N5 · The basic sentence
Questions with か
asking questions
Add か to a statement, put the question word where the answer will go, and nothing else moves.
A polite statement becomes a yes-or-no question when か is added at the end: 学生です "(I) am a student", 学生ですか "Are (you) a student?". Nothing else changes — no inversion, no "do", no new word order. The voice rises on か, and in writing the sentence ends with a full stop, because か already does the work of the question mark.
A question word stands exactly where the answer will stand. これは本です becomes これは何ですか; 会議は3時からです becomes 会議は何時からですか. English moves "what", "where" and "when" to the front of the sentence; Japanese leaves them in place, which makes questions easier to build once the habit is broken. The common ones are 何 (what), だれ (who), どこ (where), いつ (when), どれ (which), いくら (how much) and どうして (why).
何 has two readings. It is nan before です, before sounds such as d, t and n, and before counters: 何ですか, 何時, 何人. It is nani before most particles: 何を食べますか. A question word cannot normally be the topic, so it does not take は: "who is coming?" is だれが来ますか.
Answering needs care. はい means "what you said is right" and いいえ means "what you said is wrong" — which is not the same as yes and no. Asked 田中さんは来ませんでしたか ("Didn't Mr Tanaka come?"), a Japanese speaker who knows he did not answers はい, agreeing that he did not come; an English speaker says "no" and confuses everybody.
The form
| Is this a book? | これは本ですか。 |
| What is this? | これは何ですか。 |
| Who is that person? | あの人はだれですか。 |
| Where is the toilet? | トイレはどこですか。 |
| When is the test? | テストはいつですか。 |
| How much is this? | これはいくらですか。 |
| What will you eat? | 何を食べますか。 |
| Who is coming? | だれが来ますか。 |
The rules one by one
A polite statement becomes a question by adding か; the word order stays the same.
山田さんは先生ですか。Is Mr Yamada a teacher?
A question word stands where the answer will stand.
会議は何時からですか。What time does the meeting start?
The question word for "what" is read nan before です and counters, and nani before most particles.
何を飲みますか。What would you like to drink?
A question word cannot be the topic: it takes が, not は.
だれが行きますか。Who is going?
はい agrees with what the question says, even when it says something negative.
「田中さんは来ませんでしたか。」「はい、来ませんでした。」"Didn't Mr Tanaka come?" "No, he didn't."
A closer look
Questions without か, and か without questions
In casual speech か is usually dropped and the rising voice alone makes the question: 行く？. A plain form with か sounds abrupt and is mostly heard from men speaking bluntly, so a learner does better to drop it in casual speech and keep it in polite speech.
か after a question word makes an indefinite word instead of a question: 何か (something), だれか (someone), どこか (somewhere), いつか (some day). The same question words with も and a negative verb give "nothing", "nobody" and "nowhere" — one small set of words doing the work of a whole family of English ones.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the question is in casual speech
か is normally left out and the voice rises instead.
明日、来る？Are you coming tomorrow?
Plain-form か sounds rough or confrontational; the rising intonation is the friendly way to ask.
How to spot it
- か
- 何
- 何
- だれ
- どこ
- いつ
- いくら
- どうして
Example sentences
お名前は何ですか。What is your name?
駅はどこですか。Where is the station?
誕生日はいつですか。When is your birthday?
この傘はだれのですか。Whose umbrella is this?
日本は初めてですか。Is this your first time in Japan?
趣味は何ですか。What are your hobbies?
8 more example sentences
このりんごはいくらですか。How much are these apples?
家族は何人ですか。How many people are there in your family?
何が好きですか。What do you like?
今、何時ですか。What time is it now?
あの方はどなたですか。Who is that person?
週末はどこへ行きますか。Where are you going at the weekend?
どれが田中さんのかばんですか。Which one is your bag, Ms Tanaka?
試験はいつからですか。When do the exams start?
Worth knowing (2)
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Something, someone, somewhere
A question word with か after it is not a question but an indefinite: 何か is "something" or "anything". In a question it gives the polite, open offer that English makes with "anything".
何か飲みますか。Would you like something to drink?
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Polite question words
Two question words have politer forms: どなた for だれ, and どちら for どこ. They are what you use to a customer, a stranger or someone senior, and they soften the question without changing it.
お国はどちらですか。Which country are you from?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English moves "what" to the front, and learners carry the habit over. In Japanese the question word stays where the answer will go — これは本です, これは何ですか — and a question word does not take は, because an unknown cannot be the topic.
Put か at the end and the question word where the answer goes — nothing else moves.
Your turn
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