A1 · Negation · about 6 minutes
नहीं, and the है that drops away
negation with नहीं
नहीं stands before the verb; in the habitual present the है usually goes: मैं चाय नहीं पीता.
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Words you will need5
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- पार्टीparty
- चलानाto drive; to ride; to run (a machine)
- कॉफ़ीcoffee
- पिताfather
- सब्ज़ीvegetable; vegetable dish
Understand
RememberNahin goes before the verb, and in the present the hai usually leaves with it.
- Signal words
- नहीं
- अभी तक नहीं
- नहीं तो
- जी नहीं
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.
negation
| habitual (m / f) | मैं नहीं जाता / मैं नहीं जाती |
| habitual, feminine plural | वे नहीं जातीं |
| progressive | वह नहीं जा रहा (है) |
| simple past | वह नहीं आया, मैंने नहीं खाया |
| perfect | मैंने अभी तक नहीं खाया |
| “is not” | वह घर पर नहीं है |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
नहीं stands directly before the verb.
हम कल पार्टी में नहीं गए।We didn’t go to the party yesterday.
In the habitual present, the auxiliary usually drops.
मैं चाय नहीं पीता।I don’t drink tea.
Without the auxiliary, a feminine plural ends in -तीं.
वे लड़कियाँ हिंदी नहीं बोलतीं।Those girls don’t speak Hindi.
When होना is the main verb, it stays.
राहुल आज दफ़्तर में नहीं है।Rahul is not at the office today.
A negative perfect also drops the auxiliary.
मैंने अभी तक खाना नहीं खाया।I haven’t eaten yet.
Example sentences
मैं चाय नहीं पीता।I don’t drink tea.
मेरी बहन गाड़ी नहीं चलाती।My sister doesn’t drive.
वे लड़कियाँ हिंदी नहीं बोलतीं।Those girls don’t speak Hindi.
9 more example sentences
राहुल आज दफ़्तर में नहीं है।Rahul is not at the office today.
मैंने अभी तक खाना नहीं खाया।I haven’t eaten yet.
हम कल पार्टी में नहीं गए।We didn’t go to the party yesterday.
यह दुकान रविवार को नहीं खुलती।This shop doesn’t open on Sundays.
मुझे यह बात नहीं पता।I don’t know about this.
वह कल स्कूल नहीं आई।She didn’t come to school yesterday.
बच्चे सब्ज़ियाँ नहीं खाते।The children don’t eat vegetables.
जी नहीं, मैं दिल्ली से नहीं हूँ।No, I’m not from Delhi.
उसने मेरा फ़ोन नहीं उठाया।He didn’t answer my phone call.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
In लड़कियाँ हिंदी बोलती हैं the plural sits in हैं. Drop the auxiliary after नहीं and the participle has to show the plural itself, with a nasal: बोलतीं. Without it, the sentence reads as if about one girl.
Quick check
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
नहीं goes directly before the verb — before the participle, not before the auxiliary: मैं हिंदी बोलता हूँ → मैं हिंदी नहीं बोलता; वह आया → वह नहीं आया; मैंने खाना खाया → मैंने खाना नहीं खाया. Nothing else in the sentence moves.
In the habitual present the auxiliary is normally dropped after नहीं: मैं चाय नहीं पीता, “I don’t drink tea”. Keeping it (नहीं पीता हूँ) is not wrong, but it sounds emphatic or careful. Without the auxiliary, a feminine plural carries its own nasal: वे लड़कियाँ हिंदी नहीं बोलतीं, because the हैं that used to show the plural is gone.
The same happens in the negative perfect: मैंने अभी तक खाना नहीं खाया, “I haven’t eaten yet”, with no है. The progressive often loses it too in speech (मैं नहीं जा रहा), though writing usually keeps it.
When होना itself is the verb — “is”, “are” — the auxiliary is the whole verb and stays: राहुल घर पर नहीं है, “Rahul is not at home”. On its own, नहीं is also the answer “no”: नहीं, धन्यवाद, “no, thank you”.
A closer look
Moving नहीं for emphasis
नहीं can follow the verb to stress the denial: मैं जाता नहीं, “I don’t go, not at all”; उसने बताया नहीं, “she didn’t tell me (as I expected her to)”. This is common in speech and sounds a little impatient. The neutral position is before the verb.
In a compound verb, नहीं usually goes before the whole compound — मैं नहीं समझ पाया — or between the stem and the helper: मैं समझ नहीं पाया. Both are common.
Polite no
जी नहीं is the polite “no”, matching जी हाँ. A bare नहीं to an older person can sound curt; नहीं जी and जी नहीं soften it.
Worth knowing1
Worth knowing
नहीं है or नहीं?
Drop the auxiliary only after a participle: वह नहीं जाता. When है is the only verb, as in “he is not here”, it cannot go: वह यहाँ नहीं है. Saying वह यहाँ नहीं is possible in a reply, but it is clipped.
पापा अभी घर पर नहीं हैं।Dad isn’t at home at the moment.