आप क्या लिख रही हैं?

A simple breakdown is:

• आप = you (polite/formal)
• क्या = what
• लिख = write (from the verb लिखना, to write)
• रही = the continuous aspect marker here, showing an ongoing action, and agreeing with a feminine person
• हैं = are / is in this kind of sentence, used with आप

So the full sense is What are you writing?

Hindi has different ways to say you depending on politeness and social distance:

• तू = very informal/intimate, and sometimes rude if used with the wrong person
• तुम = familiar/informal
• आप = polite/formal/respectful

So आप क्या लिख रही हैं? is the respectful way to ask What are you writing?

In Hindi, क्या often comes right before the part being asked about. Here, the thing you want to know is what the person is writing, so क्या comes before the verb phrase:

• आप क्या लिख रही हैं? = What are you writing?

This is very natural Hindi word order.

Because लिख रही हैं expresses an action happening right now or in progress:

• लिख रही हैं = are writing
• लिखती हैं = write / do write / write عادةً in a habitual or general sense

So:

• आप क्या लिख रही हैं? = What are you writing? / What are you writing right now?
• आप क्या लिखती हैं? = What do you write? or What do you usually write? if speaking to a woman

It helps form the present continuous in Hindi.

A common pattern is:

• verb stem + रहा / रही / रहे + auxiliary

Here:

• लिख = write
• रही = continuous marker, feminine
• हैं = auxiliary used with आप

So लिख रही हैं means are writing.

Yes. रही shows that the person being addressed is female.

Compare:

• to a woman: आप क्या लिख रही हैं?
• to a man: आप क्या लिख रहे हैं?

So this sentence is used when speaking politely to a woman.

Because आप takes the respectful/honorific verb form, which uses हैं.

So even when आप means one person, the verb behaves like the polite plural form:

• तुम क्या लिख रहे हो?
• आप क्या लिख रहे हैं?

This is one of the most important patterns to remember with आप.

The dictionary form is लिखना, which means to write.

In the sentence, the stem लिख- is used to build the continuous form:

• लिखना = to write
• लिख रही हैं = are writing

Yes. आप is both:

• formally respectful
• politely neutral in many everyday situations

You would use this with:

• a teacher
• an older person
• someone you do not know well
• someone you want to address respectfully

Yes. You would usually say:

• आप क्या लिख रहे हैं? = to a man
• आप क्या लिख रही हैं? = to a woman

The change is in रहे / रही, which matches gender.

Not exactly. English says:

• What are you writing?

Hindi says:

• आप क्या लिख रही हैं?
• literally closer to: You what writing are?

Hindi often places the verb at the end, which is very common in the language.

Yes, sometimes Hindi drops the subject if it is already clear from context:

• क्या लिख रही हैं?

This can still mean What are you writing?, especially if you are directly speaking to someone. But including आप makes it clearer and often more polite or complete.

It is pronounced roughly like likh.

A few points:

• लि sounds like li
• ख is an aspirated k sound, like k with a strong puff of air

So लिखना is roughly likh-naa, not just lik-naa.

Yes, क्या can also introduce a yes/no question, as in:

• क्या आप लिख रही हैं? = Are you writing?

But in आप क्या लिख रही हैं?, it means what, because it is asking for the object/content of the writing, not asking whether the action is happening.

So the meaning depends on position and context.