Echo and clarification questions repair a conversation already in progress. A speaker repeats surprising words, replaces an unheard portion with a question word, or proposes a candidate they want confirmed: तुम कल जा रहे हो? “You're going tomorrow?”, मैं किससे मिलूँगा? “I'm meeting whom?”, आपने ‘सोलह’ कहा या ‘साठ’? “Did you say sixteen or sixty?”
Unlike a neutral information question, an echo question often preserves the shape and viewpoint of the preceding utterance. Its force comes from context, focus, and prosody, not from a special verb form.
Repeating a surprising proposition
A complete statement can be echoed with question intonation. Word order remains declarative; Hindi does not invert the subject and auxiliary.
तुमने नौकरी छोड़ दी?
tumne naukrī choṛ dī?
You quit your job? (surprised echo, familiar)
वे पैदल दिल्ली जाएँगे?
ve paidal dillī jāẽge?
They're going to Delhi on foot? (incredulous echo)
आपने पूरा प्रस्ताव एक रात में लिख दिया?
āpne pūrā prastāv ek rāt meṃ likh diyā?
You wrote the entire proposal in one night? (honorific echo)
The speaker is not necessarily ignorant of the proposition; they have just heard or inferred it and are registering surprise, disbelief, or a need for confirmation. A wide pitch range or strong prominence on पैदल or एक रात में is common, but no single rising or falling contour defines the construction. Dialect, stance, and which word is challenged all affect the melody.
Replacing the uncertain part with a wh-expression
When only one constituent was unclear or surprising, replace it with an interrogative phrase. The phrase commonly stays exactly where the missing material occurred.
तुमने टिकट कितने में खरीदा?
tumne ṭikaṭ kitne meṃ xarīdā?
You bought the ticket for how much? (echoing a surprising or unheard price)
निदेशक ने किसको बुलाया?
nideśak ne kisko bulāyā?
The director invited whom? (clarifying the person)
तुम लोग रात को कहाँ रुके?
tum log rāt ko kahā̃ ruke?
You all stayed where at night? (clarification)
These can also be ordinary information questions; context distinguishes the echo reading. In an echo use, the wh-word usually receives conspicuous focus because it marks the trouble source. Hindi does not require English-style wh-fronting. Clause-initial क्या, by contrast, marks a polar question; it is not automatically added to a wh-echo.
Case morphology remains obligatory. If the unheard name preceded से, ask किससे, not direct कौन and not कौन से in the intended personal sense.
माफ़ कीजिए, आपने किससे मिलने को कहा?
māf kījie, āpne kisse milne ko kahā?
Excuse me, whom did you say I should meet? (formal/honorific clarification)
मैंने किसके लिए कमरा बुक किया है?
maĩne kiske lie kamrā buk kiyā hai?
I've booked a room for whom? (echoing an unexpected beneficiary)
The second may express genuine confusion or incredulity. किसके लिए stays in the position occupied by an answer such as मेहमानों के लिए.
See postpositions with interrogatives for the full कौन → किस/किन paradigm.
Echoing क्या: “what?” or the polar marker
Standalone क्या? means “What?” or “Pardon?” (informal to neutral) when the speaker did not hear, did not understand, or reacts with surprise. In a formal interaction, जी?, माफ़ कीजिए?, or a fuller request is usually more courteous.
क्या? तुमने सच में उसे मना कर दिया?
kyā? tumne sac meṃ use manā kar diyā?
What? You really turned them down? (informal surprise)
क्षमा कीजिए, आपने आख़िरी तारीख़ क्या बताई?
kṣamā kījie, āpne āxirī tārīx kyā batāī?
Excuse me, what deadline did you state? (formal clarification)
In the second example, क्या is the complement of बताई, meaning “what.” In क्या आपने तारीख़ बताई?, initial क्या instead asks whether a date was stated. Position and the kind of answer reveal the function.
क्या आपने आख़िरी तारीख़ बताई?
kyā āpne āxirī tārīx batāī?
Did you state the deadline? (formal/honorific polar question)
Do not insert both uses without a reason. क्या आपने क्या बताया? can be grammatical only with two distinct jobs—initial polar marker plus object “what”—but in ordinary discourse it is heavy and often unnatural. For neutral “What did you say?” use आपने क्या कहा?
Quoted alternatives for precise repair
When two sounds, names, dates, or numbers may have been confused, quote the candidates and join them with या. This is clearer than a broad क्या?
आपने ‘सोलह’ कहा या ‘साठ’?
āpne ‘solah’ kahā yā ‘sāṭh’?
Did you say ‘sixteen’ or ‘sixty’? (honorific clarification)
मकान नंबर तेरह है या तीस?
makān nambar terah hai yā tīs?
Is the house number thirteen or thirty?
आपका नाम नीरज है या धीरज?
āpkā nām nīraj hai yā dhīraj?
Is your name Neeraj or Dheeraj? (polite clarification)
This is an alternative question: the answer selects a candidate. Initial क्या is optional, and usually unnecessary when the quoted contrast already makes the question clear.
Confirmation candidates and biased echoes
A speaker can place a proposed answer after a pause: किससे—रवि से? This simultaneously requests the missing information and displays a guess.
तुमने यह बात किससे सुनी—रवि से?
tumne yah bāt kisse sunī—ravi se?
You heard this from whom—from Ravi? (familiar, proposing a candidate)
बैठक कब रखी गई है—बुधवार को?
baiṭhak kab rakhī gaī hai—budhvār ko?
When has the meeting been scheduled—for Wednesday?
Because the speaker offers a candidate, these are biased rather than completely open. A bare polar echo can likewise favor confirmation: रवि ने बताया? “Ravi told you?” implies that Ravi is the surprising candidate.
Negative echoes often convey disbelief or challenge rather than neutral inquiry.
तुमने अभी तक डॉक्टर को फ़ोन नहीं किया?
tumne abhī tak ḍokṭar ko fon nahīṃ kiyā?
You still haven't called the doctor? (surprised or reproachful)
The negative proposition is what the speaker checks. The social meaning depends on tone and relationship; the grammar alone does not force reproach.
Formal and informal repair sequences
Hindi offers short and expanded repairs at different registers.
क्या बोला तू? — मैंने कहा, दरवाज़ा बंद कर।
kyā bolā tū? — maĩne kahā, darvāzā band kar.
What did you say? — I said, close the door. (very informal/intimate)
क्षमा कीजिए, क्या आप कृपया अपना नाम दोहरा सकती हैं? — जी, अनामिका सेन।
kṣamā kījie, kyā āp kripyā apnā nām dohrā saktī haiṃ? — jī, anāmikā sen.
Excuse me, could you please repeat your name? — Certainly, Anamika Sen. (formal/honorific, addressed to a woman)
The formal request is a polar question with initial क्या, not a wh-question. It asks whether the addressee can perform the repair. जी? alone is a conventional respectful prompt, but its interpretation depends heavily on context.
Common Mistakes
Fronting and inversion copied from English
❌ कहाँ थे तुम लोग रुके?
Incorrect as neutral echo order—the auxiliary has been separated and the English pattern copied.
✅ तुम लोग कहाँ रुके थे?
tum log kahā̃ ruke the?
Where did you all stay? (clarifying echo)
Adding an unnecessary polar marker
❌ क्या आपने किसको बुलाया?
Incorrect for neutral ‘Whom did you invite?’—initial क्या asks a separate yes–no question.
✅ आपने किसको बुलाया?
āpne kisko bulāyā?
Whom did you invite? (honorific clarification)
Using direct कौन before a postposition
❌ तुम कौन से बात कर रहे थे?
Incorrect for ‘with whom’—the personal interrogative must be oblique before से.
✅ तुम किससे बात कर रहे थे?
tum kisse bāt kar rahe the?
Who were you talking to? (familiar clarification)
Treating one pitch contour as compulsory
❌ हर स्पष्टीकरण प्रश्न अंत में ऊँचा ही होता है।
Incorrect claim—echo and clarification contours vary with dialect, focus, surprise, and stance.
✅ बोलने वाला संदिग्ध हिस्से पर ज़ोर दे सकता है।
bolne vālā sandigdh hisse par zor de saktā hai.
The speaker can stress the uncertain part.
Key Takeaways
- Echo questions repeat active material; clarification questions replace or quote the uncertain portion.
- Preserve ordinary Hindi word order and keep wh-expressions in the grammatical slot of the missing answer.
- Use किस/किन before postpositions, not uninflected कौन.
- Clause-initial क्या marks polarity; object क्या asks “what?”, and standalone क्या? can request repetition informally.
- Prosody marks focus and attitude, but neutral and echo questions may end rising, level, or falling depending on variety and context.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Yes-no questions by intonation aloneA1 — Ask neutral, polite, and echo yes-no questions with ordinary Hindi word order and questioning intonation, without an overt question word.
- क्या as what versus question markerA1 — Distinguish argument क्या meaning ‘what’ from clause-initial क्या marking a yes-no question by position, answer type, and grammatical behavior.
- कौन and किस person questionsA2 — Use direct कौन and oblique किस or किन to ask who, whom, whose, with whom, and other case-marked person questions.
- Postpositions with interrogativesB1 — Build case-marked questions with किस, किन, कहाँ, कब, and compound postpositions without copying English preposition stranding.
- Alternative questionsB1 — Ask someone to choose between explicit alternatives with या, distinguish choice questions from polar questions, and place interrogative phrases naturally.
- Tag questions with है न and नाB2 — Use है न, था न, and conversational ना to seek agreement, soften requests, and express an expected answer without copying English tags.