"Do they drink tea?"
Translation:क्या वे चाय पीते हैं?
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Why is क्या वे चाय पीती हैं wrong? Isn't it okay to use पीती if you're reffering to a group of only women?
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Kya is do in this sentence. When you use kya at the start of a question, it indicates that that's a yes or no question.
I think the question is why kya ve, not kya chaay, or kya piitii. (At least, that's mine.) Are they also valid? Different emphasis - do they drink tea - do they drink tea - do they drink tea?
No. When used to convert a statement to a yes/no question, the क्या always goes at the head of the sentence. So, the statement 'They drink tea' (वे चाय पीते हैं) is converted into a question 'Do they drink tea?' (क्या वे चाय पीते हैं?) by prefixing it with क्या.
Conversational Hindi does shift the word order to place emphasis on different words but it is not just the placement of क्या that changes. However, these non-standard sentences have to be spoken with the right inflexion to convey their intended meaning. For example, 'पीते हैं क्या चाय वे' reads like gibberish when written but when spoken the right way, places emphasis on 'they' while reducing the emphasis on 'tea'.
That is so extraordinarily helpful! I now know what to do! If I could, I would give you a lingot, like a gold star.
Yes, it is necessary. Formal Hindi is not a pro-drop language.
Also, the verb conjugation would be the same for क्या आप चाय पीते हैं? (Do you drink tea) so there is some scope for confusion.
Nevertheless, pronoun dropping can sometimes be seen in colloquial spoken Hindi.
It marked ये instead of वे wrong. Could ये be used for this sentence for 'they' also?
I think not without something else - ये लोग, ये बच्चे, etc. - but I might be wrong.
It can be used by itself too.
@JayLouiMar: You can report if you see the sentence again. 'क्या ये चाय पीते हैं?' can be used if you are referring to a group of people who are nearby or you are pointing to them etc.