नहीं

Braj

Etymology

From Sanskrit नहि (nahí, “surely not”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *naǰʰí, from earlier *ná gʲʰí, from Proto-Indo-European *né + *gʰí. Cognate with Assamese নাই (nai), Early Assamese নাহি (nahi), Hindi नहीं (nahī̃).

Adverb

नहीं (nahī̃)

1. not

Alternative forms

• नाहीं (nāhī̃), नहिं (nahĩ), नाहिं (nāhĩ), नहीन (nahīn), नाहीन (nāhīn), नहिन (nahin), नाहिन (nāhin)

Hindi

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit नहि (nahí, “surely not”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *naǰʰí, from earlier *ná gʲʰí, from Proto-Indo-European *né + *gʰí. Cognate with Assamese নাই (nai), Early Assamese নাহি (nahi), Braj नहीं (nahī̃).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /nə.ɦĩː/,

• Audio

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Particle

नहीं • (nahī̃) (Urdu spelling نہیں)

1. no, not (negative response to a yes-no question)

   बिलकुल नहीं ― bilkul nahī̃ ― of course not

2. no, not (used for negation of statements in the indicative and contrafactual moods)

   यहाँ गाजर नहीं हैं

   yahā̃ gājar nahī̃ ha͠i

   there are no carrots here

Usage notes

Often used with the polite particle जी (jī) to be more polite in answering those given respect as in जी नहीं (jī nahī̃).

नहीं (nahī̃) is not used with verbs in subjunctive and imperative mood. The subjunctive negation ना (nā) is used with the subjunctive mood and the imperative negation मत (mat) is used with the imperative mood.

Synonyms

• ना (nā)
• मत (mat)

References

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “नहीं”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press