কি

What

Level 1Sounds Like ki

কি means “what”: আপোনাৰ নাম কি? “what is your name?”.

How It Works

Assamese usually leaves the question word where the answer would go. The question keeps the word order of the answer, with কি where the answer would be.

AnswerQuestion
মোৰ নাম ৰিনা। “My name is Rina.”তোমাৰ নাম কি? “What is your name?”
এইটো ফোন। “This is a phone.”এইটো কি? “What is this?”
মই চাহ বিচাৰোঁ। “I want tea.”আপুনি কি বিচাৰে? “What do you want?”

The phrase কি খবৰ? literally means “what news?” and people use it to say “how are you?”.

কি asks about things. To ask about a person, use কোন “who”.

Examples (5)

  1. আপোনাৰ নাম কি?

    What is your name?

    কি comes last because the answer, the name, would stand there.

  2. তোমাৰ নাম কি?

    What is your name?

    তোমাৰ is for a friend, so this question is warm and informal.

  3. এইটো কি?

    What is this?

    কি replaces the name of the thing and ends the sentence.

  4. আপুনি কি বিচাৰে?

    What do you want?

    With a verb, কি stands in front of বিচাৰে “wants”.

  5. কি খবৰ?

    How are you?

    কি খবৰ literally asks “what news?” and is a friendly greeting.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

কিLevel 1What

Learn This First

কি “what” stands where the answer would stand, so learners need the word order first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.