nə (sual əvəzliyi)

The word nə is a versatile interrogative pronoun. Here are its primary characteristics:

• Non-human focus: Use nə for objects, animals, and plants (Bu nədir? - What is this?; O nədir? - What is that [animal]?).
• Professions and Status: When referring to people, nə asks about their role or job. For example, Sən nəsən? means 'What are you?' (e.g., a doctor). For a more natural social question, you might hear Sən nəçisən?.
• Attributive Use & Compound Nouns: It can function directly before a noun to ask 'what' (Nə kitab oxuyursan? - What book are you reading?). However, when asking 'what kind of [noun]' as a category, use the compound noun construction where the second noun takes the third-person possessive suffix (e.g., Bu nə kitabıdır? - What kind of book is this?).
• Plural Form (nələr): The plural nələr is used to ask about multiple items or to express surprise at a variety of things (Orada nələr var? - What [all] is there?).
• Indefinite vs. Definite Object: When used as a direct object, nə can be indefinite or definite. Use the indefinite form (nə) for general questions (Nə alırsan? - What are you buying? [in general]). Use the definite accusative (nəyi) when asking about a specific item (Nəyi alırsan? - What [specifically] are you buying?).
• Case and Possessive Suffixes: As a rare exception, nə uses the buffer 'y' for almost all standard formal vowel-starting suffixes. This means it breaks the standard rules by using 'y' instead of 'n' for the definite accusative (nəyi) and genitive case (nəyin), and instead of 's' for the standard third-person possessive (nəyi), though the colloquial form nəsi is extremely common in everyday spoken Azerbaijani (e.g., Bunun nəsi pisdir? - What is bad about this?). For 1st and 2nd person possessive forms, normally, vowel-ending words drop the possessive suffix's vowel (e.g., ana + ım = anam), but nə keeps the vowel and inserts 'y' (nə + im = nəyim; nə + in = nəyin). In Azerbaijani grammar, this irregular declension is shared with the word su (water), making them twin exceptions (nəyim/suyum, nəyin/suyun, nəyi/suyu). Note that the dative case (nəyə) is completely regular, as all vowel-ending words take 'y' in the dative. For consonant-starting suffixes, it attaches normally, such as the locative case nədə (in what) and the ablative form nədən (from what/why).
• Derived Words and Compounds: It forms the basis for indefinite pronouns like nəsə or nə isə (something/anything), as well as compound question words like nə vaxt (when), nə üçün (why), and nə qədər (how much).

Don't confuse with: The pronoun nə is different from the exclamatory particle nə (e.g., Nə gözəl! - How beautiful!) and the negative conjunction nə ..., nə də ... (e.g., Nə sən gəldin, nə mən - Neither you came, nor I).