Hindi question words

Almost every Hindi question word starts with a k sound. Once your ear catches that, you can tell a question is coming even when you miss the rest of the sentence, and you can ask for a repeat instead of nodding blankly. Eight words cover nearly all of it.

The eight

Where they go

In English the question word leads. In Hindi it sits just before the verb, and the rest of the sentence keeps its normal order. Compare:

क्या has a second job

Put क्या at the front and it stops meaning "what". It becomes a yes/no marker, like turning "you speak Hindi" into "do you speak Hindi".

Same word, two positions, two meanings. Front means yes/no. Before the verb means what.

कितना changes shape

कितना is an adjective, so it agrees with the thing you are counting: कितना for masculine, कितनी for feminine, कितने for plural.

The rescue question

Worth memorising as one block. It keeps a conversation alive at the exact moment you would otherwise drop out of it.