diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index ca2c99d..9e3df12 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -3,7 +3,14 @@ var minimist = require('minimist');
 module.exports = function parse (args, opts) {
     var level = 0, index;
     var args_ = [];
-    
+    var minopts = {};
+
+    for (var key in opts) {
+      if (opts.hasOwnProperty(key) && key !== 'forward') {
+        minopts[key] = opts[key];
+      }
+    }
+
     for (var i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
         if (typeof args[i] === 'string' && /^\[/.test(args[i])) {
             if (level ++ === 0) {
@@ -12,24 +19,24 @@ module.exports = function parse (args, opts) {
         }
         if (typeof args[i] === 'string' && /\]$/.test(args[i])) {
             if (-- level > 0) continue;
-            
+
             var sub = args.slice(index, i + 1);
             if (typeof sub[0] === 'string') {
                 sub[0] = sub[0].replace(/^\[/, '');
             }
             if (sub[0] === '') sub.shift();
-            
+
             var n = sub.length - 1;
             if (typeof sub[n] === 'string') {
                 sub[n] = sub[n].replace(/\]$/, '');
             }
             if (sub[n] === '') sub.pop();
-            
-            args_.push(parse(sub));
+
+            args_.push(parse(sub, opts && opts.forward && opts));
         }
         else if (level === 0) args_.push(args[i]);
     }
-    
-    var argv = minimist(args_, opts);
+
+    var argv = minimist(args_, minopts);
     return argv;
 };
diff --git a/readme.markdown b/readme.markdown
index e77a4d9..cc3cb52 100644
--- a/readme.markdown
+++ b/readme.markdown
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ Parse the arguments array `args`, passing `opts` to
 An opening `[` in the `args` array creates a new context and a `]` closes a
 context. Contexts may be nested.
 
+## options
+
+Specific to `subarg`, these options will not be forwarded to minimist.
+
+- `forward` recursively forward minimist options to nested contexts.
+
 # install
 
 With [npm](https://npmjs.org) do:
diff --git a/test/options.js b/test/options.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51ccfa6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/options.js
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+var subarg = require('../');
+var test = require('tape');
+
+test('forward options', function (t) {
+    var options = {
+      forward: true,
+      alias: { a: 'alpha', b: 'bravo', c: 'charlie' }
+    };
+
+    t.plan(1);
+
+    t.deepEqual(
+        subarg('-a [ -b [ -c 1 ] --charlie 2 ] --bravo 3'.split(/\s+/), options),
+        {
+            _: [],
+            a: {
+                _: [],
+                b: {
+                    _: [],
+                    c: 1,
+                    charlie: 1
+                },
+                bravo: {
+                    _: [],
+                    c: 1,
+                    charlie: 1
+                },
+                c: 2,
+                charlie: 2
+            },
+            alpha: {
+                _: [],
+                b: {
+                    _: [],
+                    c: 1,
+                    charlie: 1
+                },
+                bravo: {
+                    _: [],
+                    c: 1,
+                    charlie: 1
+                },
+                c: 2,
+                charlie: 2
+            },
+            b: 3,
+            bravo: 3
+        }
+    );
+});