"The book is in my hands."

Translation: किताब मेरे हाथों में है ।

[Georgi790731]

What would मेरे हाथों में किताब है mean?

[dxrsam]

That would mean "There's a book in my hands", since the focus has shifted.

[wbyoung]

I don't really understand how that structure changes the focus in English. The less natural, "In my hands is a book" seems to shift the focus & mirrors the Hindi word order of the person's question.

I don't know enough Hindi to each of these English constructions, but the subject and object of the preposition remain the same in each of the English constructions. "There is" vs "the", though, is subtly different in English and does exist in other languages as well (Spanish — hay vs el).

Regardless, should the original question's Hindi construction be an accepted answer (should it be reported as such).

[derliesl]

Hindi starts with what is known, followed by what is optional. So if the question is "what is that in your hands?" you start with "in my hands", and if the question is "where is the book?" you start the sentence with "the book".

[AmmarMalik]

It would essentially mean the same and it should not have been marked as in-correct. Saying "Kitab mere hath'on mein hai", is probably more correct but still "Mere hath'on me kitab hai" is also not wrong.

[Dracarys101]

It would mean exactly the same. Report it.

[zeebo7]

The meaning would be the same (I'm assuming you mean है at the end).

[AmmarMalik]

The sentence means same if we replace the position of book and hands in the sentence. It should not be marked as incorrect.

[Venmathi]

yes

[Sreekrishnan59]

What is wrong with 'mere hathon me kithab hai'? Why is it wrong?

[ph.9rYBXp]

No its not wrong its my mother land . I know it it is absolutely right

[ph.9rYBXp]

No its not wrong its my mother land . I know it it is absolutely right.

[Taz872185]

The difference is subtle, but below might help explain it

Kitab kaha hai?
Kitab mere haathon me hai.

Vs

Mere haathon me kya hai?
Mere haathon me kitab hai

Sorry i am not very good explaining with technical grammetical terms.

[alexpouliot]

Is हाथों just plural? I thought I was marked wrong in an earlier lesson for typing मेरे पास दो हाथों और दो पैरों हैं so I thought हाथ could be singular or plural and हाथों was for something else. But here I was marked wrong for using हाथ.

[AlejandroDrago]

I was wondering exactly the same.

[Anna_Carrillo]

it's the oblique form of the plural. so हाथ is plural, but with the में in front it needs to be हाथों which is plural oblique

[ph.cfHI1g]

Mere hatoon main kittab hain this is showing wrong ❤❤❤❤ off duo

[ph.9rYBXp]

I am in india i born here, i know your is right but it can also be right.

[ph.9rYBXp]

"Meri hatoon par kitab he". This is also right i born and live in india why don’t i know my languge?

[ph.9rYBXp]

"Meri hatoon par kitab he". This is also right i born and live in india why don’t i know my languge?