A1 · The basic sentence
Yes–no questions with क्या
yes–no questions
Put क्या in front of a statement, keep the order, and let your voice rise.
At a glance
- Remember
- Put kya in front, keep everything else where it was, and let your voice go up.
- Form
- आप डॉक्टर हैं।statement
- Signal words
- क्या
- जी हाँ
- जी नहीं
- न
- Trap
- Wrong:क्या हैं आप डॉक्टर?Right:क्या आप डॉक्टर हैं?
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Hindi.
| statement | आप डॉक्टर हैं। |
| question with क्या | क्या आप डॉक्टर हैं? |
| question by voice alone | आप डॉक्टर हैं? |
| yes, politely | जी हाँ |
| no, politely | जी नहीं |
| isn’t it? | … है न? |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
क्या at the start turns a statement into a yes–no question.
क्या आप हिंदी बोलते हैं?Do you speak Hindi?
The word order stays the same as in the statement.
क्या यह बस स्टेशन जाती है?Does this bus go to the station?
In speech क्या can be left out; the voice rises at the end.
तुम ठीक हो?Are you all right?
जी हाँ and जी नहीं are the polite yes and no.
जी हाँ, मैं तैयार हूँ।Yes, I am ready.
न at the end asks for agreement, like “isn’t it?”.
आज छुट्टी है न?Today is a holiday, isn’t it?
Example sentences
क्या यह सीट ख़ाली है?Is this seat free?
क्या आपके पास पेन है?Do you have a pen?
क्या दुकान खुली है?Is the shop open?
क्या तुम कल आओगे?Will you come tomorrow?
जी नहीं, मैं शाकाहारी हूँ।No, I am a vegetarian.
यह तुम्हारी किताब है न?This is your book, isn’t it?
6 more example sentences
क्या आप भारतीय हैं?Are you Indian?
क्या बारिश हो रही है?Is it raining?
क्या आपको हिंदी आती है?Do you know Hindi?
जी हाँ, यह सीट ख़ाली है।Yes, this seat is free.
खाना अच्छा था न?The food was good, wasn’t it?
क्या वे घर पर हैं?Are they at home?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English moves “are” to the front, and learners move हैं with it. Hindi keeps the order of the statement exactly: क्या goes in front, the verb stays at the end.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
English turns a statement into a question by moving words around: “you are” becomes “are you”, “you speak” becomes “do you speak”. Hindi moves nothing. It puts क्या at the front and a question mark at the end: आप डॉक्टर हैं (you are a doctor) becomes क्या आप डॉक्टर हैं?.
This क्या at the start of a sentence is not the word “what”. It simply announces a yes–no question, the way a question mark does in writing. In speech it is very often left out, and the rising voice at the end does the job alone: आप ठीक हैं?
The answers are हाँ (yes) and नहीं (no). With जी in front they become polite: जी हाँ, जी नहीं. A short answer often repeats the verb: क्या आप तैयार हैं? — हाँ, हूँ।
To ask for agreement, the way English uses “isn’t it?” or “don’t you?”, Hindi adds न at the end: आज छुट्टी है न? — “today is a holiday, isn’t it?” The same न serves every verb and every person.
A closer look
Two jobs for one word
At the beginning of a sentence क्या marks a yes–no question. Inside the sentence, where an object would stand, it means “what”: आप क्या पढ़ते हैं?, “what do you study?”. The position tells you which one you have: क्या आप पढ़ते हैं? is “do you study?”.
Answering with the verb
A Hindi yes is often the verb itself: क्या आप आएँगे? — आऊँगा। (“Will you come? — I will.”) A plain हाँ is fine, but echoing the verb sounds natural and friendly.
Worth knowing (2)
-
… या नहीं: or not?
A question can end in या नहीं, “or not”, which asks a little more firmly for an answer.
आप आएँगे या नहीं?Are you coming or not?
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जी on its own
Said with a rising voice, जी? means “yes?” when someone calls you, or “sorry?” when you did not catch something.
जी? मैंने सुना नहीं।Sorry? I didn’t hear.
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