PolyLingo
🇮🇳 Hindi
हिन्दीDevanagari

Negation: saying ‘not’ the natural way

Learn the main negative pattern and two phrases you’ll use constantly.

How negation works

Start with one common negative sentence and reuse it.

  • नहीं usually comes before the verb: मैं नहीं जानता।
  • For negative commands, you often use मत: मत जाओ! (Don't go!)
मैं नहीं जानता।
main nahi jaanta
I don't know. (masc. speaker; use जानती for fem.)
मत जाओ!
mat jao
Don't go!
मैं नहीं समझता।
main nahi samajhta
I don't understand. (masc. speaker; use समझती for fem.)

Practice tip

Say positive and negative back‑to‑back to train your ear.

  • I understand → I don’t understand
  • I know → I don’t know

Mini‑quiz

Mini-quiz
1/6 • Score: 0
Which sentence matches “I don't know. (masc. speaker; use जानती for fem.)”?