English has one little word, "not", and one big word, "no". Hindi has three words that all translate as "not", and each one lives in a different kind of sentence. Use the wrong one and you sound odd, or even rude. In this episode: • Nahin, the everyday no • Mat, the don't word • Na, the soft and polite one • Words that make no stronger or softer • Soft refusals at the family table • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key Hindi from this episode: मैं चाय नहीं पीता (main chai nahin peeta) = I don't drink tea. पापा घर पर नहीं हैं (Papa ghar par nahin hain) = Papa isn't at home. मुझे भूख नहीं है (mujhe bhookh nahin hai) = I'm not hungry. हमने खाना नहीं खाया (humne khaana nahin khaaya) = We didn't eat. मत करो (mat karo) = Don't do it. शोर मत करो (shor mat karo) = Don't make noise. गैस को हाथ मत लगाओ (gas ko haath mat lagaao) = Don't touch the gas stove. आप चिंता मत कीजिए (aap chinta mat kijiye) = Please don't worry. तुम आओगे न? (tum aaoge na?) = You'll come, won't you? चलो न (chalo na) = Come on, let's go. बिल्कुल नहीं (bilkul nahin) = not at all. अभी नहीं (abhi nahin) = not now. कभी नहीं (kabhi nahin) = never. कुछ नहीं (kuchh nahin) = nothing. कोई नहीं (koi nahin) = nobody. कोई बात नहीं (koi baat nahin) = no problem, it's fine. नहीं तो (nahin to) = otherwise. बस, बस (bas, bas) = that's enough, enough. पेट भर गया (pet bhar gaya) = I'm full. थोड़ा सा (thoda sa) = just a little. रहने दीजिए (rehne dijiye) = please leave it, don't bother. मैं कर लूँगा (main kar loonga) = I'll manage it myself. Season 3 · Spoken Hindi at Home: the complete self-study course for English speakers. Every Hindi item is given in Devanagari, Hinglish and English. Take the 52-question quiz after listening. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.