कोई (Someone), कुछ (Something), कभी (Sometime), कहीं (Somewhere)
There are two basic indefinite pronouns in Hindi, which are कोई and कुछ. These may be used as indefinite adjectives also.
| कोई |
Someone, somebody |
| कुछ |
Something |
| कभी |
Sometime |
| कहीं |
Somewhere |
The basic difference between कोई and कुछ when used as pronouns is that कोई is used for people and कुछ is used for objects.
| कोई वहाँ बैठा हुआ है। |
Someone is sitting there. |
| कुछ वहाँ पड़ा हुआ है। |
Something is lying there. |
कभी and कहीं are generally used in subordinate clauses, meaning outside of the main part of a sentence.
| जब कभी बारिश होती है…… |
Whenever it rains…. |
| जब कहीं दूर बारिश होती है…… |
When somewhere far way it rains… |
कभी and कहीं are usually repeated in a sentence. The expressions कभी कभी and कहीं कहीं have a plural sense, meaning something along the lines of “sometimes.” Here are some examples:
| वह कभी कभी हिन्दी बोलता है। |
Sometimes he speaks Hindi. |
| भारत में कहीं कहीं बर्फ़ गिरती है। |
It snows in some places in India. |
By adding भी to these expressions, the meaning changes to “any”:
| कोई भी |
Anyone, anybody |
कभी भी |
Anytime |
| कुछ भी |
Anything |
कहीं भी |
Anywhere |
| यह काम कोई भी कर सकता है। |
Anybody can do this work. |
| कुछ भी लाओ। |
Bring anything. |
| वह कभी भी आ सकता है। |
He can come anytime |
| वह कहीं भी जा सकता है। |
He can go anywhere |
To form negatives, the negation word नहीं is used with all of these words.
| कोई नहीं |
No one, nobody |
कभी नहीं |
Never, not any time |
| कुछ नहीं |
Nothing, not anything |
कहीं नहीं |
Nowhere, not any place |
| दफ़्तर में कोई नहीं है। |
Nobody is in the office. |
| इस समय खाने के लिए कुछ नहीं है। |
There is nothing to eat at this time. |
| वह फ़्रेंच कभी नहीं बोलता। |
He never speaks French. |
| आपका फ़ोन इस अलमारी में कहीं नहीं है। |
Your phone is nowhere in this cupboard. |
By adding the word न between these duplicated words, the construction gives the meaning “…or other” or “no particular…”
| कोई न कोई |
Someone or other |
| कुछ न कुछ |
Something or other |
| कभी न कभी |
Some time or other |
| कहीं न कहीं |
Somewhere or other |
| कोई न कोई घर में ज़रूर था। |
There was surely someone (or another) in the house. |
| रसोई में खाने के लिए कुछ न कुछ था। |
There was something or other to eat in the kitchen. |
| हर आदमी कभी न कभी गलती करता है। |
Everybody makes mistakes sometime or another. |
| दूकान में कहीं न कहीं यह किताब ज़रूर होगी। |
This book must be somewhere in the store. |
Exercises
1.1 Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the words given in parentheses.
- वह —————- मेरे साथ स्कूल जाती है। (sometimes)
- घर में —————नहीं है। (no one)
- इस आदमी को मैंने ————– देखा है। (Somewhere or other)
- ——————-आदमी बहुत समझदार होता है। (Someone or other)
- ——————– मैं आपके साथ भारत ज़रूर जाऊंगी। (Sometimes or other)
1.2 Translate into English
- इस समय हमारे घर में कोई नहीं है।
- वह उस दूकान में कभी नहीं जाता।
- मेरे पास तुम्हें देने के लिए कुछ नहीं है।
- वे मुझे कभी भी फ़ोन कर सकते हैं।
- ऐसे जूते तुम्हें कहीं नहीं मिलेंगे।
1.3 Translate into Hindi
- He surely smokes sometimes.
- There was something to cook in the kitchen.
- The kid is nowhere in this city.
- Sometimes he goes to the village to meet his friends.
- She never told me about her new car.
