कोही छैन / केही छैन

Nobody and Nothing

Level 2Sounds Like kōhī chaina ra kēhī chaina

कोही छैन is nobody. केही छैन is nothing.

How It Works

Nepali does not use a word like nobody. It uses the same words as in a yes sentence, but with a negative verb.

YesNo
घरमा कोही छ।घरमा कोही छैन।
मसँग केही छ।मसँग केही छैन।
कोही आयो।कोही आएन।

With the past, the negative is -एन: कोठामा कोही थिएन (nobody was in the room). With a plain verb, use the negative ending: मैले केही खाइनँ (I ate nothing).

Use छैन to say there is none. Do not use होइन here, because होइन is for saying that something is not a certain thing: यो चिया होइन (this is not tea).

Examples (5)

  1. घरमा कोही छैन।

    Nobody is at home.

    छैन makes कोही negative.

  2. मसँग केही छैन।

    I have nothing.

    केही with छैन means nothing.

  3. कोही आएन।

    Nobody came.

    The past negative is -एन.

  4. मैले केही खाइनँ।

    I ate nothing.

    The negative ending goes with the doer.

  5. कोठामा कोही थिएन।

    Nobody was in the room.

    थिएन is the past of छैन.

Common Mistakes

  • Using होइन for there is nobody.

    घरमा कोही होइन।
    घरमा कोही छैन।

    छैन means there is none; होइन means it is not a certain thing.

How It Connects

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

कोही छैन / केही छैनLevel 2Nobody and Nothing

Learn This First

Nobody and nothing use the negative with these words.