Commonly used information question words of Hindi are:
कहाँ – kahaan – where
किधर – kidhar – in which direction
कौन – koun – who
कब – kab – when
क्यों – kyon – why
कितना – kitna – how much/how many
क्या – kya – what
कैसा – kaisa – how
Out of the above interrogatives, few have peculiar usage. Let’s look at them.
1. क्या – kya – what
Kya is used for both yes/no questions and information questions.
First, let’s learn its usage in yes/no questions.
By now, you know how to form the below sentences:
I am David – Main david hoon – मैं डेविड हूँ
I am not David – Main david naheen hoon – मैं डेविड नहीं हूँ
Now, if just add kya at the beginning of the above sentences, you will have converted them to a question and a negative question.
Am I David? – Kya main david hoon? – क्या मैं डेविड हूँ?
Am I not David? – Kya main david naheen hoon? – क्या मैं डेविड नहीं हूँ?
See? It’s that simple! And you can apply this trick to all the Hindi sentences.
One more set of examples:
I eat a banana – Main kela khaata hoon – मैं केला खता हूँ (banana = kela – केला)
I don’t eat a banana – Main kela naheen khaata hoon – मैं केला नहीं खाता हूँ
Now, just add kya at the beginning of the above sentences.
Do I eat a banana? – Kya main kela khaata hoon? – क्या मैं केला नहीं खाता हूँ?
Do I not eat a banana? Kya main kela naheen khaata hoon? – क्या मैं केला नहीं खाता हूँ?
Kya is also used in information questions like:
What is that? – vah kya hai? – वह क्या है?
What is your name? – tumhaara naam kya hai? – तुम्हारा नाम क्या है?
What is love? – pyaar kya hai? – प्यार क्या है?
2. There are three variants of कितना – kitna – how much/how many.
कितना – to be used with masculine singular nouns.
कितने – to be used with masculine plural nouns.
कितनी – to be used with feminine singular/plural nouns.
Examples:
How much water? – kitna panee? – कितना पानी? – water is masculine and singular.
How many men? – kitne aadmiyaan? – कितने आदमियाँ? – men is masculine and plural.
How much sugar? – kitnee chenee – कितनी चीनी? – sugar is feminine and singular.
How many books? – kitnee kitaabein – कितनी किताबें? – books is feminine and plural.
3. The interrogative kaisa कैसा has two meanings depending upon where it is placed.
If placed before a noun, it has the meaning of “what sort of” or “what kind of”.
What sort of letter? – kaisa patr? – कैसा पत्र
What sort of fruit? – kaisa phal – कैसा फल
If placed before a verb, it has the meaning of “how”.
How did he fall? – vah kaisa giraa? – वह कैसा गिरा?
How are you? – aap kaise hain? – आप कैसे हैं?
The interrogative kaisa also has three variants:
कैसा – kaisa – to be used with singular masculine nouns.
कैसे – kaise – to be used with plural masculine nouns.
कैसी – kaisee – to be used with singular/plural feminine nouns.
Examples:
How is this house? – yah ghar kaisa hai? – यह घर कैसा है? – house is singular and masculine.
How are these apples? – ye seb kaise hain? – ये सेब कैसे हैं? – apples is plural and masculine.
How is this book? – yah kitaab kaisee hai? – यह किताब कैसी है? – book is singular and feminine.
How are these sarees? – ye saadiyaan kaisee hain? – ये साड़ियाँ कैसी हैं? – sarees is plural and feminine.