आज बिजली नहीं है।

A natural translation is There is no electricity today or The power is out today.

Literally, it is closer to:

• आज = today
• बिजली = electricity / power
• नहीं है = is not / there is not

So the full sentence is basically Today, there is no electricity.

आज means today.

It often comes at the beginning of a Hindi sentence to set the time frame right away:

• आज बिजली नहीं है। = Today, there is no electricity.

This is very natural in Hindi. Hindi often puts time words like आज (today), कल (tomorrow/yesterday), अब (now) near the beginning.

बिजली literally means electricity. In everyday speech, though, it very often means electrical power / the power supply.

So in this sentence, बिजली नहीं है usually means:

• There is no electricity
• The power is out
• We don’t have power

It does not usually mean electricity as an abstract scientific concept here. It refers to the practical everyday supply of electricity.

नहीं है means is not or there is not.

Breakdown:

• नहीं = not
• है = is

So:

• बिजली है = There is electricity / The power is on
• बिजली नहीं है = There is no electricity / The power is off

In Hindi, this is a very common way to say that something is or is not present.

Because Hindi usually keeps the verb to be and simply places नहीं before it.

Compare:

• बिजली है। = There is electricity.
• बिजली नहीं है। = There is no electricity.

So नहीं negates the verb, rather than removing it.

This is different from English, where no electricity can sound like a noun phrase without directly showing is in the same way. Hindi still uses है.

Hindi usually does not need a separate word for there in this kind of sentence.

English says:

• There is no electricity today.

Hindi says:

• आज बिजली नहीं है।

The idea of there is / there exists / is present is built into the structure with है. So Hindi does not need a dummy subject like English there.

The given order is very natural, but Hindi word order can be somewhat flexible.

Common versions include:

• आज बिजली नहीं है।
• बिजली आज नहीं है।
• बिजली नहीं है आज। (less neutral, more marked in tone)

The most natural neutral version is usually:

• आज बिजली नहीं है।

Putting आज first makes the sentence feel clear and normal: As for today, there’s no electricity.

It is pronounced roughly like bij-lee.

A simple approximation for English speakers:

• बि = bi as in bit, but shorter
• ज = j as in jam
• ली = lee

So: bij-lee

The stress is not as strong as in English. Try to say it smoothly and lightly: bijlī.

बिजली is the normal everyday word for electricity/power.

There are more formal or technical words, such as विद्युत, but in daily conversation people usually say बिजली.

So if you are talking about the power being out at home, बिजली नहीं है is exactly the kind of phrase you would hear.

Yes, बिजली is a feminine noun.

That matters in some contexts, especially with adjectives and past participles. In this sentence, though, you just see:

• बिजली ... है

Since है is used for singular is, the feminine gender is not very visible here in English-style terms. But yes, the noun itself is feminine.

For a beginner, the main thing to remember is simply:

• बिजली = a feminine noun meaning electricity / power

Usually, no. In most everyday contexts, बिजली नहीं है means there is no electrical power or the power is out, not just that a lamp is turned off.

If you wanted to say the light is not on, you would normally use a more specific word like लाइट:

• लाइट नहीं है can also be heard, depending on context
• but बिजली नहीं है strongly suggests a power outage or lack of electricity supply

So the sentence usually refers to the whole power situation, not one individual light.

That would mean something a bit different.

• आज बिजली नहीं है। = Today, there is no electricity. / The power is out today.
• आज बिजली नहीं आती। = Electricity does not come today. / The power does not come today.

The second version sounds more like a habitual or scheduled situation in some contexts, or a statement about supply patterns. The original sentence is the simplest way to say that today, right now or in general for today, there is no power.

This sentence does not really need a plural, because बिजली is an uncountable noun here.

For politeness/formality, है is already fine because it agrees with the thing being talked about, not with the listener. You would not usually change it for politeness.

So:

• आज बिजली नहीं है। is already completely normal and appropriate.

If you want to sound a little more explicit, you could say:

• आज घर में बिजली नहीं है। = There is no electricity in the house today.
• आज हमारे यहाँ बिजली नहीं है। = We don’t have electricity today / There’s no power at our place today.