څه
cə/t͡sə/
The English word "what" is translated to Pashto as څه (cə).
Meaning: what? (interrogative pronoun) (pron)
How do you pronounce it?
The word is romanized as cə and is pronounced /tsə/.
Did you know?
- The Pashto word څه is a distant linguistic cousin to the English word 'who', both tracing back to the same Proto-Indo-European root.
- While څه is the standard way to ask 'what', using it too aggressively in certain dialects without a polite particle can make a question sound blunt or even confrontational.
- While څه is the standard word for 'what', adding certain suffixes can change it into an indefinite pronoun meaning 'something' or 'anything' depending on the context of the sentence.
Examples in context
- دا څه دي؟What is this?This sentence is useful for learning how to ask about the identity of an object using څه.
- څه کار کوې؟tse kaar kawi?What work do you do?
- څه وخت دی؟tse wakht dai?What time is it?
Example conversation
Zarkola and Zalmay are talking about a book.
- زركولہ Zarkolaدا کتاب څه دی؟Da kitab tse day?What is this book?
- زلمای Zalmayدا د تاریخ کتاب دی.Da da tarikh kitab day.This is a history book.
- زركولہ Zarkolaپه کتاب کې څه لیکل دي؟Pa kitab ke tse likal dee?What is written in the book?
- زلمای Zalmayدا د پخوانیو وختونو کیسې دي.Da da pakhaunyo wakhtuno kisay dee.These are stories of old times.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “what” translations and entries څه, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries څه, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
