کا

کا (ka)

1. straw

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit किअउं, from Sanskrit कृतं (kṛtaṃ) (perfect participle neuter of कृ (kṛ, “to do”)). Dasa also suggests क (ka, diminutive suffix). Compare Hindi का (kā) and Punjabi دا‎ (dā).

کا • (kā) (Hindi spelling का)

1. marks the genitive case: of, belonging to

   ‏فیض کا بھائی‎ ― faiz kā bhā'ī ― Faiz's brother

   ‏اُس کا دوست‎ ― us kā dōst ― his friend

   ‏عائشہ کی گھڑی‎ ― Aisha kī ghaṛī ― Ayesha's watch

2. part of, from

   ‏مالٹے کا رس‎ ― mālṭe kā ras ― orange juice (literally, “juice from orange”)

   ‏ہاتھ کی اُنگلی‎ ― hāth kī unglī ― finger of the hand.

3. made of, consisting of

   ‏لوہے کی تلوار‎ ― lōhē kī talvār ― an iron sword

4. worth, useful

   ‏کیا یہ کوئی کہنے کی بات ہے؟‎‎

   kyā yeh kō'ī kehnē kī bāt hai?

   Is this something that is worth saying?

5. (in the oblique) forms compound postpositions

   ‏کے دوران‎‎ ― kē dōrān ― during

   ‏کی طرف‎‎ ― kī taraf ― facing

• کا‎ is a possessive particle in Urdu to show relationships with people and things, and in many cases it can be translated as an apostrophe s as possession would be used in English. It is not used to show possession by people of objects, and, as such, is also frequently used as an adjective termination, e.g. sone-kī ghaṛī, 'a gold watch'; kāṭh-kā ghoṛā, 'a wooden horse'
• The oblique form کے‎ (kē) forms a large number of compound pospositions such as کے‎ ساتھ‎ (kē sāth) (with), کے‎ پیچھے‎ (ke pīćhē) (behind), etc.

• Feminine: کی‎ (kī)
• Oblique and masculine plural: کے‎ (ke)

• McGregor, R.S, ed. The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, Oxford university press. 1993
• Platts, John T. A dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English Oxford. 1884.