छैन / होइन

Saying No with छैन and होइन

Level 1Sounds Like chaina ra hō'ina

छैन is the negative of छ, and होइन is the negative of हो.

How It Works

Each positive verb has its own negative.

Doerछ → negativeहो → negative
मछैनहोइन
तिमीछैनौहोइनौ
ऊ, यो, त्योछैनहोइन
हामीछैनौँहोइनौँ
उनी, उनीहरूछैनन्होइनन्
तपाईं, उहाँहुनुहुन्नहुनुहुन्न

छैन means there is none or it is not there: घरमा चिनी छैन. होइन means it is not that: यो चिया होइन.

The two negatives are not interchangeable. If you want to say that something is not tea, use होइन, because the sentence is about what it is. If you want to say there is no tea, use छैन, because the sentence is about whether it exists. For a respected person, both verbs share हुनुहुन्न, and the sentence tells you whether it is place or identity.

Examples (5)

  1. घरमा चिनी छैन।

    There is no sugar at home.

    छैन denies that something exists.

  2. यो चिया होइन।

    This is not tea.

    होइन denies what the thing is.

  3. म घरमा छैन।

    I am not at home.

    For म, छैन has the same form as for ऊ.

  4. हामी विद्यार्थी होइनौँ।

    We are not students.

    होइनौँ is the form of होइन for हामी.

  5. उहाँ घरमा हुनुहुन्न।

    She or he is not at home.

    The respectful negative is हुनुहुन्न.

Common Mistakes

  • Using छैन to say what something is not.

    यो चिया छैन।
    यो चिया होइन।

    To say that something is not tea, Nepali uses होइन. छैन means there is none.

How It Connects

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

छैन / होइनLevel 1Saying No with छैन and होइन

Learn This First

The negatives of the two being verbs come after the positives.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.