Japanese grammar · Beginner (A1)
Questions and か
Yes/no questions with か, question words, how to answer with はい and いいえ, and casual questions without か.
Add か to ask
To turn a polite sentence into a question, add (ka) at the end. Nothing else changes, and there is no word like “do” or “does”: (gakusei desu, I'm a student) becomes (gakusei desu ka, are you a student?).
works like a spoken question mark, so in writing a question often ends in a plain full stop 。. The question mark ？ is common too, especially in casual writing. Your voice usually goes up a little on .
- 学生ですか。Gakusei desu ka.Are you a student?
- コーヒーを飲みますか。Kōhī o nomimasu ka.Do you drink coffee?
- 日本語が分かりますか。Nihongo ga wakarimasu ka.Do you understand Japanese?
Question words
A question word goes where the answer will go, and the sentence still ends in : (Kore wa nan desu ka, what is this?) → (Kore wa hon desu, this is a book). When a question word is the subject, it takes , never .
is read (nan) before d, t and n sounds and before counters, as in (nan desu ka) and (nanji). Elsewhere it is (nani), as in (nani o) and (nani ga).
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (nani, nan) | what | (Kore wa nan desu ka) What is this? |
| (dare) | who | (Ano hito wa dare desu ka) Who is that? |
| (doko) | where | (Toire wa doko desu ka) Where's the toilet? |
| (itsu) | when | (Tanjōbi wa itsu desu ka) When's your birthday? |
| (ikura) | how much (money) | (Kore wa ikura desu ka) How much is this? |
| (nanji) | what time | (Ima nanji desu ka) What time is it now? |
| (dō) | how | (Nihon wa dō desu ka) How do you like Japan? |
| (donna) | what kind of | (Donna ongaku ga suki desu ka) What kind of music do you like? |
| (dore) | which one | (Dore ga ii desu ka) Which one is good? |
| (dōshite) | why | (Dōshite Nihongo o benkyō shite iru n desu ka) Why are you studying Japanese? |
| (ikutsu) | how many; how old | (Ringo wa ikutsu desu ka) How many apples? |
Answering with はい and いいえ
(hai) means “yes, that's right”, and (iie) means “no, that's not right”. To a question about a noun you can simply answer (hai, sō desu) or (iie, chigaimasu). To a question with a verb, repeat the verb: (hai, nomimasu).
Because agrees with what was said, a negative question gets a surprising answer: (takakunai desu ka, isn't it expensive?) → (hai, takakunai desu, no, it isn't). A flat can sound blunt, so people often soften it: (ie), or a hesitant (chotto…, that's a bit…).
- はい、そうです。Hai, sō desu.Yes, that's right.
- いいえ、違います。Iie, chigaimasu.No, that's not right.
- いいえ、学生じゃないです。会社員です。Iie, gakusei ja nai desu. Kaishain desu.No, I'm not a student. I'm an office worker.
Casual questions without か
Between friends and family (from A2), questions use the plain form with rising intonation and no : (iku?, are you going?). For nouns and な-adjectives, (da) is dropped: (gakusei?, are you a student?). A plain question ending in can sound rough.
Casual questions often end in (no) instead, which sounds softer and asks for an explanation: (doko ni iku no?, where are you going?).
Watch out for (sō desu ka). Said with a falling voice, it isn't a question but a reaction: “I see” or “oh, really”.
- 明日来る？Ashita kuru?Are you coming tomorrow?
- どこに行くの？Doko ni iku no?Where are you going?
- そうですか。Sō desu ka.I see.
Something, nothing, always
A question word + means “some-”: (nanika, something), (dareka, someone). A question word + with a negative verb means “no-”: (nani mo, nothing), (dare mo, nobody). Other particles go between: (doko ni mo, nowhere).
(itsumo) is the exception: it means “always” and goes with a positive verb.
| Question word | + か | + も (with a negative verb) |
|---|---|---|
| (nani) what | (nanika) something | (nani mo) nothing |
| (dare) who | (dareka) someone | (dare mo) nobody |
| (doko) where | (dokoka) somewhere | (doko ni mo) nowhere |
| (itsu) when | (itsuka) some day | (itsumo) always, with a positive verb |
- 何か飲みますか。Nanika nomimasu ka.Would you like something to drink?
- 誰もいません。Dare mo imasen.There's nobody here.
- 週末はどこにも行きませんでした。Shūmatsu wa doko ni mo ikimasen deshita.I didn't go anywhere at the weekend.