नाहीं

Saying No or Not

Level 1Sounds Like nāhīṁ

नाहीं means no, and before a verb it means not.

How It Works

नाहीं does two jobs. It answers a question, and it makes a sentence negative.

Use	Example	Meaning
no	नाहीं, हम नाहीं जाब।	No, I will not go.
not, with a helper	ऊ घरे नाहीं अहै।	He is not at home.
not, with a verb	ऊ चाय नाहीं पियत।	He does not drink tea.

In a short sentence the helper is often left out, so ऊ घरे नाहीं works too.

Hindi says नहीं. In Awadhi it is नाहीं, with a long ा. Other small words for not are न, which is used in commands and wishes, and मत for do not. Use मत with the command forms: उहाँ मत जाव.

Another useful pair is कि नाहीं at the end of a question, meaning or not.

Examples (5)

नाहीं, हम नाहीं जाब।
No, I will not go.
The first नाहीं answers, the second one makes the verb negative.
ऊ घरे नाहीं अहै।
He is not at home.
नाहीं comes before the helper.
ऊ चाय नाहीं पियत।
He does not drink tea.
The helper is dropped in a short sentence.
मुन्नी आजु स्कूल नाहीं जात।
Munni is not going to school today.
नाहीं comes before the verb.
आजु बजार खुला नाहीं अहै।
The market is not open today.
नाहीं comes right before the helper.

Common Mistakes

Using the Hindi spelling नहीं.
ऊ घरे नहीं अहै।
ऊ घरे नाहीं अहै।
Awadhi spells and says नाहीं.

How It Connects

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नाहींLevel 1Saying No or Not

Learn This First

नाहीं comes just before the verb, so you need a sentence with अहै to place it in.

अहै / अहैंIs and Are: अहै and अहैं
Know the plain sentence ऊ घरे अहै, because नाहीं goes right before अहै to make ऊ घरे नाहीं अहै.
Level 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

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