मिठाई थाली में है।

Because Hindi uses postpositions, not prepositions.

• English: in the plate
• Hindi: थाली में = plate in

So में means in / inside / in and it comes after the noun it relates to.

In this sentence:

• थाली में = in the plate

This is a very common pattern in Hindi:

• घर में = in the house
• किताब में = in the book
• डिब्बे में = in the box

The sentence follows a very normal Hindi pattern:

मिठाई | थाली में | है
sweet | in the plate | is

A simple way to think of it is:

thing + place + is

Hindi often puts the verb at the end, so है comes last.

In Hindi, the verb usually comes at the end of the sentence. That is one of the biggest differences from English.

So instead of:

• English: The sweet is in the plate

Hindi says:

• मिठाई थाली में है
• literally: Sweet plate in is

This final position for the verb is very typical in Hindi.

Because मिठाई is being treated as singular here.

• है = is
• हैं = are

So:

• मिठाई थाली में है। = The sweet / the dessert is in the plate.
• मिठाइयाँ थाली में हैं। = The sweets are in the plate.

Even though मिठाई can sometimes refer to sweets in a general sense, in this sentence the grammar is singular, so है is correct.

Grammatically, it is singular here.

मिठाई often means:

• a sweet
• sweetmeat
• dessert
• or sweets as a general category, depending on context

But because the verb is है, the sentence is treating मिठाई as a singular noun.

If you wanted a clearly plural form, you would usually say:

• मिठाइयाँ = sweets

Hindi normally does not use articles the way English does.

So मिठाई can mean:

• a sweet
• the sweet
• sweet
• dessert

And थाली can mean:

• a plate
• the plate

The exact meaning depends on context.

That means मिठाई थाली में है could be understood as:

• The sweet is in the plate
• A sweet is in the plate
• The dessert is in the plate

depending on the situation.

In Hindi, nouns often take an oblique form before a postposition like में, पर, से, etc.

For some nouns, the form changes clearly. For example:

• लड़का → लड़के में
• कमरा → कमरे में

But थाली is one of the nouns where the singular form looks the same before में:

• direct: थाली
• oblique singular: थाली

So even though it is technically in the oblique position, you do not see a visible change here.

In many real-life contexts, थाली में can sound natural even where English might say on the plate.

Hindi में basically means in, but with containers, dishes, bowls, plates, and serving vessels, usage can be a little broader in practice.

Still, there is an important distinction:

• में = in / inside / in
• पर = on / on top of

So:

• थाली में = in the plate / in the dish
• थाली पर = on the plate

In many everyday food contexts, थाली में is perfectly idiomatic.

Yes, absolutely.
थाली में मिठाई है is also a very natural sentence.

Both are correct, but the emphasis can feel a little different:

• मिठाई थाली में है।
  Focuses a bit more on the sweet.

• थाली में मिठाई है।
  Feels more like There is sweet in the plate / The plate has sweet in it.

Hindi often allows this kind of reordering, especially when the verb stays at the end.

है is the present-tense form of the verb होना (to be).

Here it works like is in English.

So:

• है = is
• हूँ = am
• हो = are (informal you)
• हैं = are / is (formal or plural, depending on context)

In this sentence, है links the thing and its location:

• मिठाई ... है = The sweet ... is

Both मिठाई and थाली are feminine nouns.

In this sentence, gender does not create an obvious change because there is no adjective agreeing with them. But gender is still important in Hindi grammar.

For example, if you added an adjective, gender might matter:

• गरम मिठाई = hot sweet/dessert
• बड़ी थाली = big plate

Also, in many Hindi structures, verbs and adjectives can reflect gender, so it is useful to learn each noun together with its gender.

In standard full Hindi sentences, you normally keep है.

So the normal sentence is:

• मिठाई थाली में है।

If you remove है, it may sound incomplete in ordinary speech, though omission can happen in very informal notes, headlines, or poetic style.

For learners, the safe rule is:

• In a normal present-tense sentence like this, use है.

You would usually make मिठाई plural and change है to हैं.

So:

• मिठाइयाँ थाली में हैं।
• The sweets are in the plate.

Breakdown:

• मिठाई = sweet
• मिठाइयाँ = sweets
• है = is
• हैं = are

That is the most straightforward plural version.