LingoDrop
Hindi · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "क्या" in Hindi?
One syllable: k and y pronounced together, then a long aa. Not "kee-yaa."
kyaa
A single heavy syllable; the difficulty is not stress placement but resisting the urge to break the cluster into two syllables, which would give the word an extra beat it does not have.
Listen: क्या
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
यह क्या है?
Yeh kyaa hai?
What is this?
Listen: यह क्या है?
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"Yeh kyaa hai?" relies on intonation and word order rather than any change in the verb, and kyaa sits between the demonstrative and the copula without moving. In yes-no questions kyaa would instead come first, which is worth noticing about this same word.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers insert a vowel — "ki-yaa" — because English does not allow ky- as an onset in this shape. The fix is mechanical: start to say "cute," freeze right after the k-y, and open into aa instead. Also keep the k unaspirated, which is harder at the start of a stressed syllable.