Language/Bengali/Grammar/Questions

Bengali Grammar - Questions

Hi Bengali learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will review the different ways to ask questions in Bengali. We'll cover both yes/no questions and questions that elicit a specific answer. By the end of this lesson, you should be comfortable with forming questions and knowing the appropriate question words to use.

Yes/No Questions

To form a yes/no question, you simply add the word "কি" ("ki") to the end of the statement. This is similar to adding "isn't it?" or "don't you?" at the end of an English sentence.

For example, if you want to ask "Are you going?" in Bengali, you would say "তুমি যাচ্ছ কি?" ("tumi jaccho ki?"). The word "কি" at the end indicates that you are asking a yes/no question.

Here are some more examples:

Bengali	Pronunciation	English
তুমি খাই কি?	"tumi kha-i ki?"	"Are you eating?"
তোমার নাম কি?	"tomar nam ki?"	"Is your name...?" (followed by the name you are asking)
তুমি বলছ কি?	"tumi bolchho ki?"	"Are you speaking?" (as in "I can't hear you, are you speaking?")

Information Questions

When you want to ask for specific information, you need to use question words. In Bengali, these words are called "প্রশ্নবোধক" ("proshnobodhok"), and there are eight basic ones that you need to know.

Here is a list of the basic proshnobodhok words, along with their English meanings:

Word	Pronunciation	English
কে	"ke"	"Who"
কি	"ki"	"What"
কীভাবে	"kibhabe"	"How"
কোথায়	"kothay"	"Where"
কখন	"kokhon"	"When"
কেন	"ken"	"Why"
কত	"koto"	"How much/how many"
কোন	"kon"	"Which"

To ask a question with one of these words, simply add the word to the beginning of the sentence. For example, to ask "What is your name?" in Bengali, you would say: "তোমার নাম কি?" ("tomar nam ki?").

Here are some more examples:

Bengali	Pronunciation	English
কী আছে তোমার কাছে?	"ki achhe tomar kachhe?"	"What do you have?"
কীভাবে তোমি যাওয়ার পরিচিতি পেতে পারবে?	"kibhabe tomi jawar porichiti pete parbe?"	"How will you find your way there?"
কে তোমাকে আমার সঙ্গে আলোচনা করছে?	"ke tomak-e amar songe alochona korche?"	"Who is talking to you with me?"

Using Question Words in Sentences

When you use a question word to ask for specific information, it is important to remember word order. In Bengali, the word order is typically subject-object-verb (SOV), which is different than English (subject-verb-object or SVO). This means that the verb usually comes at the end of the sentence.

For example, let's say you want to ask "Where is the restaurant?". In Bengali, you would say "রেস্তোরাঁটি কোথায়?" ("restoran-ti kothay?"). Here, the subject ("restaurant") comes first, followed by the object ("is"), and finally the verb ("where").

It is also important to note that Bengali uses postpositions instead of prepositions. This means that words like "in", "on", and "at" come after the object, rather than before it. So to ask "What are you looking at?", you would say "তুমি কী দেখছ কোন জিনিসে?" ("tumi ki dekhchho kon jinis-e?"). Here, the subject ("you") comes first, followed by the verb ("looking"), then the question word ("at what"), and finally the postposition ("on/with what thing/person?").

Practice Dialogue

Here is a short dialogue to practice forming questions in Bengali using question words:

• Person 1: তুমি কেন আসছ বাংলাদেশে? ("tumi ken ashchho Bangladesh-e?") (Why are you coming to Bangladesh?)
• Person 2: আমি ভ্রমণ করতে এসেছি। ("ami bhromon kort-e eshechi.") (I have come to travel.)

• Person 1: তুমি কোথায় থাকো? ("tumi kothay thako?") (Where are you staying/living?)
• Person 2: আমি একটি হোটেলে থাকি। ("ami ek-ti hotel-e thaki.") (I am staying at a hotel.)

• Person 1: তোমার বাংলা ক্লাস কখন শুরু হয়? ("tomar Bangla class kokhon shuru hoi?") (When does your Bengali class start?)
• Person 2: আমার ক্লাস আগামী সপ্তাহে শুরু হবে। ("amar class agami shoptahe shuru hobe.") (My class starts next week.)

Conclusion

Asking questions is an important part of communication in any language, and Bengali is no exception. By knowing different question words and how to use them, you can more easily gather information and have conversations with native speakers.

To improve your Bengali Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Bengali language
• Bengali grammar
• List of Bengali question words