# Hindi/Urdu: What are you thinking about?



## Kahaani

Hi,

I was wondering how you'd translate _what are you thinking about? _in Hindi or Urdu. Please let me know if there are specific sentences for Urdu or Hindi.

My attempts;
आप क्या सोच रहे हैं? - آپ کیا سوچ رہے ہیں؟
आप के बारे में क्या सोच रहे हैं? - آپ کے بارے میں کیا سوچ رہے ہیں؟ (could anyone elaborate on _ke bare men_, i.e. when is it used?)
आपकी नज़र में क्या सोच रहे हैं? - آپ کی نظر میں کیا سوچ رہے ہیں؟


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## marrish

The first sentence is the best one, for both Urdu and Hindi. _ke baare meN_ is fine too if you would be wishing to be more specific, but you have to use the interrogative pronoun _kyaa_ which because of the postposition _ke baare meN_ has to be inflected to _kis_. It will give _aap kis ke baare meN soch rahe haiN? 

_But it may prove a bit tricky because the inflected form _'kis'_ is shared by two interrogatives,_ kyaa _and_ kaun!

_The third sentence is not clear for me.


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## greatbear

In Hindi, "aap kis baare meN soch race haiN" would be the best and simplest. The sentence "kis _ke _baare meN soch rahe haiN" would give me the impression of "about _whom_ you are thinking", so I'd avoid it.


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## Chhaatr

For me, it is "aap kyaa soch rahe haiN?".  I use this most of the time.


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## Kahaani

marrish said:


> The third sentence is not clear for me.



I think I heard _meri nazar men _somewhere and remembered it as _from my point of view_ or something similar. So, with _Aapki nazar men kya soch rahe hain? _I was trying to say something like _what are you thinking from your point of view, or what is your opinion?_ 

How interesting to say that the postposition _ke _adds a different meaning to it. Could anyone explain to me when this is used, and when it isn't? Would you be able to say _Aap in larkiyon ke bare men kya soch rahe hain? _and would it have the same meaning without the postposition _ke_, i.e. _Aap ye larkiyaan kya soch rahe hain? 

_Even though the first sentence is probably the simplest and safest, does it actually translate _about_, though? Or isn't this required in Hindi/Urdu?


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## Chhaatr

Kahaani said:


> Would you be able to say _Aap in larkiyon ke bare men kya soch rahe hain? _and would it have the same meaning without the postposition _ke_, i.e. _Aap ye larkiyaan kya soch rahe hain? _


No, without "ke" the sentence does not make sense.





Kahaani said:


> Even though the first sentence is probably the simplest and safest, does it actually translate _about_, though? Or isn't this required in Hindi/Urdu?



If you specifically want to translate "about" too, then you can go with GB's suggestion "aap kis baare meN soch rahe haiN"


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## Chhaatr

Kahaani said:


> ..._what are you thinking from your point of view_


You could say something like:_ "Aap kyaa soch rahe haiN apne nazariye se" or __"Aap apne nazariye se kyaa soch rahe haiN", _however both sound a bit odd to me_._


Kahaani said:


> _what is your opinion?_



For this, you could say "Aapkii kyaa raay hai?" or "Aapkaa kyaa vichaar hai?"


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## greatbear

Kahaani said:


> I think I heard _meri nazar men _somewhere and remembered it as _from my point of view_ or something similar. So, with _Aapki nazar men kya soch rahe hain? _I was trying to say something like _what are you thinking from your point of view, or what is your opinion?_



I think you want to say something like "what is your personal opinion?" (since "what are you thinking from your point of view?" does not mean much anything in English): for that, one could say "aap kii vyaktigat raae kyaa hai?" or "is baare meN aap ke vyaktigat vichaar kyaa haiN?". Hope this helps.


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## Qureshpor

On its own "aap kyaa soch rahe haiN?" means..

What are you thinking about?

If you wish to emphasise “about what” or “about whom”, one can say..

aap kis chiiz ke baare meN soch rahe haiN? (What are you thinking about?)

aap kis ke baare meN soch rahe haiN? (Who are you thinking about?)

Here is Sahir Ludhiyanvi, a renowned Urdu poet and film lyricist (from the film “ham donoN”). This line nicely demonstrates use of the additional “ke” to differentiate a thing vs. a person, i.e. “kis liye” (For what?) and “kis ke liye” (For whom?)

kis liye jiite haiN ham, kis ke liye jiite haiN?
baar-haa aise savaalaat pih ronaa aayaa!

What do we live for, whom do we live for?
Many times such questions made me cry! 

Based on this structure, one could fit in “baare”

kis liye jiite haiN ham, kis ke liye jiite haiN?

aap kis bare soch rahe haiN? aap kis ke bare soch rahe haiN? 

Interestingly, the first form is not the norm in Urdu. We have mere baare/hamaare baare, tere baare/tumhaare baare, us ke baare/un ke baare but not us baare/un baare, kis baare/kin baare.


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## greatbear

QURESHPOR said:


> On its own "aap kyaa soch rahe haiN?" means..
> 
> What are you thinking about?



I completely disagree. On its own, it means "What are you thinking?"


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## marrish

^I do agree that it means ''What are you thinking about?'' on its own, as per my post #2.


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## Qureshpor

marrish said:


> ^I do agree that it means ''What are you thinking about?'' on its own, as per my post #2.


Although, this is not something worth arguing about, Chhaatr SaaHib is of the same view. (#post 4)


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## greatbear

You are again quoting someone out of context. "Aap kyaa soch rahe haiN" often implies "aap kis baare meN soch rahe haiN", just as the English "What are you thinking" implies often "What are you thinking about". My objection was simply because your post was categorical in only one possibility: I don't think that Chhatr has made any such categorical statement. In fact, post 6 (by Chhatr) makes it very clear what he thinks about it.

Let's have this little issue at rest now; I hope the OP has anyway got her/his answers


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## marrish

भाई साहिब अगर आप किसी  बात पर राज़ी न हों तो उस प्रस्तावना पर आलोचना प्रकट कीजिये न कि प्रस्तावना करने वाले पर।


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## greatbear

^ My comments were addressed for QP, not you, marrish nor to any alter ego. Period.


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## marrish

OK, he is to respond or not but I found your way of ''contributing'' to the thread not constructive. mere mutaabiq aap kyaa soch rahe haiN is idiomatic equivalent to ''what are you thinking about''. If you don't agree, and I see you don't., let it be so but don't attack the person saying it but the statement. Incidentally I said the same in my post what QP said afterwards.


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## greatbear

marrish said:


> ... but don't attack the person saying it but the statement.



Which is something only present in your imagination: I challenge you to point out for all concerned here the phrase wherein I am "attacking the person". In fact, you are certainly attacking me personally by making this accusation, and all because I do not agree with whatever you-QP think.

Spare the new members at least from such pointless posts, please, marrish.


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## Kahaani

Thanks for all your answers!


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## Wolverine9

Kahaani said:


> Hi,
> 
> I was wondering how you'd translate _what are you thinking about? _in Hindi or Urdu. Please let me know if there are specific sentences for Urdu or Hindi.
> 
> My attempts;
> आप क्या सोच रहे हैं? - آپ کیا سوچ رہے ہیں؟
> आप के बारे में क्या सोच रहे हैं? - آپ کے بارے میں کیا سوچ رہے ہیں؟ (could anyone elaborate on _ke bare men_, i.e. when is it used?)
> आपकी नज़र में क्या सोच रहे हैं? - آپ کی نظر میں کیا سوچ رہے ہیں؟



If you're looking for an exact, literal translation use: _aap kis baare meN soch rahe haiN
_
If an approximate equivalent is acceptable to you, then I would choose: _aap kya soch rahe haiN_

You didn't mention who your intended recipient is.  It should be noted that _aap _is generally a term of respect/politeness.  If you intend to say it to a friend or someone younger than you then _tuu _or _tum _might be more appropriate than _aap_.  When using _tuu_, it should be _rahaa _(if addressing a male) or _rahii _(if addressing a female) and _hai _instead of _haiN_.  When using _tum_, it should be _ho _instead of _haiN_.


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## Qureshpor

Wolverine9 said:


> If you're looking for an exact, literal translation use: _aap kis baare meN soch rahe haiN
> _
> If an approximate equivalent is acceptable to you, then I would choose: _aap kya soch rahe haiN _[...]


I beg to differ on this.

"What are you thinking about?" has an exact, instinctive, first port of call translation as..

aap kyaa soch rahe haiN?


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## tonyspeed

QURESHPOR said:


> I beg to differ on this.
> 
> "What are you thinking about?" has an exact, instinctive, first port of call translation as..
> 
> aap kyaa soch rahe haiN?



There is a phrase for this in English. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.


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## Qureshpor

tonyspeed said:


> There is a phrase for this in English. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.


Thank you TS for the English phrase. How does it help with the translation of "What are you thinking about?" I have gone into detail in my previous post explaining ways to further focus on required meanings. Here I am merely stating that "aap kyaa soch rahe haiN" is not really an "approximate" translation. If you or others disagree on this, that's fine. It is possible that I am perceiving this sentence differently.


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