कतै

Somewhere and Nowhere

Level 2Sounds Like katai

कतै is a place word for somewhere. With a negative verb, it means not anywhere.

How It Works

कतै has two jobs. In a positive sentence or a question, it means somewhere or anywhere: तपाईं कतै जानुहुन्छ? (are you going anywhere?) and मेरो चस्मा कतै छ (my glasses are somewhere).

With a negative verb, it means not anywhere, which English often says as nowhere: म कतै जाँदिनँ (I am not going anywhere) and उनी कतै गएनन् (he did not go anywhere).

It comes before the verb and after the doer, just like कहाँ. The question word कहाँ asks where. कतै does not ask where: it leaves the place open.

You can build the same family of words: केही (something), कोही (someone) and कहिल्यै (ever) all leave the thing open in the same way. Use the negative verb to turn them into nothing, nobody and never.

Examples (5)

  1. तपाईं कतै जानुहुन्छ?

    Are you going anywhere?

    कतै leaves the place open in a question.

  2. म कतै जाँदिनँ।

    I am not going anywhere.

    The negative verb जाँदिनँ turns कतै into not anywhere.

  3. मेरो चस्मा कतै छ।

    My glasses are somewhere.

    In a positive sentence, कतै means somewhere.

  4. उनी कतै गएनन्।

    He did not go anywhere.

    The negative past गएनन् goes with कतै.

  5. मैले पैसा कतै देखिनँ।

    I did not see the money anywhere.

    ले goes with the doer of the past verb देखिनँ.

Common Mistakes

  • Learners use a positive verb and expect it to mean nowhere.

    म कतै जान्छु।
    म कतै जाँदिनँ।

    कतै with a positive verb means somewhere. Use a negative verb to say not anywhere.

How It Connects

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

कतैLevel 2Somewhere and Nowhere

Learn This First

कतै means somewhere.