The compound postposition के बारे में ke bāre meṃ marks a topic: नई योजना के बारे में naī yojnā ke bāre meṃ means “about the new plan.” It commonly accompanies speaking, asking, reading, writing, thinking, hearing, and knowing.
Unlike a spatial postposition, के बारे में has no productive literal location meaning in contemporary Hindi. Its three-word shape is best learned as one topic-marking unit placed after an oblique complement.
Establishing a topic
हमने नई योजना के बारे में काफ़ी देर बात की।
hamne naī yojnā ke bāre meṃ kāfī der bāt kī.
We talked about the new plan for quite a while.
मैं इस लेखक के बारे में ज़्यादा नहीं जानता।
maĩ is lekhak ke bāre meṃ zyādā nahīṃ jāntā.
I don't know much about this author. (male speaker)
The topic phrase answers “concerning what?” It does not itself say whether the attitude is positive, negative, detailed, or superficial; the surrounding predicate supplies that information.
Noun complements are oblique
| Direct form | Topic phrase |
|---|---|
| लड़का laṛkā | लड़के के बारे में laṛke ke bāre meṃ |
| बच्चे bacce | बच्चों के बारे में baccoṃ ke bāre meṃ |
| समस्या samasyā | समस्या के बारे में samasyā ke bāre meṃ |
| किताबें kitābeṃ | किताबों के बारे में kitāboṃ ke bāre meṃ |
इन पुरानी इमारतों के बारे में कोई दस्तावेज़ नहीं मिला।
in purānī imāratoṃ ke bāre meṃ koī dastāvez nahīṃ milā.
No document was found about these old buildings.
Plural इमारतें becomes oblique इमारतों. Feminine singular समस्या does not change visibly, but it occupies the same oblique position.
उस छोटे लड़के के बारे में स्कूल ने हमें फ़ोन किया।
us choṭe laṛke ke bāre meṃ skūl ne hameṃ fon kiyā.
The school called us about that little boy.
The demonstrative, adjective, and masculine noun all display oblique form: उस छोटे लड़के.
Pronouns and interrogatives
Use मेरे बारे में, हमारे बारे में, तुम्हारे बारे में, आपके बारे में, इसके/उसके बारे में, and इनके/उनके बारे में. To ask the topic, use किसके बारे में “about whom/what?” or किस बारे में “about what matter?”
तुमने मेरे बारे में उसे क्या बताया?
tumne mere bāre meṃ use kyā batāyā?
What did you tell her about me? (informal)
आप किसके बारे में पूछ रहे हैं?
āp kiske bāre meṃ pūch rahe haiṃ?
Who are you asking about? (respectful, to a man)
Do not build the phrase from citation forms such as मैं के बारे में or वह के बारे में. The possessive-shaped forms are conventional even though no freely possessed noun follows.
Broad topic versus focused discussion with पर
के बारे में is the neutral, broad way to set a topic. पर par can also mark a subject matter, especially with nouns such as चर्चा carcā “discussion,” लेख lekh “article,” भाषण bhāṣaṇ “speech,” and शोध śodh “research.” It often sounds more compact or formal.
हमने बजट के बारे में बात की और अगले प्रस्ताव पर चर्चा की।
hamne bajaṭ ke bāre meṃ bāt kī aur agle prastāv par carcā kī.
We talked about the budget and discussed the next proposal.
Both phrases mark content, but their collocations differ: के बारे में बात करना is neutral in conversation, while पर चर्चा करना is common in meetings and formal prose (formal). बजट के बारे में चर्चा is also possible; the point is not a rigid ban, but the conventional pairing and register.
Topic phrases in different clause positions
A topic phrase may remain near its predicate or move to the beginning as a discourse frame.
इस मामले के बारे में हम कल फ़ैसला करेंगे।
is māmle ke bāre meṃ ham kal faislā kareṅge.
As for this matter, we'll decide tomorrow.
Clause-initial placement makes the matter the frame for what follows. Hindi's flexible word order allows this because the postposition keeps the phrase's role clear. The broader discourse pattern is explained under topic-comment organization.
Speech, thought, and information
The construction is productive with predicates whose meaning naturally takes content as a topic.
मैंने इस बीमारी के बारे में भरोसेमंद जानकारी पढ़ी है।
maĩne is bīmārī ke bāre meṃ bharosemand jānkārī paṛhī hai.
I've read reliable information about this illness.
वह नौकरी बदलने के बारे में सोच रही है।
vah naukrī badalne ke bāre meṃ soc rahī hai.
She's thinking about changing jobs.
An infinitive topic takes oblique -ने before the compound postposition: बदलना → बदलने के बारे में. Here it names the contemplated activity, not a purpose. Compare नौकरी बदलने के लिए “in order to change jobs.”
Productive topic marking versus lexical government
Although topic marking is productive, English about appears in frames that Hindi expresses differently. Neutral “worry about the children” is often बच्चों की चिंता करना baccoṃ kī cintā karnā or बच्चों के लिए चिंतित होना baccoṃ ke lie cintit honā, depending on whether the focus is the concern itself or the affected people. बच्चों के बारे में बात करना simply means “talk about the children.”
वह बच्चों की चिंता कर रही है, लेकिन अभी उनके बारे में बात नहीं करना चाहती।
vah baccoṃ kī cintā kar rahī hai, lekin abhī unke bāre meṃ bāt nahīṃ karnā cāhtī.
She's worried about the children, but she doesn't want to talk about them right now.
Likewise, English hear about can mean learn news, for which Hindi may use के बारे में सुनना, पता चलना, or a direct content clause. Learn the predicate and intended sense together.
English “about” as approximation
When about means “approximately,” use लगभग lagbhag, क़रीब qarīb, or another approximation expression—not के बारे में.
बैठक में लगभग बीस लोग थे।
baiṭhak meṃ lagbhag bīs log the.
There were about twenty people at the meeting.
This about modifies a number; it does not introduce a topic.
A natural exchange
तुम लोग किस बारे में बात कर रहे थे? — अगले महीने की यात्रा के बारे में।
tum log kis bāre meṃ bāt kar rahe the? — agle mahīne kī yātrā ke bāre meṃ.
What were you all talking about? — About next month's trip. (informal)
The short answer is a complete topic phrase; the predicate is recoverable from the question.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the topic marker before its complement
❌ के बारे में इस किताब हमने बात की।
Incorrect: the complement comes before के बारे में.
✅ हमने इस किताब के बारे में बात की।
hamne is kitāb ke bāre meṃ bāt kī.
We talked about this book.
2. Leaving a direct plural before the compound postposition
❌ उसने नई नीतियाँ के बारे में लिखा।
Incorrect: नीतियाँ becomes oblique plural नीतियों.
✅ उसने नई नीतियों के बारे में लिखा।
usne naī nītiyoṃ ke bāre meṃ likhā.
She wrote about the new policies.
3. Using a citation-form pronoun
❌ उन्होंने मैं के बारे में पूछा।
Incorrect: use मेरे बारे में.
✅ उन्होंने मेरे बारे में पूछा।
unhoṃne mere bāre meṃ pūchā.
They asked about me.
4. Translating approximative “about” as a topic
❌ वहाँ दस लोगों के बारे में थे।
Incorrect: numerical approximation requires लगभग or क़रीब.
✅ वहाँ लगभग दस लोग थे।
vahā̃ lagbhag das log the.
There were about ten people there.
5. Using a citation infinitive as the topic complement
❌ वह विदेश जाना के बारे में सोच रहा है।
Incorrect: the infinitive becomes oblique जाने before the postposition.
✅ वह विदेश जाने के बारे में सोच रहा है।
vah videś jāne ke bāre meṃ soc rahā hai.
He's thinking about going abroad.
Key Takeaways
- के बारे में marks the topic of speech, thought, knowledge, writing, or inquiry.
- Its complement is oblique; pronouns use मेरे बारे में, उसके बारे में, and related forms.
- The expression is grammaticalized as a topic marker and has no productive literal spatial reading.
- पर often appears in compact or formal topic collocations such as प्रस्ताव पर चर्चा.
- English approximative about and lexically governed about expressions require different Hindi constructions.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- The oblique in compound postpositional phrasesA2 — Build oblique noun phrases before compound Hindi postpositions such as के साथ, के लिए, के पास, and के बारे में.
- Topic-comment organizationA2 — Organize Hindi clauses around an established topic followed by a comment, while distinguishing topic from grammatical subject and narrow focus.
- बात करना collocationsB1 — Use बात करना with the right partner, topic, agreement, and conversational extensions such as बात होना, बात मानना, and बात बनना.
- Postpositions with interrogativesB1 — Build case-marked questions with किस, किन, कहाँ, कब, and compound postpositions without copying English preposition stranding.
- पर for surfaces locations and occasionsA2 — Use पर for surfaces, location points, activity sites, media, and occasions while distinguishing it from में and predicate-selected uses.
- Oblique किस and किनB1 — Use singular/general किस and selected-plural किन before postpositions, in possessives, and in conventional किसे/किन्हें and किसने/किन्होंने forms.