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A2 · Negation

Never, nobody, nothing

negative pronouns and adverbs

कभी नहीं, कोई नहीं, कुछ नहीं, कहीं नहीं: the indefinite word plus an ordinary नहीं.

At a glance

Remember: Kabhi, koi, kuchh are not negative by themselves; nahin on the verb makes them never, nobody, nothing.
Form: कभी नहींnever
Signal words: कभी नहीं
कोई नहीं
किसी को नहीं
कुछ नहीं
कहीं नहीं
भी
Trap: Wrong:मैं कभी भारत गया।
Right:मैं कभी भारत नहीं गया।

Start practising · 10 exercisesabout 5 minutesRead the full explanation

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The form

The patterns at a glance

Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Hindi.

never	कभी नहीं
nobody	कोई नहीं
nobody, before a postposition	किसी को नहीं, किसी से नहीं
nothing	कुछ नहीं
nowhere	कहीं नहीं
not at all, not a single	कोई भी नहीं, कुछ भी नहीं

The rules one by one

The form this topic is about

The indefinite word plus नहीं on the verb gives “never”, “nobody”, “nothing”.
मैं कभी झूठ नहीं बोलता।I never tell lies.
कोई with नहीं is “nobody”; alone it is “somebody”.
घर पर कोई नहीं है।There is nobody at home.
Before a postposition, कोई becomes किसी.
मैंने किसी को नहीं देखा।I didn’t see anybody.
भी strengthens the negative.
मुझे कुछ भी नहीं चाहिए।I don’t need anything at all.

Example sentences

मैं कभी झूठ नहीं बोलता।I never tell lies.

घर पर कोई नहीं है।There is nobody at home.

मुझे कुछ नहीं चाहिए, धन्यवाद।I don’t need anything, thank you.

मैंने किसी को नहीं देखा।I didn’t see anybody.

आज हम कहीं नहीं जाएँगे।We won’t go anywhere today.

वह कभी भी देर से नहीं आती।She is never, ever late.

6 more example sentences

कमरे में कोई नहीं था।There was nobody in the room.

मैंने उसे कुछ नहीं बताया।I didn’t tell her anything.

यह बात किसी से मत कहना।Don’t tell anybody about this.

मेरी चाबी कहीं नहीं मिल रही।I can’t find my key anywhere.

वे कभी समय पर नहीं आते।They never come on time.

कोई भी नहीं जानता कि वह कहाँ गया।Nobody at all knows where he went.

The trap English speakers fall into

Watch out

कभी means “ever” or “once”, not “never”. For “I have never been to India” the verb needs नहीं. Without it, the sentence says the opposite — that you went at some point.

Wrong:मैं कभी भारत गया।

Right:मैं कभी भारत नहीं गया।

The full explanation

Read it all · about 1 min

Hindi has no single words for “never”, “nobody”, “nothing” or “nowhere”. It takes the indefinite word — कभी (ever, sometimes), कोई (someone, anyone), कुछ (something), कहीं (somewhere) — and negates the verb with नहीं as usual: मैं कभी झूठ नहीं बोलता, “I never lie”; घर पर कोई नहीं है, “nobody is at home”.

There is only one negative per sentence, so there is no risk of the English “double negative” problem. The indefinite word alone is not negative: मैं कभी भारत गया means “I went to India once”, not “never”. The नहीं is what makes it “never”.

कोई has an oblique form, किसी, used before every postposition: मैंने किसी को नहीं देखा, “I didn’t see anyone”; किसी से मत कहना, “don’t tell anybody”. As a subject, कोई takes a singular verb: कोई नहीं आया.

Adding भी strengthens any of them: कोई भी नहीं, “not a single person”; कभी भी नहीं, “never ever”; कुछ भी नहीं, “nothing at all”.

A closer look

Questions with the same words

The same indefinite words make questions: क्या आप कभी भारत गए हैं?, “have you ever been to India?”; क्या कोई घर पर है?, “is anyone at home?”; क्या आपको कुछ चाहिए?, “do you need anything?”. Answer with नहीं on the verb and you have the negative: नहीं, कोई नहीं है.

Short answers

As a one-word answer, the pair works on its own: कौन आया? — कोई नहीं।, “who came? — nobody”; क्या हुआ? — कुछ नहीं।, “what happened? — nothing”. कभी नहीं! is an emphatic “never!”.

Worth knowing (1)

कोई takes a singular verb

“Nobody came” is कोई नहीं आया, with a masculine singular verb, even if the speaker has a group in mind. Only with an explicit feminine noun does the verb change: कोई लड़की नहीं आई.

पार्टी में कोई नहीं आया।Nobody came to the party.

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