A2 · Small words with a big job
Also and only: भी and ही
the particles also and only
भी (also, even) and ही (only, exactly) stand directly after the word they stress — and moving them changes the meaning.
At a glance
- Remember
- Bhi adds and hi narrows, and both stand right after the word they stress.
- Form
- मैं भी, चाय भीalso, too
- Signal words
- भी
- ही
- अभी
- वही
- यहीं
- कोई भी
- एक भी
- Trap
- Wrong:भी मैं चाय पीता हूँ।Right:मैं भी चाय पीता हूँ।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| also, too | मैं भी, चाय भी |
| only, exactly | पानी ही, आज ही |
| after a postposition | मुझे भी, घर पर ही |
| fused with ही | अभी, यहीं, वही, उसी, सभी |
| not even one | एक भी … नहीं |
| any … at all | कोई भी, कुछ भी, कभी भी |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
भी stands right after the word it adds.
मैं भी आपके साथ चलूँगा।I will come with you too.
Moving भी changes what is added.
वह हिंदी भी बोलती है।She speaks Hindi as well.
ही narrows to exactly this one.
मुझे पानी ही चाहिए, चाय नहीं।It is water I want, not tea.
With some short words ही fuses into one word.
यह वही दुकान है।This is the very same shop.
With a negative, भी means “even”.
कमरे में एक भी कुर्सी नहीं थी।There wasn’t a single chair in the room.
Example sentences
मेरा भाई भी दिल्ली में रहता है।My brother lives in Delhi too.
मैं अभी आता हूँ।I’ll be right back.
हम कल ही लौटे हैं।We got back only yesterday.
आप कुछ भी पूछ सकते हैं।You can ask anything at all.
वह यहीं रहता है, इसी गली में।He lives right here, in this very street.
मुझे भी एक कप चाय दीजिए।Please give me a cup of tea too.
7 more example sentences
वह भी नहीं जानता।He doesn’t know either.
यह काम मैं ही करूँगा।I will do this job myself.
सभी लोग आ गए हैं।Everyone has arrived.
मुझे एक भी शब्द समझ नहीं आया।I didn’t understand a single word.
आप कभी भी फ़ोन कर सकते हैं।You can call at any time.
हम उसी होटल में रुके थे।We stayed at that very hotel.
वह आज भी देर से आया।He came late today too.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English “also” can come first (“Also, I drink tea”), but भी never opens a sentence: it follows the word it adds. Put it after मैं for “I too”, after चाय for “tea too”.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
भी means “also”, “too”, and it stands right after the word it adds: मैं भी चाय पीता हूँ, “I drink tea too” (like others); मैं चाय भी पीता हूँ, “I drink tea as well” (as well as other things). English puts “also” in one place and lets the voice decide; Hindi moves the word.
ही narrows: “only”, “just”, “exactly”, “the very”. मुझे पानी ही चाहिए, “it is water I want, nothing else”; वह आज ही आया है, “he arrived only today”. After a postposition, both particles follow the postposition: मुझे भी, घर पर ही.
ही fuses with a few short words, and the fused forms are words of their own: अभी (अब + ही, “right now”), यहीं and वहीं (“right here”, “right there”), तभी (“just then”), सभी (“all of them”), वही and यही (“that very”, “this very”), and their oblique forms उसी and इसी.
With a negative, भी becomes “even”: एक भी कुर्सी नहीं, “not a single chair”. After the words for someone, something, sometime and somewhere it gives “any … at all”: कोई भी, कुछ भी, कभी भी, कहीं भी.
A closer look
ही as emphasis
ही often does what stress or “do” does in English: मैं तो आऊँगा ही, “I will certainly come”; यह होना ही था, “this was bound to happen”. It insists that this, and nothing else, is the case.
With a pronoun and a postposition, ही usually follows the postposition: मुझसे ही, उसको ही. The fused उसी को is just as common and means the same.
भी and the “any” words
The words for someone, something, sometime and somewhere become “any … at all” with भी: कोई भी, कुछ भी, कभी भी, कहीं भी. With a negative they become “nobody at all”, “nothing at all”: कोई भी नहीं आया, “not a single person came”.
Worth knowing (2)
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Either: भी with a negative
English switches from “too” to “either” in a negative sentence. Hindi keeps भी: मुझे भी नहीं पता, “I don’t know either”.
मेरी बहन भी नहीं आई।My sister didn’t come either.
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Spelling the fused forms
Each fused form has its own spelling, and the nasal changes with it: यहाँ + ही is यहीं, वहाँ + ही is वहीं, and कहीं means “somewhere”. The dot replaces the moon because the vowel sign ी now reaches above the line.
मेरी चाबी कहीं गिर गई।I have dropped my key somewhere.
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