कौन-सा (kaun-saa)
adjective/pronoun
An interrogative adjective/pronoun meaning 'which (one)'; it agrees in gender and number with the noun it points to, so learners will also meet कौन-सी (kaun-sii) and कौन-से (kaun-se).
Sense
1
:
which (one), asking for selection among a set
adjective Agrees with the following noun: कौन-सा (kaun-saa) with masculine singular, कौन-सी (kaun-sii) with feminine, कौन-से (kaun-se) with masculine plural or honorific.
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: Think of कौन-सा (kaun-saa) as 'which one' when there's a menu of choices in front of you -- at a sabzi mandi (sabzii mandii) stall you'd point and ask ये कौन-सी सब्ज़ी है (ye kaun-sii sabzii hai, 'what vegetable is this')? It's built from कौन (kaun, 'who') plus सा (saa, a 'like/kind' suffix also seen in जैसा (jaisaa)), so literally it asks 'of which kind'.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often freeze it as कौन-सा (kaun-saa) regardless of the noun's gender; तुम्हें कौन-सी किताब चाहिए (tumhen kaun-sii kitaab chaahie, 'which book do you want')? needs the feminine form because किताब (kitaab) is feminine, not कौन-सा किताब (kaun-saa kitaab). 2) Don't confuse this with कौन (kaun) alone, which asks 'who' and is not used before a noun to mean 'which'.
Sample Sentences:
आपको कौन-सी फ़िल्म पसंद है?
Which film do you like?
(aapko kaun-sii film pasand hai?)
ये कौन-सी सब्ज़ी है?
What vegetable is this?
(ye kaun-sii sabzii hai?)
तुमने कौन-सी किताब पढ़ी?
Which book did you read?
(tumne kaun-sii kitaab padhii?)
कौन-सी बस दिल्ली गेट जाती है?
Which bus goes to Delhi Gate?
(kaun-sii bas dillii get jaatii hai?)
कल कौन-सी ट्रेन छूट गई थी?
Which train got missed yesterday?
(kal kaun-sii tren chhoot gaii thii?)
मुझे बताओ, तुम्हें कौन-सा रंग सबसे अच्छा लगता है?
Tell me, which color do you like the most?
(mujhe bataao, tumhen kaun-saa rang sabse achchhaa lagtaa hai?)
अगर पैसे होते, तो तुम कौन-सी गाड़ी खरीदते?
If you had the money, which car would you buy?
(agar paise hote, to tum kaun-sii gaadii khariidte?)
कौन-सी दुकान से मिठाई लाई जाए?
From which shop should sweets be brought?
(kaun-sii dukaan se mithaaii laaii jaae?)
यह निर्णय करना है कि किस उम्मीदवार को -- यानी कौन-सी योजना को -- प्राथमिकता दी जाए।
A decision must be made as to which candidate -- that is, which scheme -- should be given priority.
(yah nirnay karnaa hai ki kis ummiidvaar ko -- yaanii kaun-sii yojnaa ko -- praathmiktaa dii jaae।)
समिति यह तय करेगी कि किस प्रस्ताव को, अर्थात् कौन-सी परियोजना को, मंज़ूरी मिलेगी।
The committee will decide which proposal, that is, which project, will get approval.
(samiti yah tay karegii ki kis prastaav ko, arthaat kaun-sii pariyojnaa ko, manzoorii milegii।)
वह सोच रही थी कि कौन-सी साड़ी शादी में पहने।
She was wondering which sari she should wear to the wedding.
(vah soch rahii thii ki kaun-sii saadii shaadii men pahne।)
Sense
2
:
which one (standing alone, without a following noun)
pronoun Used without a noun when the referent is already clear from context, e.g. इनमें से कौन-सा अच्छा है (inmen se kaun-saa achchhaa hai, 'which one among these is good')?
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This is the same word as the adjective sense, just standing in for the noun once it's obvious from context -- a shopkeeper showing you two shirts might just ask कौन-सा (kaun-saa)? instead of spelling out 'which shirt'.
Sample Sentences:
कौन-सा लोगे?
Which one will you take?
(kaun-saa loge?)
यहाँ तो बहुत सारे हैं, कौन-सा चाहिए आपको?
There are so many here, which one do you need?
(yahaan to bahut saare hain, kaun-saa chaahie aapko?)
इनमें से कौन-सा सही है, मुझे नहीं पता।
I don't know which one of these is correct.
(inmen se kaun-saa sahii hai, mujhe nahiin pataa।)
पहले तो बता, कौन-सा टूटा था?
First tell me, which one was broken?
(pahle to bataa, kaun-saa tootaa thaa?)
अगर दोनों में से एक चुनना ही पड़े, तो कौन-सा चुनोगे?
If you had to choose one of the two, which one would you choose?
(agar donon men se ek chunnaa hii pade, to kaun-saa chunoge?)
कौन-सा पहन कर जाऊँ, यह समझ नहीं आ रहा।
I can't figure out which one to wear.
(kaun-saa pahan kar jaaoon, yah samajh nahiin aa rahaa।)
दुकानदार ने दो शर्ट दिखाईं और पूछा, कौन-सा?
The shopkeeper showed two shirts and asked, which one?
(dukaandaar ne do shart dikhaaiin aur poochhaa, kaun-saa?)
कृपया बताइए कि आपको कौन-सा चाहिए।
Please tell me which one you need.
(kripyaa bataaie ki aapko kaun-saa chaahie।)
अगर वह और मेहनत करता, तो हम जान पाते कि कौन-सा बेहतर होता।
If he had worked harder, we would have known which one would have been better.
(agar vah aur mehnat kartaa, to ham jaan paate ki kaun-saa behtar hotaa।)
Morphology
Adjective (variable)
Morphology could not be generated (hyphen-joined variable adjective 'कौन-सा').