নাই

There Is Not

Level 1Sounds Like nā'i

আমাৰ চেনি নাই means “we have no sugar”.

How It Works

Take a sentence with আছে and put নাই in its place.

With আছেWith নাই
মোৰ এটা মেকুৰী আছে। I have a cat.মোৰ মেকুৰী নাই। I have no cat.
ইয়াত পানী আছে। There is water here.ইয়াত পানী নাই। There is no water here.

The word নাই never changes for person or number. A person can be missing too: তাত কোনো নাই। “Nobody is there.” Said alone, it answers a question about having or being there: নাই। “No.”

To say that something is not a certain thing, use নহয় from the next lesson. Use নাই for “there is not” and “does not have”. It also follows some verb forms, as in মই আজি চাহ খোৱা নাই “I have not had tea today”, which a later lesson explains.

Examples (5)

  1. আমাৰ চেনি নাই।

    We have no sugar.

    আমাৰ names the owner, and নাই says it is missing.

  2. কাছৰ দাঁত নাই।

    Turtles have no teeth.

    নাই says what a turtle does not have.

  3. ইয়াত পানী নাই।

    There is no water here.

    A place word comes before the thing.

  4. মোৰ মেকুৰী নাই।

    I have no cat.

    মোৰ names the owner.

  5. নাই।

    No.

    Alone, নাই also answers a question with “no”.

Common Mistakes

  • Using নহয় when something is missing.

    মোৰ কলম নহয়।
    মোৰ কলম নাই।

    The first sentence means “It is not my pen”. To say “I have no pen”, use নাই.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

নাইLevel 1There Is Not

Learn This First

নাই says that something is missing where আছে says that it is there, so learners need আছে first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.