कः
kaḥ
kaun is Hindi. The Sanskrit word for "who" is कः (kaḥ).
कः is the interrogative pronoun used to ask which person is meant. It changes with gender: का (kā) is used for a woman and किम् (kim) for a thing.
How does it change in a sentence?
As the subject of a question about one man, use कः. The accusative is कम् (kam) and the genitive is कस्य (kasya).
How do you pronounce it?
kaḥ
Did you know?
- The root of कः is shared with other Indo-European languages, making it a distant relative of the English word 'who' and the Latin word 'quis'.
- A Rigveda hymn (10.121) repeats the line kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema, 'to which god shall we offer worship?', built on the same pronoun.
Example conversation
Kavya and Aditya are waiting for a guest at the door.
- काव्या Kavyaद्वारे कः अस्ति?dvāre kaḥ asti?Who is at the door?
- आदित्य Adityaअहं न जानामि।ahaṃ na jānāmi.I do not know.
- काव्या Kavyaपुनः पश्य, कः अस्ति?punaḥ paśya, kaḥ asti?Look again, who is it?
- आदित्य Adityaमित्रम् अस्ति।mitram asti.It is a friend.
