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Lesson 12A1

Question Words

प्रश्नवाचक शब्द

Spanish question words all carry a written accent mark that doesn't change their pronunciation but flags a question — a spelling signal Hindi doesn't need, since Hindi question words are simply their own distinct words.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

Accented question words vs. their unaccented twins

Spanish

¿Qué? (What?) vs. que (that/which) — same spelling, different accent

Hindi

हिंदी में हर प्रश्न-शब्द अपने आप में अलग शब्द है

Several Spanish question words double as ordinary connector words when unaccented — qué/que, cómo/como, cuándo/cuando, dónde/donde. The accent mark exists purely to flag 'this is a question,' with no change in how it's pronounced. Hindi has no such overlap: क्या ('what'), कहाँ ('where'), and कौन ('who') are always distinct words, never reused for another grammatical job.

Upside-down ¿ marks the question from the start

Spanish

¿Dónde vives? (Where do you live?)

Hindi

हिंदी में प्रश्न-चिह्न केवल वाक्य के अंत में आता है

Spanish opens every question with an upside-down ¿, in addition to the normal ? at the end — a purely written convention with no spoken equivalent, so it won't affect how you say the sentence aloud, only how you'd write it.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

SpanishPronunciationHindiEnglish
quékehक्याkyāwhat
quiénkee-EHNकौनkaunwho
dóndeDOHN-dehकहाँkahāñwhere
cuándoKWAHN-dohकबkabwhen
cómoKOH-mohकैसेkaisehow
por quépor kehक्योंkyoñwhy
cuántoKWAHN-tohकितनाkitnāhow much
cuálkwahlकौन-साkaun-sāwhich