# Urdu, Hindi: kahiiN کہیں



## Stranger_

I still cannot understand all the meanings and usages of this very common word. So, can someone give a few sentences to clarify the most common usages of it? especially in spoken language.

Regards,


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## Alfaaz

Stranger_ SaaHib, here is the _Farhang-e-Aasifiyyah_ entry for کہیں, which covers all usages quite comprehensively - providing examples of everyday spoken language as well as illustrative quotes from various pieces of poetry! Apart from the 9 definitions/usages, common expressions/idioms are also listed after this entry. 

Here is the entry in _Feroz-ul-Lughaat_, which also lists multiple phrases.


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## Alfaaz

Here are various examples of some of the usages:

_Police officer A: (aap ko) woh mujrim *kahiiN* milaa? - Did you find the criminal *somewhere/anywhere*?_
_Police officer B: abhii tak *kahiiN *(bhii) *nahiiN*! - *Nowhere* yet!
Police officer A: *kahiiN na kahiiN* to zaruur ho gaa! *jahaaN kahiiN* mile, faur-an giriftaar kar lenaa! - He must be *somewhere or other*! Immediately arrest him *wherever* you find him! 
Police officer B: Jii janaab. Us ne to hameN *kaheeN kaa naheeN chhoRaa*. - Yes Sir. He has *(literally) left us of nowhere*!_

وہ جن کے ہوتے ہیں خورشید آستینوں میں
انہیں *کہیں سے* بلاؤ! بڑا اندھیرا ہے
چراغ طور جلاؤ! بڑا اندھیرا ہے

شاعر: ساغر صدیقی​
Translation: _*from somewhere*_

_dunyaa *kahiiN kii/se kahiiN* pahuNch ga'ii hai, aur tum abhii tak in fuzuul baatoN meN waqt barbaad kar rahe ho! - The world has reached *(literally) from where to where* and you are still wasting time in these trivial conversations!_

_agar tum miHnat karo, to *kahiiN ke kahiiN pahuNch* jaa'o! - If you work diligently, you can *progress a lot/reach astounding heights*!_
From the Farhang entry, _kahiiN_ can also mean مبادا، چناں نشود، چناں باشد، وغیرہ:

کہیں آب ہی نہ بھول گئے ہوں، کہیں وہ نہ آ جائے

_aap mulaazamat talaash karne kaa iraadah rakhte haiN? - Do you intend to find a job?_
_*kahiiN* aap mulaazamat karne kaa iraadah to nahiiN rakhte? You don't intend to find a job, *do you*?_

شکوۂ ظلمت شب سے تو *کہیں* *بہتر* تھا 
اپنے حصے کی کوئی شمع جلاتے جاتے

شاعر: احمد فراز​
Translation: _*far better*_

etc. etc.

Corrections of any possible mistakes would be appreciated as always!


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## Stranger_

Thanks Alfaaz. That was helpful, although I am still not able to use it meaningfully myself.


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## Alfaaz

You're welcome. Suppose you are at work and planning to go out for lunch. You could say the following to your colleagues (if you want to invite them): _chaleN, kahiiN chal kar khaanaa khaate haiN!_


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## Gope

Alfaaz SaaHib, I have not understood the use of kaheeN kaa naheeN. Could you please explain some more? Thanks.


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## Alfaaz

Here is what Platts explains:


> —_kahāṅ-kā-kahāṅ_, To what a degree! extremely, intensely;—from where to where; what a distance! ever so far; now here now there


 Other members can hopefully add to this explanation!

In the meantime, here is another example: _ek ghalat saRak lene ki wajh se hum kahiiN ke kahiiN nikal ga'e aur pure shahr meN ghuumte rahe._


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## Gope

Alfaaz SaaHib, my question was about kaheeN kaa *naheeN*!


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## Alfaaz

_kahiiN kaa nah/nahiiN rehnaa - kisii qaabil nah rehnaa, to have no option/alternative left, etc._


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## Dib

Stranger_ said:


> Thanks Alfaaz. That was helpful, although I am still not able to use it meaningfully myself.



I'd suggest, you start with the most concrete uses of "kahiiN" at first. Once you get them down, you'll pick up the more idiomatic ones more easily:

1. In affirmative statements - "kahiiN = somewhere": maiN ne use kahiiN dekhaa hai = I have seen him/her somewhere.
2. In negative statements - "kahiiN ... nahiiN = nowhere": maiN ne use kahiiN nahiiN dekhaa = I have seen him/her nowhere.
3. In affirmative questions - "kahiiN = anywhere/somewhere?": tum ne use kahiiN dekhaa hai? = Have you seen him/her anywhere/somewhere?


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## Gope

Alfaaz said:


> _kahiiN kaa nah/nahiiN rehnaa - kisii qaabil nah rehnaa, to have no option/alternative left, etc._


Thank you, Alfaaz SaaHib.


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## iskander e azam

Friends, 

Could کہیں just as easily be translated  'some place', 'any place', as opposed to the usual 'somewhere', 'anywhere'?

Much obliged,

Alex


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## marrish

Hi friend, it's a very theoretical question. But, the possibility is of course there.


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## Qureshpor

iskander e azam said:


> Friends,
> 
> Could کہیں just as easily be translated  'some place', 'any place', as opposed to the usual 'somewhere', 'anywhere'?
> 
> Much obliged,
> 
> Alex


In the word "some" in for example "some place", do you perceive the meaning to be...,

1) some place or other i.e any place

or

2) A particular place

or depending on context both?

Happy New Year to you and all the friends from Indo-Iranian Languages.

How would you differentiate "somewhere" from "some place"?


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## marrish

Happy New Year to you in particular and to all friends too! In English, any and some are also exchanged according to the sentence structure. I'm certain IeA SaaHib has a serious query about it.


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## iskander e azam

Gentlemen, 

Happy new year to you both!

My initial query was prompted by the following sentence (from جنگ اعظیم اول by سید محمد فضل ﷲ بخاری):

محاذِ جنگ میں کہیں تو آسٹریا ۔ ہنگری کی فوج بے جگری سے لڑ رہی تھی، کہیں دفاعی انداذ مین اور کہیں گرد و غبار کی طرح اٹلی کی فوج کے زوردار حملوں کے آگے اڑتی چلی جارہی تھی۔

Which I translate as:

On the warfront, in some places the Austro-Hungarian army was fighting fearlessly, in others in a defensive manner and in others it was flying like dust and dirt in front of the powerful attacks of the Italian army.

I have done a little research and discovered a host of additional meanings for کہیں. Could you comment merely on the ones that appear incorrect to you?

Best wishes,

Alex


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## marrish

kahiiN, to : somewhere, at a certain place (at certain places) etc.
2nd kahiiN : elsewhere, somewhere else, in other places, etc.
aur kahiiN: and (still) in other places


The A-H army was fighting fearlessly/desperately in some places on the warfront, defensively elsewhere, while in other places it was being reduced to dust by the mighty attacks of the Italian army.

There's nothing unusual about the dictionary entries.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Doesn't kahiiN - kahiiN on occasion imply different temporal instances, rather than different locations?
For example, in these verses from "Mera Murshid Khele Holi"
کہیں کانٹوں پہ/ پُھول بکھرائے
کہیں اشکوں کے / پیچھے مسکائے
​कहीं कांटों पे / फूल बिखराए
कहीं अश्क़ों के / पीछे मुसकाए​

Those "kahiiN", I believe, mean "sometimes / sometimes" rather than "in some places / in some others".


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## littlepond

^ No; I would still read it as "in one world [set of circumstances], this would happen, in another world, that would happen". It may, of course, map in our mind to time, as different sets of circumstances can mean different instants of time for our minds.

For sometimes-sometimes, there is kabhii-kabhii.


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## iskander e azam

littlepond said:


> ^ No; I would still read it as "in one world [set of circumstances], this would happen, in another world, that would happen". It may, of course, map in our mind to time, as different sets of circumstances can mean different instants of time for our minds.
> 
> For sometimes-sometimes, there is kabhii-kabhii.



Gentlemen,

In my second post, I provide a link to an online Urdu dictionary maintained by the Govt. of Pakistan. Under meaning 10 for کہیں  the entry reads:

کبھی ، کسی وقت ، گا ہے

Best wishes,

Alex


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## desi4life

MonsieurGonzalito said:


> Doesn't kahiiN - kahiiN on occasion imply different temporal instances, rather than different locations?
> For example, in these verses from "Mera Murshid Khele Holi"
> کہیں کانٹوں پہ/ پُھول بکھرائے
> کہیں اشکوں کے / پیچھے مسکائے
> ​कहीं कांटों पे / फूल बिखराए
> कहीं अश्क़ों के / पीछे मुसकाए​
> 
> Those "kahiiN", I believe, mean "sometimes / sometimes" rather than "in some places / in some others".



By the way, the word for "tears" in the cited verses is _ashkoN _(oblique plural of _ashk_). No _q _in this word.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Thank you, @desi4life 
The entry in Caturvedi seems to be wrong


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## desi4life

MonsieurGonzalito said:


> Thank you, @desi4life
> The entry in Caturvedi seems to be wrong



Yes, it’s wrong.


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## Qureshpor

Alex Sahib, I would appreciate a response to post 14.


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## gulab jamun

I just want to mention that کہیں is a word which has two totally different meanings in Urdu. One is as in 'somewhere' and other is 'say' but this one is pronounced slightly differently: kahaiN


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## iskander e azam

Qureshpor said:


> Alex Sahib, I would appreciate a response to post 14.



Qureshpor SaaHib,

My response was the 'Happy New Year' post but I now see that was deficient. 

My initial query was prompted by the following sentence (from جنگ اعظیم اول by سید محمد فضل ﷲ بخاری):

محاذِ جنگ میں کہیں تو آسٹریا ۔ ہنگری کی فوج بے جگری سے لڑ رہی تھی، کہیں دفاعی انداذ مین اور کہیں گرد و غبار کی طرح اٹلی کی فوج کے زوردار حملوں کے آگے اڑتی چلی جارہی تھی۔

Which I translate as:

On the warfront, in some places the Austro-Hungarian army was fighting fearlessly, in others in a defensive manner and in others it was flying like dust and dirt in front of the powerful attacks of the Italian army.

Specifically, I was asking if some place fit in all three of the options you outlined:

1. Any place
2. A specific place
3. Contextually, for both senses. 

Best wishes,

Alex


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