"Who does not drink water?"
Translation:पानी कौन नहीं पीता?
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In Hindi, at many places we don't need to use hai or hain. But there is no problem if you wrote it
why is कौन पानी पीता नहीं। not acceptable? my neighbors who are native speakers use the form verb + नहीं rather than the other way round.
Hmm... It's definitely OK to do verb + नहीं in certain sentences. It will often carry a particular emphasis (although not necessarily), whereas नहीं + verb is more like the "default" because it is the most neutral (lacking any particular emphasis).
All this being said, your sentence, कौन पानी पीता नहीं sounds odd IMHO. It should at least be पानी कौन पीता नहीं? (place the question word before the verb phrase), and even that would seem to imply that you were contrasting the sentence with पानी कौन पीता है? "Who drink water? OK, now tell me: Who DOESN'T drink water?" (Note the special emphasis.)
Who DOESN'T drink water?
I thought that's what this was supposed to be, the English also carries that emphasis IMO.
I would say 'does anyone not drink water?' or 'who here doesn't drink water?' - 'who doesn't drink water?' has implied generality and sarcastic assumption that all drink water.
Someone please explain in short what the order of Hindi sentences is. I'm confused
There isn't really a definite way of constructing sentences.... It can change at places but I think the most basic sentence structure is noun+object+verb+ correct form of है (When applicable)
Eg. रोहन पानी पीता है I Translation: Rohan drinks water. Literal Translation: Rohan water drinks.
Or like; मैं घर जा रही हूँ I Translation: I'm going home. Literal Translation: I'm home going.
Mind that the verb changes according to the gender if you are male, you would use 'रहा'
Please keep in mind that this is a very basic level structure... You'll have to go over the rules of the language and expand your vocabulary if you you want to construct more complex sentences but it's not very difficult once you get used to it. Hope this helps
Yes Hindi is an S.O.V. (subject object verb) language. English is a SVO (subject verb object) language.
Hindi is a S.O.V. (subject object verb) language. English is a SVO (subject verb object) language.
Does it matter whether the order is paanii-kaun or kaun-paanii? Both are accepted but paanii-kaun seems to be preferred.
Why isn't it Kon paani nehi piti he? For other questions you put the word where the answer would go
Is paani (water) the subject of the sentence? Is that one of the reasons why it is first in the sentence before kaun.
Again the hai is missing from the end of the sentence. Is it really optional when there is a negation.
Yes, it is optional. In my opinion, in this case it is even preferable not to include hai. Despite its seeming quirks in the context of learning grammar, the sentence exactly as framed sounds very natural.
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Why is word order not important here? It looks like it's saying "who does water not drink?" How would you differentiate between "Who shot the sheriff?" and "Who did the sheriff shoot?"
Hindi word order is rather flexible (though there is a standard sequence, too). One indicates grammar through helpful words. If the action is done to a person, use the postposition "ko." "Who does water not drink," if we want to get technical, should be "WHOM does water not drink," right? Anyway, Hindi would be "paani KIS KO nahin pita" = water / whom-to / doesn't drink. The "ko" is not translated per se, but it shows that the action is happening "to" someone. Sheriff ne kis ko goli maari? = sheriff-by / whom-to / bullet was-shot?
Do you mean "swap" in terms of the word order position? If so, yes. In the above examples, I didn't swap anything per se -- they are in the typical word order I'd expect to find in writing. In speech, on the fly, as thoughts flow, you'd be more likely to encounter different word orderings. The "ko" makes it clear which is the object. The postposition "ne" makes it clear, in the past tense sentence, what the subject is.
Sheriff-ne cor-ko goli maari = the sheriff shot the thief (cor).