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When do you use ka, ki and ke in Hindi?
का, की and के all mean "of" or possessive 's — and which one you use depends on the gender and number of the thing being POSSESSED, not the owner. राम का बेटा (Ram's son, masculine), राम की बेटी (Ram's daughter, feminine), राम के बेटे (Ram's sons, plural). The owner never changes the ending. Getting this backwards is the most common beginner mistake in Hindi.
The rule, stated once
Look at the noun after का/की/के. That noun decides.
masculine singular → का
feminine (singular or plural) → की
masculine plural, or before a postposition → के
Worked examples
राम का बेटा — Ram's son (बेटा is masculine singular)
राम की बेटी — Ram's daughter (बेटी is feminine)
राम के बेटे — Ram's sons (plural masculine)
सीता का बेटा — Sita's son. Still का. The owner is female and it changes nothing.
That last line is the whole lesson. Learners instinctively match the ending to the owner, because that is what English possessives feel like. Hindi does not care who owns it.
With pronouns
मेरा / मेरी / मेरे (my), तुम्हारा / तुम्हारी / तुम्हारे (your), उसका / उसकी / उसके (his or her). Same three endings, same rule — and note उसका covers both "his" and "her", because again, the owner's gender is irrelevant.
मेरा नाम (my name — नाम is masculine), मेरी किताब (my book — किताब is feminine).
Why it is worth drilling
का/की/के appear in almost every sentence of any length. Fix this and your Hindi immediately sounds several months more advanced. It is the highest-return grammar point in the language, and it is one rule.
Quick self-test
तुम्हार__ बहन — your sister. बहन is feminine, so: तुम्हारी बहन.
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