Questions & Answers about इस सतह पर तेल की परत है।
Why is the sentence इस सतह पर तेल की परत है and not something closer to English word order?
Hindi usually places the main verb at the end of the sentence, so है comes last.
A natural breakdown is:
- इस सतह पर = on this surface
- तेल की परत = a layer of oil
- है = is
So the structure is roughly:
[location] + [thing] + [is]
That is very normal in Hindi.
What does each word mean in this sentence?
Here is a word-by-word breakdown:
- इस = this
- सतह = surface
- पर = on
- तेल = oil
- की = of
- परत = layer
- है = is
So literally, it is something like:
On this surface, oil-of layer is.
More natural English: There is a layer of oil on this surface.
Why is it इस सतह पर and not यह सतह पर?
This is because Hindi demonstratives like यह change form before a postposition.
- यह = this
- इस = oblique form of यह
Since सतह is followed by the postposition पर, the noun phrase goes into the oblique form: