B1 · Reported speech
Reporting questions and requests: पूछा कि, कहा कि … आऊँ
reported questions and requests
A question is reported with पूछना, से and कि and keeps its question word; a request takes कि with the subjunctive, or -ने को कहना.
At a glance
- Remember
- Ask with se, tell to with the subjunctive — and a question keeps its question word.
- Form
- उसने मुझसे पूछा कि …she asked me
- Signal words
- पूछा कि
- से पूछा
- कि क्या
- या नहीं
- को कहा
- मना किया
- Trap
- Wrong:मैंने उसको पूछा कि वह कहाँ जा रहा है।Right:मैंने उससे पूछा कि वह कहाँ जा रहा है।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| she asked me | उसने मुझसे पूछा कि … |
| the question word stays | पूछा कि मैं कहाँ रहता हूँ |
| whether | पूछा कि क्या … / … या नहीं |
| told me to | कहा कि मैं … आऊँ |
| told me to, shorter | मुझसे … आने को कहा |
| told me not to | मुझे … से मना किया |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The person asked takes से.
उसने मुझसे पूछा कि मैं कहाँ रहता हूँ।She asked me where I lived.
A yes–no question keeps क्या or ends in या नहीं.
दुकानदार ने पूछा कि क्या मुझे थैला चाहिए।The shopkeeper asked whether I needed a bag.
A request takes कहना with the subjunctive.
माँ ने कहा कि मैं जल्दी घर आऊँ।Mum told me to come home early.
Or the oblique infinitive with को and कहना.
डॉक्टर ने मुझसे आराम करने को कहा।The doctor told me to rest.
A ban is से मना करना.
पापा ने मुझे रात को बाहर जाने से मना किया।Dad told me not to go out at night.
Example sentences
मैंने उनसे पूछा कि ट्रेन कितने बजे जाती है।I asked them what time the train leaves.
उसने पूछा कि आप चाय लेंगे या नहीं।He asked whether you would have tea.
टीचर ने बच्चों से कहा कि वे चुप रहें।The teacher told the children to be quiet.
दादी ने मुझसे दवाई लाने को कहा।Grandmother asked me to fetch her medicine.
डॉक्टर ने मुझे मीठा खाने से मना किया है।The doctor has told me not to eat sweet things.
एक आदमी ने मुझसे पूछा कि स्टेशन कहाँ है।A man asked me where the station was.
6 more example sentences
उसने मुझसे पूछा कि मैं कब से हिंदी सीख रहा हूँ।She asked me how long I had been learning Hindi.
मैंने ड्राइवर से पूछा कि कितना किराया होगा।I asked the driver how much the fare would be.
माँ ने कहा कि हम देर न करें।Mum told us not to be late.
मैनेजर ने मुझसे रिपोर्ट भेजने को कहा है।The manager has asked me to send the report.
पड़ोसी ने पूछा कि क्या हम कल घर पर होंगे।The neighbour asked whether we would be at home tomorrow.
उन्होंने हमें अंदर फ़ोटो लेने से मना किया।They told us not to take photos inside.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The person asked takes से, “from”: one asks something of someone. को is what English “ask him” suggests, and it is heard in casual speech, but the standard form is उससे पूछा.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
“Ask” is पूछना, and the person asked takes से: उसने मुझसे पूछा, “she asked me”. The question follows कि and keeps its own shape: the question word stays where it was, and so does the tense. उसने मुझसे पूछा कि मैं कहाँ रहता हूँ, “she asked me where I lived”.
A yes–no question can keep its क्या after कि, or end in या नहीं, “or not”: उसने पूछा कि क्या मुझे हिंदी आती है; उसने पूछा कि मुझे हिंदी आती है या नहीं. English needs “if” or “whether”; Hindi does not.
A request or an instruction is reported with कहना and the subjunctive: माँ ने कहा कि मैं जल्दी घर आऊँ, “Mum told me to come home early”. The subjunctive is used because the action has not happened — it is wanted. A negative request takes न: … कि मैं देर न करूँ.
Shorter, and very common, is the oblique infinitive with को: माँ ने मुझसे जल्दी घर आने को कहा. A ban is मना करना, with से after the infinitive: डॉक्टर ने मुझे मीठा खाने से मना किया है, “the doctor has told me not to eat sweet things”.
A closer look
Why the subjunctive in a request
A reported request is about an action somebody wants to happen, not one that has happened. Hindi puts such clauses in the subjunctive — after कहना in this sense, after चाहना (मैं चाहता हूँ कि तुम आओ) and after ताकि. Compare उसने कहा कि मैं आता हूँ, a statement, “he said he was coming”, with उसने कहा कि मैं आऊँ, a request, “he told me to come”.
The pronoun shows the reporter’s point of view: in माँ ने कहा कि मैं जल्दी आऊँ, मैं is the person reporting, the one Mum wants home early.
A request that keeps its imperative
In speech a request is often passed on in the speaker’s own words, imperative and all: माँ ने कहा कि जल्दी घर आना; उसने कहा कि बैठिए. That is a quotation without the marks, and it is correct; the subjunctive version is the one to write.
Worth knowing (2)
-
Asking for something: माँगना
Asking for a thing is not पूछना but माँगना, and the person asked takes से here too: उसने मुझसे पैसे माँगे, “he asked me for money”. पूछना asks for information only.
मैंने वेटर से पानी माँगा।I asked the waiter for water.
-
A formal request: अनुरोध करना
In polite or written Hindi, a request can be reported with अनुरोध करना, “to request”, and the infinitive with का: उन्होंने सबसे शांत रहने का अनुरोध किया.
उन्होंने हमसे समय पर आने का अनुरोध किया।They asked us to come on time.
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 80 · The passive: किया जाता हैBack to the learning path