Modern Hindi Grammar - Indian Institute of Language Studies (IILS)

4. SYNTAX

44. kaOna hO?
    køn h ́?
    who is-3s
    Who is (there)?

44a. kaOna?
køn?

45. tuma iksako saaqa hao?
    tum kiske sa:th ho?
    you who-gen with are-2s
    Who are you with?

45a. tuma iksako saaqa?
*tum kiske sa:th?

46. iktaba khaÐ hO?
    kita:b kahã: h ́?
    book-fs where-abl is
    Where is the book?

46a. iktaba khaÐ?
kita:b kahã:?

47. CuT\TI kba hO?
    chutti: kab h ́?
    holiday when is
    When is the holiday?

47a. CuT\TI kba?
chutti: kab?

In equational copular interrogative sentences, either the subject noun
phrase or the predicate nominal can be questioned. The
demonstrative pronoun used as a subject cannot be questioned.
Consider the following examples.

48. yah pda- hO.
    yeh parda: h ́.
    it curtain is
    It is a curtain.