bolna

Bolna is a verb in Hindustani languages, chiefly Hindi and Urdu, meaning “to speak,” “to say,” or “to tell.” It denotes the act of producing speech and is used across a range of contexts, from casual talk to reporting speech. In everyday use, bolna is often contrasted with kahna, where bolna focuses on the act of speaking itself and kahna on what is said; in many sentences they are interchangeable, but kahna is more common when quoting content.

Form and conjugation in Hindi-Urdu follow standard Indo-Aryan patterns. The infinitive form is bolna. Present tense forms agree with the subject in gender and number: main bolta hoon (I speak, spoken by a male speaker) or main bolti hoon (I speak, spoken by a female). Tum bolte ho (you speak, male) or tum bolti ho (you speak, female). Vo bolta hai / vo bolti hai / vo bolte hain correspond to he, she, or they speaking. Past tense uses bola (masculine singular), boli (feminine singular), bole (plural). Present continuous forms include bol raha hoon / bol rahi hoon (I am speaking) and bol rahe hoon (they are speaking).

Imperative forms include Bol! or Bolo! to command or request someone to speak or tell something, with mat bolna used to negate the command. Bolna also forms part of many compounds and phrases, such as “bol kar dikhao” (try saying it) or “mujhe bol do” (tell me). In usage, bolna is versatile for direct speech, reporting speech, or simply describing the act of speaking, while kahna is more commonly used for stating or relaying content.

See also: kahna (to say), speech act in Hindustani languages, Hindi verb conjugation.