"कोई हिंदी बोल रहा है।"

Translation: Someone is speaking Hindi.

[Mark701895]

How do we tell the difference between someone and no one?

[ArunavaC]

Someone = कोई
No one = कोई नही .

[another-dave]

Is कोई gender neutral like वह, or is it always masculine? E.g. could I say "कोई हिंदी बोल रही है।" if I knew it was a woman talking?

[vinay92]

Yes, it is gender-neutral. But note that if you conjugate it as feminine, you are explicitly saying that the person is a woman. If you conjugate it is masculine, it may either be a man or someone whose gender you don't know.

[another-dave]

Cool thanks, that makes sense just wanted to double check I understood.

[Signorellos]

What is the difference between:
किसी - कोई
?

[ArunavaC]

किसी can refer to things and people. किसी चीज़ की परवाह नहीं है तुम्हे। You don't care about anything. कोई परवाह नहीं करता। No one cares.

[ArunavaC]

कोई refers mostly to people.

[Signorellos]

Many Thanks!

[DennisLDuolingo]

This is not true. It is because in your first sentence किसी is in the oblique position, and in the second कोई is the subject.

[DennisLDuolingo]

किसी is the oblique form of कोई, both mean the same.

[Traylorjim]

Question: Do you absolutely need नही to make कोई mean "no one"? Why then does the drop-down below the word here in duolingo list "nobody"?

[vinay92]

Yes. कोई can mean 'someone' or 'anyone'. You need नहीं to make it 'no one'.

[John335027]

And yes, nobody is also correct (but I haven't tested whether Duolingo accepts it)

[John335027]

I understand that कोई means someone. In other contexts it might mean a few or some. Is a valid to translate in this situation: 'Some are speaking Hindi' (implying that maybe some others are not speaking Hindi), or 'A few are speaking Hindi' (perhaps implying that there are not many)?

[vinay92]

No. कोई refers to one person which is why it conjugates as singular.

Your example would be better translated as कुछ लोग हिंदी बोल रहे हैं।

That said, कोई can sometimes be idiomatically used in that sense. Eg: यहाँ कोई हाँ बोल रहा है तो कोई और ना। इन लोगों में समझौता मुश्किल है। (Someone here is saying yes and someone else is saying no. A compromise between these people is difficult). Literally, this sentence just conveys that there is one person on each side but may be understood to mean that the group is split between the two options. However, 'यहाँ कोई हाँ बोल रहा है।' would unambiguously mean that there is one person on the 'yes' side while the others are presumably saying 'no'.

[John335027]

Great!
Indeed, I mixed up कोई and कुछ.

The meaning कोई is much more clear to me now. It really helps to understand the language.

[Kae486202]

Can bol rai also mean talking?

[vinay92]

बोलना is used more for one- way speech. You can use बात करना for talking.