Question Words in Japanese: Ask and Answer Naturally

Questions: add か and keep the order

か is the spoken question mark. Japanese also has ？, but it appears mainly in casual writing and manga.

Short answer: to turn a Japanese statement into a question, put か ka at the end. Nothing else moves: 学生です “(I) am a student” becomes 学生ですか “are (you) a student?”. Question words like 何 (what) and どこ (where) sit in the same place the answer will go. In casual speech, か is often dropped and a rising tone does its job.

Yes-or-no questions with か

Any polite sentence, with a noun, an adjective or a verb, becomes a question with か. The voice rises slightly on か.

日本人にほんじんnihonjinJapanese personですdesuareかka(question)

Nihonjin desu ka.“Are you Japanese?”Why: Noun + です + か.

寒いさむいsamuicoldですdesuisかka(question)

Samui desu ka.“Are you cold?”Why: Adjective + です + か. Japanese says “cold?” about the person or the weather alike.

コーヒーkōhīcoffeeをo(object)飲みますのみますnomimasudrinkかka(question)

Kōhī o nomimasu ka.“Do you drink coffee? / Will you have a coffee?”Why: Verb + か. The present form covers habits and offers.

Question words

Put the question word where the answer goes. If the question word is the subject, it takes が, never は.

Word	Meaning	Example
nani / nan	what	何を食べますか
dare	who	誰が来ますか
doko	where	どこに行きますか
itsu	when	いつ来ますか
dore	which one (of 3+)	どれがいいですか
dochira	which (of two); where (polite)	どちらですか
dō	how	どうですか
dōshite	why	どうして来ませんでしたか
naze	why (written, formal)	なぜですか
ikura	how much (price)	いくらですか
ikutsu	how many; how old	いくつですか

なに or なん?

何 has two readings. It becomes なん before sounds made with the tongue at the teeth (d, t, n) and before counters; otherwise it is なに.

Casual questions: rising tone and の

With friends, drop です and か and let your voice rise. Adding の (often んですか in polite speech) asks for an explanation, and sounds warmer and more curious.

Polite

Casual, rising tone

Asking for the story

Invitations: ませんか

A negative question is the polite way to invite someone. 行きませんか, literally “won’t you go?”, means “would you like to go?”. Accept with ぜひ (I’d love to) or decline softly with ちょっと….

今晩こんばんkonbantonight一緒にいっしょにissho nitogether食べませんかたべませんかtabemasen kawon’t (we) eat?

Konban issho ni tabemasen ka. · “Would you like to have dinner together tonight?”Negative + か: an invitation, not a doubt.

いいですねii desu nethat sounds goodぜひzehiby all means

Ii desu ne. Zehi. · “Sounds good. I’d love to.”いいですね: “that’s nice, isn’t it”, the usual way to accept.

明日あしたashitatomorrowはwa(topic)どうですかdō desu kahow is?

Ashita wa dō desu ka. · “How about tomorrow?”どうですか: “how is…?”, to suggest something.

明日あしたashitatomorrowはwa(contrast)ちょっとchottoa little…

Ashita wa chotto… · “Tomorrow’s a bit difficult…”The polite refusal: say ちょっと and stop.

Answering a negative question

Japanese はい means “what you said is right”, and いいえ “what you said is wrong”. So to a negative question, はい confirms the negative. English “no, I’m not going” is はい、行きません in Japanese.

行きませんいきませんikimasennot goingかka(question)はいhairight行きませんいきませんikimasennot going

Ikimasen ka. / Hai, ikimasen.“Aren’t you going? / No, I’m not.”Why: はい agrees with the question “you aren’t going”.

食べないたべないtabenainot eatingのno(question)ううんuunno (casual)食べるたべるtaberueating

Tabenai no? / Uun, taberu.“Aren’t you eating? / Yes, I am.”Why: ううん is casual いいえ: “you’re wrong, I am eating”.

Questions inside sentences: か

Put a plain-form question + か inside a bigger sentence to say “whether” or “what”. Japanese drops the だ before か.

彼かれkareheがga(subject)来るくるkurucomesかkawhether分かりませんわかりませんwakarimasendon’t know

Kare ga kuru ka wakarimasen.“I don’t know whether he’s coming.”Why: Plain verb + か.

何なにnaniwhatをo(object)買うかうkaubuyかka(question)決めましたきめましたkimemashitadecided

Nani o kau ka kimemashita.“I’ve decided what to buy.”Why: Question word + か inside the sentence.

駅えきekistationがga(subject)どこdokowhereかka(question)教えておしえてoshietetellくださいkudasaiplease

Eki ga doko ka oshiete kudasai.“Please tell me where the station is.”Why: どこ + か: だ is dropped.

かな and かしら: wondering aloud

かな turns a sentence into “I wonder…”. It is soft and used by everyone; かしら is a more feminine, older-sounding version.

Making a question more polite

The same question at rising levels of politeness.

Question	Meaning	Level
namae wa?	name?	casual
onamae wa nan desu ka	what is your name?	polite
onamae o oshiete itadakemasu ka	could you tell me your name?	very polite
onamae o oukagai shite mo yoroshii deshō ka	may I ask your name?	business keigo

Cheat sheet: question words and answers

Each question word with a model answer.

Question	Meaning	Answer
nani o tabemasu ka	what will you eat?	すしを食べます
doko ni ikimasu ka	where are you going?	駅に行きます
itsu kimasu ka	when are you coming?	明日来ます
dare to ikimasu ka	who are you going with?	友達と行きます
dō desu ka	how is it?	いいですね
ikura desu ka	how much?	五百円です

Check yourself

Make each statement into a question, then open the answer.

Yes/no question田中さんは先生です。
Show answer
田中さんは先生ですか。
Where?駅に行きます。 (ask where)
Show answer
どこに行きますか。
What time?三時に来ます。 (ask when)
Show answer
何時に来ますか。
Invitationコーヒーを飲みます。 (invite)
Show answer
コーヒーを飲みませんか。

Question word + か or + も

Add か to a question word to make “some-”; add も (with a negative verb) to make “no-” or “not any-”. One rule gives you a dozen new words.

Question word	+ か: some-	+ も + negative: no-
何なに what	何かなにか something	何もなにも nothing
誰だれ who	誰かだれか someone	誰もだれも no one
どこ where	どこか somewhere	どこも nowhere (どこにも)
いつ when	いつか some day	いつも always (positive verb)

何かなにかnanikasomething飲みますのみますnomimasudrinkかka(question)

Nanika nomimasu ka.“Would you like something to drink?”Why: 何か + verb: “something”. It replaces を, so no particle is needed.

何もなにもnanimonothing食べませんでしたたべませんでしたtabemasen deshitadid not eat

Nanimo tabemasen deshita.“I didn’t eat anything.”Why: 何も needs a negative verb: “nothing” is literally “even what, not”.