# Hindi: Kal hi phone kiya tha



## Maharaj

Hello doston,

How to say this in English:
Aapne mujhe kal phone karne ko bola tha, Aur Maine aapko kal hi phone kiya tha.


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## desi4life

You told me to call you on the phone yesterday, and I did call you.

By the say, should the Hindi sentence have 'kahaa' instead of 'bolaa' to be grammatically correct?


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## Maharaj

Can we say this using 'only' and/or 'itself'? If yes, please tell me.

Sorry I don't know grammar much, bolaa seems to be a bit informal.


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## desi4life

Only/itself isn't needed in the sentence.


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## littlepond

Both "bolaa" and "kahaa" are fine in the sentence.


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## Maharaj

Thanks


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## aevynn

By the way, I've noticed usage of "only" or "itself" as a fairly common occurrence in Indian English in contexts where a natural Hindi sentence would use ही _hii_. Presumably the reason is that there isn't really a single word in other varieties of English you can use to convey the extremely wide range of usages in which ही _hii_ appears in Hindi. Sometimes, "only" is in fact an appropriate translation (एक ही रास्ता बचा है _ek hii raastaa bachaa hai_ = there's only one way left), but other times it's common to do something different: for example, the emphasis conveyed by ही _hii_ in Hindi is often conveyed by adding the auxiliary "do/does/did" in English, as in @desi4life's translation (compare: "I called you" vs "I did call you").


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## rituparnahoymoy

desi4life said:


> You told me to call you on the phone yesterday, and I did call you.
> 
> By the say, should the Hindi sentence have 'kahaa' instead of 'bolaa' to be grammatically correct?





Maharaj said:


> Hello doston,
> 
> How to say this in English:
> Aapne mujhe kal phone karne ko bola tha, Aur Maine aapko kal hi phone kiya tha.



use "that very day".


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## Maharaj

@rituparnahoymoy Please tell me the sentence.

and Thank you @aevynn


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## rituparnahoymoy

Maharaj said:


> @rituparnahoymoy Please tell me the sentence.
> 
> and Thank you @aevynn



Yesterday,You asked me to call you ,and I (had) called you that very day/that same day.


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## Maharaj

rituparnahoymoy said:


> Yesterday,You asked me to call you ,and I (had) called you that very day/that same day.


This one sounds better to me as it emphasizes on the 'day', what you say @desi4life ?


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## rituparnahoymoy

Maharaj said:


> This one sounds better to me as it emphasizes on the 'day', what you say @desi4life ?



That's what I think.


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## desi4life

Saying 'that very day' is good too if you want to add emphasis, but it's not necessary.


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## Maharaj

@desi4life you mean to say the one you provided as equally emphasizes on 'day' as the one by @rituparnahoymoy ?


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## desi4life

In the sentence I provided, 'that very day' is inferred, so it doesn't have to be stated, but you can add it for emphasis.


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## Maharaj

okay @desi4life


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