Hindi usually builds negative indefinites compositionally: कोई नहीं koī nahīṃ “nobody/not anyone” and कुछ नहीं kuch nahīṃ “nothing/not anything.” With a postposition, कोई becomes किसी, while नहीं remains with the predicate: किसी से बात नहीं की “did not speak with anyone.”
Unlike English, Hindi does not require special roots such as nobody and nothing. The indefinite and clausal negation work together, as part of the broader नहीं system.
Core patterns
| Meaning | Hindi pattern |
|---|---|
| nobody / no one | कोई नहीं |
| nothing | कुछ नहीं |
| not to/from/with anyone | किसी को/से ... नहीं |
| not even one / absolutely nobody | कोई भी नहीं |
| not anything at all | कुछ भी नहीं |
कमरे में कोई नहीं है।
kamre meṃ koī nahīṃ hai.
There is nobody in the room.
मैंने कुछ नहीं कहा।
maĩne kuch nahīṃ kahā.
I said nothing.
उसने किसी को जवाब नहीं दिया।
usne kisī ko javāb nahīṃ diyā.
He/she did not answer anyone.
कोई नहीं and agreement
When कोई नहीं is the subject of an existential or intransitive clause, singular agreement is common because कोई is grammatically singular.
अभी तक कोई नहीं आया है।
abhī tak koī nahīṃ āyā hai.
Nobody has arrived yet.
बैठक में कोई तैयार नहीं था।
baiṭhak meṃ koī taiyār nahīṃ thā.
Nobody at the meeting was ready.
With कोई छात्र, singular आया is the neutral past-tense pattern: कोई छात्र नहीं आया “no student came.” If the plural noun phrase itself is the subject, it controls plural agreement: छात्र नहीं आए “the students did not come/no students came.” एक भी छात्र नहीं आया makes “not a single student” fully explicit.
Negative कोई नहीं supplies no person who can later receive honorific reference. Contrast कोई नहीं आया “nobody came” with वे नहीं आए “they did not come” or “he did not come” respectfully: वे identifies a particular plural or respected referent, while कोई नहीं asserts that the relevant set is empty. Honorific plurality and negative quantification are therefore separate systems.
कुछ नहीं and scope
फ़्रिज में खाने को कुछ नहीं है।
frij meṃ khāne ko kuch nahīṃ hai.
There is nothing to eat in the refrigerator.
चिंता मत कीजिए; कुछ नहीं हुआ।
cintā mat kījie; kuch nahīṃ huā.
Don't worry; nothing happened. (respectful)
कुछ नहीं may deny an entity, event, or amount. In conversational replies it can also minimize: कुछ नहीं “nothing/it's nothing.”
किसी with postpositions
मैंने किसी से मदद नहीं माँगी।
maĩne kisī se madad nahīṃ mā̃gī.
I did not ask anyone for help.
यह बात किसी के सामने मत कहना।
yah bāt kisī ke sāmne mat kahnā.
Don't say this in front of anyone. (familiar command)
उसे किसी पर भरोसा नहीं है।
use kisī par bharosā nahīṃ hai.
He/she does not trust anyone.
The postposition stays next to किसी; नहीं negates the predicate later in the clause.
भी strengthens the negative
कोई भी नहीं and कुछ भी नहीं mean “not anyone at all/not anything at all.” With count nouns, एक भी ... नहीं means “not even one.”
इस सूची में कोई भी नाम परिचित नहीं है।
is sūcī meṃ koī bhī nām paricit nahīṃ hai.
Not a single name on this list is familiar.
मैंने आज कुछ भी नहीं खरीदा।
maĩne āj kuch bhī nahīṃ kharīdā.
I bought absolutely nothing today.
Negation and polarity
Without नहीं, किसी means “someone's/some person” in an oblique context: किसी ने बुलाया “someone called.” With negation, it falls within negative scope: किसी ने नहीं बुलाया “no one called.”
किसी ने दरवाज़ा खटखटाया।
kisī ne darvāzā khaṭkhaṭāyā.
Someone knocked on the door.
किसी ने दरवाज़ा नहीं खटखटाया।
kisī ne darvāzā nahīṃ khaṭkhaṭāyā.
No one knocked on the door.
The indefinite itself is not intrinsically negative. Scope comes from नहीं.
Formal and informal minimal pair
तुम्हें कुछ नहीं चाहिए?
tumheṃ kuch nahīṃ cāhie?
Don't you need anything? (familiar)
आपको कुछ नहीं चाहिए?
āpko kuch nahīṃ cāhie?
Don't you need anything? (respectful)
The negative indefinite remains constant; addressee form changes. आप continues to require plural agreement when it controls a verb.
A natural dialogue
क्या किसी ने आपको फ़ोन किया? — नहीं, अभी तक किसी ने नहीं किया।
kyā kisī ne āpko fon kiyā? — nahīṃ, abhī tak kisī ne nahīṃ kiyā.
Did anyone call you? — No, nobody has yet. (respectful)
Common Mistakes
1. Omitting clausal negation
❌ कमरे में कोई है।
Incorrect for “nobody is in the room”: कोई alone means someone/anyone.
✅ कमरे में कोई नहीं है।
kamre meṃ koī nahīṃ hai.
There is nobody in the room.
2. Keeping कोई before a postposition
❌ मैंने कोई से बात नहीं की।
Incorrect: before से, कोई becomes किसी.
✅ मैंने किसी से बात नहीं की।
maĩne kisī se bāt nahīṃ kī.
I did not speak with anyone.
3. Using कुछ नहीं for people
❌ बाहर कुछ नहीं खड़ा है।
Incorrect for “nobody”: use कोई नहीं for a person.
✅ बाहर कोई नहीं खड़ा है।
bāhar koī nahīṃ khaṛā hai.
Nobody is standing outside.
4. Treating आप as singular
❌ आप कुछ नहीं लेना चाहता है?
Incorrect: आप requires plural-honorific agreement.
✅ आप कुछ नहीं लेना चाहते हैं?
āp kuch nahīṃ lenā cāhte haiṃ?
Don't you want to take anything? (respectful, to a man)
Key Takeaways
Word order may foreground the denied constituent, but नहीं must remain inside the clause that supplies its scope.
- कोई नहीं means nobody; कुछ नहीं means nothing.
- Before postpositions, use किसी, with नहीं negating the predicate.
- भी strengthens the negative to “none/not anything at all.”
- किसी is not inherently negative; the presence and scope of नहीं determine the reading.
Now practice Hindi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Indefinite कोई and कुछB1 — Use कोई for an unidentified person or countable member and कुछ for an unspecified quantity, content, or degree, including oblique and modifier patterns.
- कभी नहीं कोई नहीं कुछ नहींB1 — Build ‘never,’ ‘nobody,’ and ‘nothing’ readings by combining negative-sensitive indefinites with नहीं and interpreting multiple negatives as one semantic negation.
- Pronouns with कोA2 — Use the conventional को-series मुझे, तुझे, तुम्हें, आपको, इसे, उसे, इन्हें, and उन्हें for objects, recipients, and experiencers.
- 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.
- नहीं in simple finite clausesA1 — Negate ordinary Hindi statements with नहीं while keeping predicate-final order, agreement, tense, and the distinction from न and मत.