Free relatives are not confined to bare जो भी. When the relative clause assigns ergative, object, recipient, instrumental, source, locative, or possessive case, Hindi inflects the relative series: जिसने भी, जिसे भी, जिससे भी, जिसमें भी, जिसका भी and plural/honorific जिन्होंने भी, जिन्हें भी, जिनसे भी. Their meaning is roughly “whoever/whomever/whatever…,” but English hides much of the case structure that Hindi states overtly.
The free-choice case paradigm
| Role inside relative clause | Singular / number-neutral | Plural / honorific |
|---|---|---|
| unmarked subject or thing | जो भी | जो भी / जो लोग भी |
| perfective transitive agent | जिसने भी | जिन्होंने भी |
| human object / recipient | जिसे भी / जिसको भी | जिन्हें भी / जिनको भी |
| source, means, companion | जिससे भी | जिनसे भी |
| location | जिसमें भी / जिस पर भी | जिनमें भी / जिन पर भी |
| possession | जिसका भी / जिसकी भी / जिसके भी | जिनका भी / जिनकी भी / जिनके भी |
| complex postposition | जिसके लिए भी | जिनके लिए भी |
The postposition belongs to the relative clause. भी follows the complete case-marked relative phrase: जिससे भी, not जिस भी से. The correlate in the main clause is then chosen independently.
जिसे भी यह चाबी मिले, वह उसे स्वागत-कक्ष में जमा कर दे।
jise bhī yah cābī mile, vah use svāgat-kakṣ meṃ jamā kar de.
Whoever finds this key should hand it in at reception. (formal)
The finder is an experiencer/recipient with मिलना, hence जिसे. In the main clause that same person is the unmarked subject, so formal वह is correct.
जिसे भी: object, experiencer, and recipient
जिसे भी and जिसको भी are standard alternatives. The shorter form is common in speech and writing; the longer form can make parallel structure or contrast more audible.
तुम जिसे भी टीम में चुनोगे, उसे सोमवार से प्रशिक्षण मिलेगा।
tum jise bhī ṭīm meṃ cunoge, use somvār se praśikṣaṇ milegā.
Whoever you choose for the team will receive training from Monday. (informal)
Both clauses require को: the person is the definite human object of चुनना and the recipient with मिलना. Matching forms are possible, but never automatic.
जिसको भी इस निर्णय पर आपत्ति हो, वह आज लिखित टिप्पणी भेजे।
jisko bhī is nirṇay par āpatti ho, vah āj likhit ṭippaṇī bheje.
Anyone who objects to this decision should send written comments today. (formal)
The idiom किसी को आपत्ति होना licenses जिसको. The same referent becomes the unmarked agent of भेजे, so the correlate is वह.
In conversation, वो replaces formal वह:
जिसे भी भूख लगी है, वो रसोई से खाना ले ले।
jise bhī bhūkh lagī hai, vo rasoī se khānā le le.
Whoever is hungry can get food from the kitchen. (informal)
This illustrates a structural difference from English: Hindi encodes “being hungry” as hunger attaching to an experiencer marked by को.
जिसने भी: an ergative relative is not always an ergative correlate
With a perfective transitive predicate, the relative-clause agent takes ने:
जिसने भी खिड़की बंद की, उसने ठीक किया।
jisne bhī khiṛkī band kī, usne ṭhīk kiyā.
Whoever closed the window did the right thing.
Both actions are perfective and transitive, so both sides independently receive ने. Change the main predicate, and the correlate changes:
जिसने भी खिड़की बंद की, वह शायद ठंड महसूस कर रहा था।
jisne bhī khiṛkī band kī, vah śāyad ṭhaṇḍ mahsūs kar rahā thā.
Whoever closed the window was probably feeling cold.
The progressive main clause has an unmarked subject, therefore वह, not उसने. This contrast is central: a j-form and its resumption identify the same referent but need not share a case ending.
Plural or respectful जिन्होंने भी selects the plural/honorific correlative series:
जिन्होंने भी इस शोध में भाग लिया, उन्हें परिणाम भेज दिए गए हैं।
jinhoṃne bhī is śodh meṃ bhāg liyā, unheṃ pariṇām bhej die gae haiṃ.
Everyone who participated in this research has been sent the results. (formal/academic)
उन्होंने would be wrong in the main clause because the participants are recipients, not agents; उन्हें is locally required.
जिससे भी: source, instrument, comparison, or companion
The semantic range of से survives intact in जिससे भी. Context tells whether the referent is a source, tool, interlocutor, companion, or comparison standard.
तुम जिससे भी यह ख़बर सुनो, पहले आधिकारिक सूचना देख लेना।
tum jisse bhī yah xabar suno, pahle ādhikārik sūcnā dekh lenā.
Whoever you hear this news from, check the official notice first. (informal)
जिससे भी मशीन खोलो, उस औज़ार को बाद में अपनी जगह रख देना।
jisse bhī maśīn kholo, us auzār ko bād meṃ apnī jagah rakh denā.
Whichever tool you use to open the machine, put that tool back afterward. (informal)
The first has source से and no overt resumption. The second has instrumental से, then an overt noun phrase उस औज़ार को as the main-clause object. Repeating the noun is valuable because bare उसे could ambiguously refer to the machine.
तुम जिनसे भी मिले, उन सबसे संपर्क बनाए रखना।
tum jinse bhī mile, un sabse sampark banāe rakhnā.
Keep in touch with everyone you met. (informal)
Plural जिनसे is resumed as inclusive उन सबसे, making the universal set interpretation explicit.
Locative and complex-postposition forms
A free relative can contain any ordinary postpositional phrase built on जिस- or जिन-:
जिस कमरे में भी धूप आती हो, उसमें ये पौधे रख सकते हैं।
jis kamre meṃ bhī dhūp ātī ho, usmeṃ ye paudhe rakh sakte haiṃ.
These plants can be kept in whichever room gets sunlight.
Here the noun कमरा is overt, so जिस…भी functions as a free-choice determiner within a headed phrase rather than as a wholly headless relative. The main clause resumes it with उसमें.
जिसके लिए भी आप यह प्रमाणपत्र बना रहे हैं, उसका नाम दोबारा जाँच लें।
jiske lie bhī āp yah pramāṇpatr banā rahe haiṃ, uskā nām dobārā jā̃c leṃ.
Double-check the name of whoever you are preparing this certificate for. (respectful/formal)
The relative role is beneficiary जिसके लिए; the main role is possessor उसका. This is precisely why English-based matching fails: for whom does not predict Hindi’s later genitive form.
Possessive free relatives and agreement
Genitive relative forms agree with the possessed noun, not the possessor. Compare जिसका नाम, जिसकी फ़ाइल, and जिसके दस्तावेज़:
जिसकी भी फ़ाइल अधूरी है, उसे ईमेल से सूचना भेजी जाएगी।
jiskī bhī fāil adhūrī hai, use īmel se sūcnā bhejī jāegī.
Anyone whose file is incomplete will be notified by email. (formal)
Feminine जिसकी agrees with फ़ाइल. The person is resumed as recipient उसे, which does not copy genitive agreement.
जिनके भी दस्तावेज़ पूरे हैं, वे अगला चरण शुरू कर सकते हैं।
jinke bhī dastāvez pūre haiṃ, ve aglā caraṇ śurū kar sakte haiṃ.
Those whose documents are complete may begin the next stage. (formal)
Plural/honorific जिनके agrees with masculine plural दस्तावेज़, while formal plural वे resumes the possessors. See जिसका–उसका possessive relatives for the complete agreement pattern.
भी scope and alternatives
Placement determines what भी widens. जिसे भी बुलाओ means “whomever you invite.” In जिसे तुम भी बुलाओ, भी focuses तुम: “whomever you too invite.”
जिसे भी तुम बुलाओ, उसका नाम सूची में जोड़ देना।
jise bhī tum bulāo, uskā nām sūcī meṃ joṛ denā.
Add the name of whoever you invite to the list. (informal)
जिसे तुम भी बुलाओ, मुझे पहले बता देना।
jise tum bhī bulāo, mujhe pahle batā denā.
Tell me beforehand about whomever you, too, invite. (informal; भी focuses तुम)
चाहे जिसे can also express unrestricted choice, often with a stronger “anyone you please” nuance. It is not structurally identical to a relative–correlative pair. Compare the indefinite system on the किसी भी and कोई भी free-choice page.
Definite, universal, and concessive readings
Without भी, जिसे मैंने बुलाया normally identifies a definite person. With भी, the referent can be open, universal, or concessive:
तुम जिसे भी भेजोगे, मैं उसके साथ काम कर लूँगा।
tum jise bhī bhejoge, maĩ uske sāth kām kar lū̃gā.
Whoever you send, I will work with that person. (male speaker)
The future creates an open choice, while उसके साथ explicitly resumes the selected person. Under adversative context, the same syntax approaches “no matter whom.”
जिससे भी पूछो, सब यही कहेंगे कि रास्ता बंद है।
jisse bhī pūcho, sab yahī kaheṅge ki rāstā band hai.
No matter whom you ask, everyone will say that the road is closed.
This conversational generalization supplies the requested proverb-like parallel: the unrestricted source in the first clause maps to a general consensus in the second.
Common Mistakes
1. Placing भी inside a postposition
❌ जिस भी के लिए यह संदेश है, वह जवाब दे।
Incorrect — the complex postposition must stay intact before free-choice भी.
✅ जिसके लिए भी यह संदेश है, वह जवाब दे।
jiske lie bhī yah sandeś hai, vah javāb de.
Whoever this message is for should reply. (formal)
2. Matching case mechanically
❌ जिसने भी आवेदन भरा, उसने शुल्क की रसीद मिलेगी।
Incorrect — the applicant is an experiencer/recipient with मिलेगी, so the main clause needs उसे.
✅ जिसने भी आवेदन भरा, उसे शुल्क की रसीद मिलेगी।
jisne bhī āvedan bharā, use śulk kī rasīd milegī.
Whoever filled out the application will receive a fee receipt.
3. Ignoring plural or honorific reference
❌ जिन्होंने भी मदद की, उसे धन्यवाद दिया गया।
Incorrect — plural/honorific जिन्होंने requires a matching plural/honorific referent in the main clause.
✅ जिन्होंने भी मदद की, उन्हें धन्यवाद दिया गया।
jinhoṃne bhī madad kī, unheṃ dhanyavād diyā gayā.
Everyone who helped was thanked.
4. Inserting कि after the relative form
❌ जिसे भी कि तुम चुनो, उसे बुला लो।
Incorrect — ordinary free relatives do not insert कि after जिसे भी.
✅ जिसे भी तुम चुनो, उसे बुला लो।
jise bhī tum cuno, use bulā lo.
Invite whomever you choose. (informal)
Key Takeaways
- Build free-choice case forms from oblique जिस-/जिन- plus the required postposition, followed by भी.
- Determine the relative form and correlative form independently; identity of reference does not imply identity of case.
- जिसे/जिसको, जिससे, locative forms, complex postpositions, and genitives retain their ordinary meanings inside free relatives.
- Genitive जिसका/जिसकी/जिसके agrees with the possessed expression, while the possessor may be resumed in a completely different case.
- भी placement matters: immediately after the case phrase it widens choice; elsewhere it focuses a different constituent.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Case-inflected जिसने जिसको जिससेB1 — Build Hindi relatives with जिसने, जिसको, जिससे, and other जिस- forms by assigning case separately in the relative and main clauses.
- जो भी free relativesC1 — Use जो भी and its inflected forms for whoever, whatever, and every contextually eligible referent.
- जिसका–उसका possessive relativesB1 — Connect owners across clauses with जिसका–उसका while making each possessive ending agree with the noun possessed in its own phrase.
- जो–वह relative-correlative overviewA2 — Build Hindi relative-correlative sentences by pairing जो with वह/वो and matching each pronoun's case to its role in its own clause.
- Postpositions and oblique complementsA1 — Build Hindi relational phrases by placing a postposition after an oblique noun or special pronoun form instead of translating English prepositions word for word.
- किसी भी and कोई भी free choiceB2 — Use कोई भी in direct position and किसी भी before case markers to express unrestricted choice, polarity-sensitive any, and emphatic none.