A कि complement clause gives the content of a thought, statement, fact, hope, or wish. In मुझे लगता है कि बस देर से आएगी, the first clause presents the speaker's judgment and the clause after कि says what that judgment is: “the bus will arrive late.”
English often leaves out that: “I think the bus is late.” Neutral careful Hindi normally keeps कि, especially when both parts contain a finite verb. The marker helps the listener recognize where the main clause ends and the embedded proposition begins. Conversational Hindi may omit कि after familiar predicates such as लगता है when the content is clearly bounded or presented almost like a quotation; explicit कि remains the safe default in neutral speech and careful writing.
Build the basic pattern
The normal order is:
main clause + कि + complete finite clause
मुझे लगता है कि बस थोड़ी देर से आएगी।
mujhe lagtā hai ki bas thoṛī der se āegī.
I think that the bus will arrive a little late.
The main predicate is लगता है. After कि, feminine बस has its own future predicate आएगी. The second clause is not a loose string of extra words; it is a sentence embedded inside a larger sentence.
Many common predicates take this pattern:
| Meaning | Common frame | Use |
|---|---|---|
| say / tell | कहना कि, बताना कि | reported content |
| think / believe | सोचना कि, मानना कि | opinion or belief |
| know / find out | जानना कि, पता चलना कि | known or discovered fact |
| seem | लगना कि | speaker's impression |
| want | चाहना कि | desired outcome, often with a different subject |
हमें पता चला कि आज संग्रहालय बंद है।
hameṃ patā calā ki āj saṅgrahālay band hai.
We found out that the museum is closed today.
दादी चाहती हैं कि हम रात के खाने के लिए रुकें।
dādī cāhtī haiṃ ki ham rāt ke khāne ke lie rukeṃ.
Grandmother wants us to stay for dinner. (respectful reference)
The desired event in the second example has its own subject हम, so a finite clause with subjunctive रुकें is natural.
From a simple clause to an expanded clause
A short complement can contain only a subject and predicate:
अनु ने कहा कि वह व्यस्त है।
anu ne kahā ki vah vyast hai.
Anu said that she was busy.
The same clause can be expanded with time, place, objects, and another coordinated predicate:
अनु ने फ़ोन पर बताया कि वह आज शाम कार्यालय में देर तक काम करेगी और नौ बजे के बाद घर पहुँचेगी।
anu ne fon par batāyā ki vah āj śām kāryālay meṃ der tak kām karegī aur nau baje ke bād ghar pahũcegī.
Anu explained on the phone that she would work late at the office this evening and reach home after nine.
One कि introduces both coordinated predicates because both belong to Anu's reported plan. Each predicate remains final in its own part of the embedded clause.
Finite कि clause or infinitive?
When the person who wants or plans an action is also the person who will do it, Hindi often uses an infinitive:
मैं आज जल्दी सोना चाहता हूँ।
maĩ āj jaldī sonā cāhtā hū̃.
I want to go to sleep early today. (male speaker)
When the desired action has a different subject, use a finite कि clause:
मैं चाहता हूँ कि बच्चे आज जल्दी सो जाएँ।
maĩ cāhtā hū̃ ki bacce āj jaldī so jāẽ.
I want the children to go to sleep early today. (male speaker)
English uses want + object + to: “I want the children to sleep.” Hindi does not copy that structure word for word. The children become the subject of the clause after कि.
Not every English that-clause needs a finite Hindi clause. A compact noun or infinitive may be more natural when no separate proposition is needed: हमने कल निकलने का फ़ैसला किया “we decided to leave tomorrow.” The advanced comparison is developed in embedded finite versus infinitive clauses.
Subject reference can be stated or recovered
Hindi may omit the embedded subject when its identity is unmistakable:
मीरा ने संदेश भेजकर कहा कि थोड़ी देर में पहुँचेगी।
mīrā ne sandeś bhejkar kahā ki thoṛī der meṃ pahũcegī.
Mira sent a message saying that she would arrive shortly.
Feminine पहुँचेगी points back to Mira. If another woman is already under discussion, repeat मीरा or use a clear noun phrase. कि marks the boundary, but it does not tell the listener who an omitted subject is.
Inside the embedded clause, normal case and agreement rules still apply:
राहुल ने बताया कि सीमा ने टिकट खरीद लिए हैं।
rāhul ne batāyā ki sīmā ne ṭikaṭ xarīd lie haiṃ.
Rahul said that Seema had bought the tickets.
Embedded perfective transitive खरीद लिए हैं requires its own agent सीमा ने. The ने on राहुल cannot serve both clauses.
Tense follows meaning, not English backshift
A past reporting verb does not automatically push the embedded Hindi verb into the past:
निखिल ने बताया कि उसकी बहन पुणे में काम करती है।
nikhil ne batāyā ki uskī bahan puṇe meṃ kām kartī hai.
Nikhil said that his sister works in Pune.
Present करती है is natural if the job is still current. Use करती थी only if the employment belonged to a past period. Likewise, a future plan can remain future even though the report is past:
सोनल ने कहा कि वह अगले महीने नया घर खोजेगी।
sonal ne kahā ki vah agle mahīne nayā ghar khojegī.
Sonal said that she would look for a new home the following month.
Hindi marks the chosen viewpoint inside each clause. English may translate खोजेगी as would look, but there is no mechanical Hindi “future in the past” conversion.
Punctuation and the visible boundary
In a short ordinary sentence, do not insert a comma merely because English sometimes pauses before that:
मुझे उम्मीद है कि मौसम कल साफ़ रहेगा।
mujhe ummīd hai ki mausam kal sāf rahegā.
I hope that the weather will be clear tomorrow.
Direct quotation is different: quotation marks and a comma or colon can introduce the speaker's exact words. An indirect कि clause normally uses no quotation marks because pronouns and viewpoint belong to the narrator.
A formal written example makes the two domains especially clear:
प्रबंधन ने पुष्टि की कि नई समय-सारणी आगामी सोमवार से लागू होगी।
prabandhan ne puṣṭi kī ki naī samay-sāriṇī āgāmī somvār se lāgū hogī.
Management confirmed that the new schedule would take effect from the coming Monday. (formal)
Clause boundary: [प्रबंधन ने पुष्टि की] [कि नई समय-सारणी आगामी सोमवार से लागू होगी]. The first predicate reports confirmation; the second locates the policy change.
A spoken exchange
आरव: क्या तुम्हें लगता है कि दुकान खुली है? लीना: हाँ, रवि ने कहा था कि वह आठ बजे तक खुली रहेगी।
ārav: kyā tumheṃ lagtā hai ki dukān khulī hai? līnā: hā̃, ravi ne kahā thā ki vah āṭh baje tak khulī rahegī.
Aarav: Do you think the shop is open? Leena: Yes, Ravi said that it would stay open until eight. (informal)
The first कि gives the content of a present judgment; the second gives the content of an earlier report. Their TAM differs because the meanings differ, not because one reporting verb is present and the other past.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating colloquial कि omission as the careful default
मुझे लगता है बस आज देर से आएगी।
mujhe lagtā hai bas āj der se āegī.
I think the bus will arrive late today. (natural colloquially; not the default in careful prose)
✅ मुझे लगता है कि बस आज देर से आएगी।
mujhe lagtā hai ki bas āj der se āegī.
I think that the bus will arrive late today.
The first version is not ungrammatical: its clause boundary is recovered conversationally. The second makes the boundary explicit and is the safer model whenever register or complexity could make the omission unclear.
2. Confusing कि with genitive की
❌ हमें मालूम है की रास्ता बंद है।
Incorrect spelling — the complementizer is short-vowel कि, not feminine genitive की.
✅ हमें मालूम है कि आगे का रास्ता बंद है।
hameṃ mālūm hai ki āge kā rāstā band hai.
We know that the road ahead is closed.
3. Copying English clause order
❌ मैं कि बैठक रद्द है सोचता हूँ।
Incorrect — the matrix predicate normally comes before the कि content clause.
✅ मैं सोचता हूँ कि बैठक रद्द है।
maĩ soctā hū̃ ki baiṭhak radd hai.
I think that the meeting is canceled. (male speaker)
4. Using a same-subject infinitive for a different subject
❌ मीरा रोहन समय पर पहुँचना चाहती है।
Incorrect — Rohan needs to be the subject of a finite desired-outcome clause.
✅ मीरा चाहती है कि रोहन समय पर पहुँचे।
mīrā cāhtī hai ki rohan samay par pahũce.
Mira wants Rohan to arrive on time.
Key Takeaways
- The neutral pattern is main clause + कि + complete finite clause.
- Each finite clause has its own subject reference, case, agreement, negation, and TAM.
- Use an infinitive readily for same-subject actions; use कि when a different subject performs the embedded action.
- Hindi does not require automatic English-style tense backshift.
- Short indirect complements normally take no comma or quotation marks; कि itself shows the boundary.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Complement clauses with किB2 — Use कि to embed a finite proposition as the content of speech, thought, knowledge, perception, evaluation, or desire while preserving local syntax.
- Infinitival complement clausesB2 — Choose direct, oblique, controlled, and agreeing Hindi infinitival complements while keeping their controller distinct from the matrix subject and finite clauses.
- Whether clauses with कि नहींA2 — Form embedded yes-or-no alternatives with कि…या नहीं, and distinguish them from direct questions with क्या or colloquial कि नहीं.
- Reported statementsA2 — Turn direct Hindi statements into indirect reports with कि while adjusting speaker reference, deixis, punctuation, and time only when meaning requires it.
- Embedded finite versus infinitive clausesC1 — Choose between an independently tensed कि clause and a controlled or nominalized infinitive by tracking subject reference, proposition type, agreement, and time.
- Sequence of TAM in कि clausesC1 — Choose tense, aspect, and mood inside Hindi कि clauses from their own time relations rather than by automatic backshift.