"Do they drink tea?"

Translation: क्या वे चाय पीते हैं?

[B96lXSTM]

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?

[vinay92]

Your answer should have been accepted. You can report if you see the sentence again.

[Kae486202]

Why do we need kya in the front?

[Zerenei]

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.

[OJFord]

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?

[vinay92]

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'.