क्या

See also: क्यों, काया, क्यूँ, काय, and किया

Hindi

Etymology

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀓𑀺𑀁 (kiṃ), 𑀓𑀺 (ki), from Sanskrit किम् (kim, “what, which”). Compare Punjabi ਕੀ (kī), Gujarati કિયું (kiyũ), Marathi की (kī), Bengali কি (ki), Assamese কি (ki). Compare Kashmiri کیاہ‎ (kyah).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /kjɑː/, [kjäː]

• Audio

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Particle

क्या • (kyā) (Urdu spelling کیا‎)

1. initial interrogative particle

   क्या आप कुछ पीएँगे?

   kyā āp kuch pīeṅge?

   Would you like anything to drink?

Usage notes

In this usage, it does not have a direct translation as a word in English, it simply makes a statement into a question.

Example:

क्या आप यहाँ रहते हैं?

kyā āp yahā̃ rahte ha͠i?

Do you live here?" or "[Question marker] You here living are?" in literal order.

Pronoun

क्या • (kyā) m or f (Urdu spelling کیا‎)

1. (interrogative) what?

   आम का दाम क्या है?

   ām kā dām kyā hai?

   What is the price of mangoes?

   क्या हुआ? ― kyā huā? ― What happened?

2. (rhetorical) such, what, how

   क्या गाता है यह!

   kyā gātā hai yah!

   Such [finely] he sings!

   क्या जाने ― kyā jāne ― who knows

Declension

Pronoun declension of क्या

	singular	plural
direct	क्या kyā	क्या kyā
indirect	किस kis	किन kin
ergative	किसने kisne	किन्होंने kinhõne
genitive	किसका kiskā	किनका kinkā
dative	किसे, किसको kise, kisko	किनको, किनको kinko, kinko
instrumental/ablative	किससे kisse	किनसे kinse
inessive	किसमें kismẽ	किनमें kinmẽ
adessive	किसपे, किसपर kispe, kispar	किनपे, किनपर kinpe, kinpar
terminative	किसतक kistak	किनतक kintak
semblative	किससा kissā	किनसा kinsā

Related terms

• कौन (kaun)

References

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993), “क्या”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
• Platts, John T. (1884), “क्या”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “kím”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press
• “क्या”, in Collins Gem Hindi-English Dictionary, Collins, 2011, →ISBN