Hindi uses three agreeing interrogative families for three different gaps: कितना asks quantity or degree, कौन-सा asks which member of a set, and कैसा asks what something is like. Their endings behave like ordinary -आ adjectives, so gender, number, and oblique case are visible inside the question phrase.
The shared agreement pattern
The three families share the same core endings. Masculine singular direct forms end in -आ, feminine forms in -ई, and masculine plural or masculine oblique forms in -ए.
| Feature | Quantity | Selection | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular direct | कितना | कौन-सा | कैसा |
| Feminine singular/plural | कितनी | कौन-सी | कैसी |
| Masculine plural/direct or masculine oblique | कितने | कौन-से | कैसे |
तुम्हें कितना चावल चाहिए?
tumheṃ kitnā cāval cāhie?
How much rice do you need?
आज कितनी बसें चल रही हैं?
āj kitnī baseṃ cal rahī haiṃ?
How many buses are running today?
आप कौन-सा कमरा लेना चाहेंगे?
āp kaun-sā kamrā lenā cāheṅge?
Which room would you like to take? (honorific, addressed to a man)
यह कैसी आवाज़ है?
yah kaisī āvāz hai?
What kind of sound is this?
Agreement follows the Hindi noun, not the English translation. English how much/how many, which, and what kind of never change form, so learners must actively notice that चावल is masculine, बस and आवाज़ are feminine, and कमरा is masculine.
कितना: amount, number, and degree
Before a mass noun, कितना asks “how much.” Before a count plural, it asks “how many.” It may also stand alone when the omitted noun is recoverable.
इस बोतल में कितना पानी बचा है?
is botal meṃ kitnā pānī bacā hai?
How much water is left in this bottle?
तुमने कितनी किताबें मँगवाईं?
tumne kitnī kitābeṃ mãgvāīṃ?
How many books did you order?
इन आमों में से कितने पके हैं?
in āmoṃ meṃ se kitne pake haiṃ?
How many of these mangoes are ripe?
In the last example, कितने stands for a masculine plural set. With prices or measurements, the phrase may behave adverbially: यह कितने का है? “How much is this?” literally asks “of how much [value]?”
यह नीला बैग कितने का है?
yah nīlā baig kitne kā hai?
How much is this blue bag?
Before a postposition, a masculine singular -आ form becomes oblique -ए: कितने समय में “in how much time,” कितने पैसे से “with how much money.” Feminine कितनी does not change. The general ending pattern is covered in masculine plural and oblique -ए.
कौन-सा: selecting among alternatives
कौन-सा asks which member or subtype is intended. The hyphenated spelling makes its compound structure clear, though unhyphenated कौन सा is also widespread. Agreement appears on सा, while कौन remains recognizable.
तुम कौन-सी ट्रेन पकड़ोगे?
tum kaun-sī ṭren pakaṛoge?
Which train will you take?
इनमें से कौन-से जूते तुम्हारे हैं?
inmeṃ se kaun-se jūte tumhāre haiṃ?
Which of these shoes are yours?
आप किस शहर के कौन-से हिस्से में रहती हैं?
āp kis śahar ke kaun-se hisse meṃ rahtī haiṃ?
Which part of which city do you live in? (honorific, addressed to a woman)
The last example contains two different case effects. Standalone interrogative कौन becomes oblique किस before the genitive postposition के. The adjective कौन-सा modifies masculine हिस्सा, which appears oblique before में, so both noun and adjective take -ए: कौन-से हिस्से में.
Bare कौन normally asks “who?” or, with an understood set, “which person/one?” कौन-सा is the productive determiner for selecting a thing or subtype. Do not say कौन किताब as a neutral translation of “which book”; use कौन-सी किताब.
कैसा: quality, character, and condition
कैसा asks what a person or thing is like. It requests a description or evaluation, not identity. It can be attributive before a noun or predicative with a copula.
तुम्हारा नया पड़ोसी कैसा है?
tumhārā nayā paṛosī kaisā hai?
What is your new neighbor like?
वहाँ का मौसम कैसा था?
vahā̃ kā mausam kaisā thā?
What was the weather like there?
आपको कैसी चाय पसंद है—तेज़ या हल्की?
āpko kaisī cāy pasand hai—tez yā halkī?
What kind of tea do you like—strong or mild? (honorific)
वे लोग कैसे थे?
ve log kaise the?
What were those people like?
Compare कौन-सी चाय? “which tea?” with कैसी चाय? “what kind of tea?” The first assumes a relevant set of choices; the second requests a property such as strong, sweet, or herbal. In a café where a menu is visible, either may be possible, but it frames the answer differently.
Adverbial कैसे “how?” is formally identical to masculine plural/oblique कैसे, but it does not agree. नेहा कैसे आई? asks by what means Neha came; नेहा कैसी है? asks what Neha is like. Context, predicate, and the final vowel distinguish the constructions.
Case-marked phrases and ordinary word order
These interrogatives normally remain where the corresponding answer phrase belongs. Hindi does not require English-style fronting.
तुमने कितने दिनों में यह काम पूरा किया?
tumne kitne dinoṃ meṃ yah kām pūrā kiyā?
In how many days did you finish this work?
आप कौन-सी तारीख़ तक रुकेंगी?
āp kaun-sī tārīx tak rukeṅgī?
Until which date will you stay? (honorific, addressed to a woman)
हमें कैसी जगह पर मिलना चाहिए?
hameṃ kaisī jagah par milnā cāhie?
At what kind of place should we meet?
The postposition follows the complete noun phrase. Masculine दिन becomes oblique plural दिनों, with कितने; feminine तारीख़ and जगह retain their feminine interrogative forms.
Clause-initial क्या has a different job: it marks a yes–no question. Compare:
क्या आपको यह कमरा पसंद है?
kyā āpko yah kamrā pasand hai?
Do you like this room?
आपको कौन-सा कमरा पसंद है?
āpko kaun-sā kamrā pasand hai?
Which room do you like?
The second does not need an additional क्या. Its contour may end low or falling as well as level or rising in neutral speech, depending on dialect and focus. Prosodic emphasis, together with context, can convey certainty, impatience, or an examination-like demand.
Politeness and echo readings
The agreeing word does not have a special honorific paradigm. Politeness comes from आप, plural agreement, and courteous phrasing.
तुमने कौन-सी वाली ली? — नीली वाली।
tumne kaun-sī vālī lī? — nīlī vālī.
Which one did you take? — The blue one. (informal/familiar)
आप कितनी प्रतियाँ चाहेंगी? — कृपया तीन।
āp kitnī pratiyā̃ cāheṅgī? — kripyā tīn.
How many copies would you like? — Three, please. (formal/honorific, addressed to a woman)
An echo question repeats a surprising value and often places it late:
इस छोटी-सी मरम्मत के लिए आपने कितने रुपये दिए—दस हज़ार?
is choṭī-sī marammat ke lie āpne kitne rupaye die—das hazār?
You paid how many rupees for this small repair—ten thousand?
Common Mistakes
Ignoring feminine agreement
❌ तुमने कितना रोटियाँ बनाईं?
Incorrect—plural रोटियाँ is feminine, so use कितनी.
✅ तुमने कितनी रोटियाँ बनाईं?
tumne kitnī roṭiyā̃ banāīṃ?
How many flatbreads did you make?
Confusing selection with description
❌ तुम्हें कैसा सीट चाहिए—खिड़की वाली या गलियारे वाली?
Incorrect agreement and poor choice for a fixed alternative set.
✅ तुम्हें कौन-सी सीट चाहिए—खिड़की वाली या गलियारे वाली?
tumheṃ kaun-sī sīṭ cāhie—khiṛkī vālī yā galiyāre vālī?
Which seat do you want—the window one or the aisle one?
Missing oblique agreement before a postposition
❌ आप कौन-सा कमरे में ठहरे हैं?
Incorrect—masculine कमरा and कौन-सा both become oblique before में.
✅ आप कौन-से कमरे में ठहरे हैं?
āp kaun-se kamre meṃ ṭhahre haiṃ?
Which room are you staying in? (honorific)
Combining polar क्या with a wh-determiner
❌ क्या तुम कौन-सी किताब पढ़ रहे हो?
Incorrect as a neutral ‘Which book are you reading?’
✅ तुम कौन-सी किताब पढ़ रहे हो?
tum kaun-sī kitāb paṛh rahe ho?
Which book are you reading?
Key Takeaways
Use कितना/कितनी/कितने for quantity, कौन-सा/कौन-सी/कौन-से for selection, and कैसा/कैसी/कैसे for quality. Match the form to the head noun’s gender, number, and oblique case. Keep the complete interrogative phrase in its ordinary Hindi position, and do not add polar क्या to a neutral information question.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- 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.
- कैसे and किस तरहB1 — Ask about manner, method, and possibility with कैसे and किस तरह while distinguishing adverbial कैसे from agreeing कैसा forms.
- Postpositions with interrogativesB1 — Build case-marked questions with किस, किन, कहाँ, कब, and compound postpositions without copying English preposition stranding.
- इतना उतना कितना जितनाB1 — Use the agreeing quantity-degree series इतना, उतना, कितना, जितना for proximal, distal, interrogative, and relative meanings.
- Masculine plural and oblique -eA1 — Use adjective -ए for masculine plurals and for masculine noun phrases made oblique by a postposition.