agenda. When you are ready to wrap things up, use the marker خلاصه (in short / briefly) to transition smoothly into summing up (جمع‌بندی کردن) the discussion.

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### Moving Forward

If the conversation becomes pointless (بیهوده), these markers help you intervene before you start wasting time (وقت‌کشی کردن). Once you have steered past the distraction, you can firmly state your intention to resume (از سر گرفتن) the real work.

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Markers of resumption (be har hâl, dar har surat)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

suffix

verb

Singular pronouns and copula (man, -am)

Plural pronouns and copula (mâ, -im)

Subject pronoun omission

Singular demonstratives (in, ân)

Plural demonstratives (inhâ, ânhâ)

Independent copula (hastam, hast)

Negative present copula (nistam, nist)

Yes/No questions (âyâ)

Regular plurals (-hâ)

Animate plurals (-ân)

Indefiniteness (yek)

Indefinite marker (-i)

Describing nouns (-e / -ye)

Possession (-e / -ye)

Singular possessives (-am, -at, -ash)

Plural possessives (-emân, -etân, -eshân)

Basic prepositions (dar, be, az, bâ)

Spatial prepositions (ru-ye, zir-e...)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yek, do, se...)

Numbers and singular nouns

Numbers 11 to 20 (yâzdah, davâzdah...)

Counting by tens to 100

Telling time (sâ'at)

The verb to have (dâram)

Negative to have (nadâram)

Basic word order (SOV)

Infinitives and present stems (-an)

Present indicative (mi-)

Negative present indicative (nemi-)

Compound verbs

Question words (che, kojâ)

How many (chand)

The definite object marker (râ)

Object pronouns (man râ, to râ)

Singular commands (be-)

Formal and plural commands (be- ... -id)

Negative commands (na-)

The present subjunctive (be-)

The negative present subjunctive (na-)

Must (bâyad)

Might (shâyad)

Wanting to do something (khâstan)

Being able to do something (tavânestan)

Forming the past stem

The simple past of to be (budan)

The simple past tense

Negative simple past (na-)

Attached object pronouns on verbs (-am, -at, -ash)

Comparative adjectives (-tar)

Basic conjunctions (va, ammâ, yâ)

Giving reasons (chon)

Adverbs of frequency and degree (hamishe, hargez, kheyli, kam)

Everyday actions (kâr kardan, bâz kardan)

Non-human plural subjects

Indefinite pronouns (kasi, chizi, jâyi)

Negative indefinite pronouns (hich-kas, hich-chiz, hich-jâ)

Reciprocal pronouns (hamdigar, yekdigar)

Reflexive pronouns (khod-)

Reflexive direct objects (khod râ)

Emphatic pronouns (khod)

The quantifier every (har)

The quantifier all (hame)

The quantifier some (ba'zi)

Another and other (-i digar)

Which (kodâm)

How much (cheghadr)

Comparisons of equality (mesl-e)

Superlative adjectives (-tarin)

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Ordinal numbers (-om)

Pre-nominal ordinal numbers (-omin)

Fractions and percentages

Prepositions of theme (dar mored-e)

Prepositions of time (ghabl az, ba'd az)

Preposition of exclusion (bedun-e)

Resultative conjunctions (banâbarin, pas)

Hortative construction (biyâ, biyâyid)

The present progressive tense (dâram mi-)

The past continuous tense (mi-)

Negative past continuous (ne-mi-)

Past continuous of to have (dâshtam)

The past progressive tense (dâshtam mi-)

The past participle (-e)

Present perfect tense (-e-am, -e-ast)

Negative present perfect (na-)

Question	Answer
anyway / in any case	به هر حالbe har hâl
matter / topic (e.g. of a text or discussion)	مطلبmatlab
Anyway, we must return to this matter.	به هر حال، ما باید به این مطلب برگردیم.be har hâl, mâ bâyad be in matlab bargardim.
in any case / at any rate	در هر صورتdar har surat
time-consuming	وقت‌گیرvaght-gir
In any case, this project is no longer time-consuming.	در هر صورت، این پروژه دیگر وقت‌گیر نیست.dar har surat, in proje digar vaght-gir nist.
to digress / to deviate	منحرف شدنmonharef shodan
We digress from the matter.	ما از مطلب منحرف می‌شویم.mâ az matlab monharef mishavim.
in short / briefly	خلاصهkholâse
to sum up	جمع‌بندی کردنjam'bandi kardan
In short, I want to sum up the meeting.	خلاصه، من می‌خواهم جلسه را جمع‌بندی کنم.kholâseh, man mikhâham jaleseh râ jam'bandi konam.
pointless / useless (futile, in vain)	بیهودهbihude
to waste time	وقت‌کشی کردنvaght-koshi kardan
This talk is pointless; we should not waste time.	این حرف بیهوده است؛ نباید وقت‌کشی کنیم.in harf bihude ast; nabâyad vaght-koshi konim.
Anyway, the managers no longer waste time.	به هر حال، مدیرا دیگه وقت‌کشی نمی‌کنن.be har hâl, modirâ dige vaght-keshi nemikonan.
to resume	از سر گرفتنaz sar gereftan
In any case, we will resume the negotiations regarding the contract.	در هر صورت، مذاکرات در خصوص قرارداد را از سر می‌گیریم.dar har surat, mozâkerât dar khosuse gharârdâd râ az sar migirim.
He sums up this matter very well.	او این مطلب را خیلی خوب جمع‌بندی می‌کند.u in matlab râ kheyli khub jam'bandi mikonad.
Anyway, we will not digress from the topic, unless you ask.	به هر حال، ما از موضوع منحرف نمی‌شویم، مگر اینکه شما بپرسید.be har hâl, mâ az mowzu' monharef nemishavim, magar inke shomâ beporsid.
In short, resuming this project is very time-consuming.	خلاصه، از سر گرفتن این پروژه خیلی وقت‌گیر است.kholâse, az sar gereftan in poroje kheyli vaght-gir ast.
In any case, wasting time is pointless.	در هر صورت، وقت‌کشی کردن بیهوده است.dar har surat, vaght-koshi kardan bihoode ast.
at the same time, meanwhile (concessive)	در عین حالdar eyne hâl
This text is short and at the same time useful.	این مطلب کوتاه است و در عین حال مفید.in matlab kutâh ast va dar eyn hâl mofid.
He spoke briefly and at the same time did not digress.	او خلاصه گفت و در عین حال منحرف نشد.u kholâse goft va dar eyn-e hâl monharef nashod.

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