उसने क्या कहा?

उसने breaks down as:

• उस = that person / he / she in an oblique form
• ने = a marker used with many completed transitive actions in Hindi

So उसने means he/she as the doer of the action in this sentence.

A native English speaker often expects a separate word for he or she, but Hindi uses forms that change depending on grammar. Here, वह becomes उस before ने.

ने is the ergative marker. In standard Hindi, it is commonly used when:

• the verb is transitive (it has an object, even if that object is a question word like क्या)
• the action is completed / perfective

Since कहा is the perfective form of कहना (to say), Hindi uses ने with the subject:

• उसने कहा = he/she said

This is one of the most important grammar patterns in Hindi, and it often feels unfamiliar to English speakers because English does not mark subjects this way.

It can mean either he or she.

Hindi third-person pronouns often do not show gender clearly in the pronoun itself:

• उसने = he/she
• वह = he/she/that

Usually, context tells you which one is meant.

Here क्या means what.

In this sentence, it is the thing being asked about:

• उसने क्या कहा? = What did he/she say?

Do not confuse this with sentence-initial क्या used as a yes/no question marker, as in:

• क्या उसने कहा? = Did he/she say it? / Did he/she speak?

So क्या can mean different things depending on position and context.

Hindi usually follows Subject–Object–Verb order.

So the sentence is structured like this:

• उसने = subject
• क्या = object / thing asked about
• कहा = verb

That gives:

• उसने क्या कहा?

This is very natural Hindi word order. English uses What did he say?, but Hindi does not need did, and the verb normally comes at the end.

Yes, but it usually means something different.

• उसने क्या कहा? = What did he/she say?
• क्या उसने कहा? = Did he/she say (it)?

So when क्या comes at the beginning, it often works as a yes/no question marker, not as what.

That difference is very important.

कहा is the perfective form of कहना (to say).

In a sentence like this, it usually corresponds to simple past English:

• उसने कहा = he/she said

Depending on context, it may sometimes feel like has said, but in most basic learning contexts you can understand it as said.

Hindi does not use do-support the way English does.

English needs did in many past-tense questions:

• What did he say?

Hindi does not. It simply uses the correct verb form:

• उसने क्या कहा?

So the past meaning is already built into कहा.

Yes. The object is क्या.

In other words, the sentence literally has the structure:

• he/she-ERG what said?

So the thing being said is unknown, and क्या stands in for it.

Sometimes, yes, depending on context.

Hindi perfective forms can overlap with English past meanings in ways that do not always match one-to-one. In many everyday cases:

• उसने क्या कहा? is best translated as What did he/she say?

But in the right context, English What has he/she said? may also fit.

For learners, What did he/she say? is the safest default translation.

The dictionary form is कहना, meaning to say.

A few common forms are:

• कहना = to say
• कहता है = says / speaks
• कहा = said
• कह रहा है = is saying

So कहा is the past/perfective form used here.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• उसने ≈ us-nay
• क्या ≈ kyaa
• कहा ≈ ka-haa

A few points:

• क्या has a long yaa sound.
• कहा has two syllables: ka
  • haa.
• The ह in कहा is pronounced, so it is not just kaa.

A rough full pronunciation is:

• us-nay kyaa ka-haa?

They are related, but not always identical.

• कहना = to say
• बोलना = to speak / to say

So you may hear:

• उसने क्या कहा?
• उसने क्या बोला?

Both can mean What did he/she say?, but कहा is often the more neutral and standard choice when asking about the content of someone’s words.

You can change the pronoun:

• उसने क्या कहा? = What did he/she say?
• उन्होंने क्या कहा? = What did he/she say? (respectful) / What did they say?
• आपने क्या कहा? = What did you say? (respectful)

So if you are talking about an elder, teacher, or someone you want to refer to politely, उन्होंने is often better than उसने.

Yes, very naturally.

Hindi often uses short question sentences like this with no extra words. For example, if someone mumbled something, you might ask:

• उसने क्या कहा? = What did he/she say?

It sounds complete and normal on its own.