बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।

The sister is not here today.

Breakdown of बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।

• यहाँ: here
• होना: to be
• बहन: sister
• आज: today
• नहीं: not

Questions & Answers about बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।

What is the word-for-word breakdown of बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।?

A literal breakdown is:

• बहन = sister
• आज = today
• यहाँ = here
• नहीं = not
• है = is

So the literal order is:

Sister today here not is.

That sounds odd in English, but it is a normal Hindi sentence pattern.

Why is है at the end of the sentence?

In Hindi, the verb or copula usually comes at the end of the clause.

So where English says:

Sister is not here today

Hindi naturally says:

Sister today here not is

That is why है comes last.

Why does नहीं come before है?

In normal Hindi statements, नहीं usually comes before the verb or before the form of to be.

So:

• नहीं है = is not
• नहीं हैं = are not

That is the standard order.
So यहाँ नहीं है means is not here.

Why is there no word for my before बहन?

Hindi often leaves possession unstated when the context makes it obvious, especially with family relationships.

So बहन can mean:

• sister
• the sister
• sometimes my sister, if that is already understood from context

If you want to make my explicit, you would say:

मेरी बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।
= My sister is not here today.

So the version without मेरी is shorter and more context-dependent.

Why is there no a or the in the sentence?

Hindi does not have articles like English a and the.

That means बहन can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• a sister
• the sister
• just sister

The listener understands which one is meant from the situation.

Does है agree with बहन because बहन is feminine?

No. In this sentence, है does not show feminine gender.

है is used for singular subjects, regardless of gender:

• वह लड़का यहाँ है। = That boy is here.
• वह लड़की यहाँ है। = That girl is here.

So with बहन, which is singular, है is correct.

Gender agreement shows up more clearly in other parts of Hindi grammar, especially with adjectives and past forms.

Is the word order fixed, or can आज and यहाँ move around?

Hindi word order is flexible, although some orders sound more neutral than others.

Your sentence:

बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।

is perfectly natural.

You could also hear:

• आज बहन यहाँ नहीं है।
• बहन यहाँ आज नहीं है।

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis can shift a little. The original version is a straightforward, neutral sentence.

How do you pronounce यहाँ and नहीं?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• यहाँ = yahaan / yahā̃
• नहीं = nahin / nahī̃

The final nasal sound is important in both words. It is not a full n sound like in English noon. It is more like nasalizing the vowel.

So:

• यहाँ sounds roughly like yuh-HAA(nasal)
• नहीं sounds roughly like nuh-HEE(nasal)

What is the । symbol at the end?

That symbol is called the danda.

It is used in Hindi and other Devanagari-writing languages as a sentence-ending mark, similar to an English period .

So:

बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।

ends with । instead of .

How would I turn this sentence into a question?

A common way is to add क्या at the beginning:

क्या बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है?
= Is sister not here today? / Isn’t sister here today?

In conversation, people can also sometimes rely on intonation:

बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है?

But for learners, using क्या is the clearest pattern.

Would हैं ever be possible instead of है?

Yes, but only in a different situation.

In standard grammar:

• है = singular
• हैं = plural, or singular with respect/honorific usage

So if you were speaking respectfully about an older sister, someone might say:

बहन आज यहाँ नहीं हैं।

That is respectful Hindi.
But the basic, non-honorific sentence with a singular subject is:

बहन आज यहाँ नहीं है।