क्या

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

Hindi

Etymology

From , , from Sanskrit किम् (kim, “what, which”). Compare Punjabi ਕੀ (kī), Gujarati કિયું (kiyũ), Marathi की (kī), Bengali কি (ki), Assamese কি (ki).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /kjɑː/, [kjäː]

Particle

क्या • (kyā) (Urdu spelling کیا)

1. initial interrogative particle

   (deprecated template usage)

   क्या आपको कुछ पिएंगे?

   kyā āpko kuch pieṅge?

   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] Do you here live (is)?" in literal order.

Pronoun

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

1. (interrogative) what?

   (deprecated template usage) आम का दाम क्या है? ― ām kā dām kyā hai? ― What is the price of mangoes?

   (deprecated template usage) क्या हुआ? ― kyā huā? ― What happened?

2. (rhetorical) such, what, how

   (deprecated template usage) क्या गाता है यह! ― kyā gātā hai yah! ― Such [finely] he sings!

   (deprecated template usage) 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	- -
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

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