Language/Japanese/Grammar/Questions

Japanese Grammar - Questions

Hi Japanese learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about questions in Japanese. Asking questions is an essential part of communication, and with this lesson, you'll be able to ask some basic questions in Japanese.

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Future Tense, How to Use "Have", Plural 複数 & Feminine 女性.

Questions in Japanese

In Japanese, questions are formed by adding the particle "か" (ka) at the end of a sentence. The word order remains the same as in affirmative sentences. Let's take a look at some examples:

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
あなたは学生です。	anata wa gakusei desu.	You are a student.
あなたは学生ですか。	anata wa gakusei desu ka.	Are you a student?

As you can see, the sentence's structure remains the same; only the particle "か" is added at the end, changing the sentence from a statement to a question. When asking a yes or no question in Japanese, you can use the following sentence patterns:

1. Noun + ですか (desu ka) 2. Verb + ますか (masu ka)

Let's take a look at some examples:

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
あの方は日本人ですか。	ano kata wa nihonjin desu ka.	Is that person Japanese?
日本語を話しますか。	nihongo o hanashimasu ka.	Do you speak Japanese?

Now that we have seen some examples let's take a more in-depth look at different types of questions in Japanese.

Types of Questions

Yes/No Questions

Yes/No questions are questions that can be answered simply with a "yes" or "no." In Japanese, as we have seen earlier, you can use the particle "か" at the end of a sentence to form a yes/no question. It's important to note that intonation plays a vital role in distinguishing between a statement and a question, as the written sentence's structure remains the same.

Let's take a look at some examples of yes/no questions:

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
日本語が話せますか。	nihongo ga hanasemasu ka.	Can you speak Japanese?
今日は雨が降るでしょうか。	kyou wa ame ga furu deshou ka.	Will it rain today?

Question Words

Question words are used to ask questions that require more information than just a yes or no answer. In Japanese, question words come at the beginning of a sentence.

Here are some common question words in Japanese:

• だれ (dare) - who
• なに/なん (nani/nan) - what
• いつ (itsu) - when
• どこ (doko) - where
• なぜ/どうして(naze/doushite) - why
• どのくらい (donokurai) - how much/long
• いくつ (ikutsu) - how many

Let's take a look at some examples of questions using question words:

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
どこで昼食をとりますか。	doko de chuushoku wo torimasu ka.	Where do you have lunch?
なん時に帰りますか。	nan ji ni kaerimasu ka.	What time do you go back?

Polite Questions

In Japanese, there is a polite and formal way of asking questions. When using the polite form, you can add "ですか" (desu ka) at the end of the sentence, or "ませんか" (masen ka) if asking a negative question.

Let's take a look at some examples of polite questions:

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
ご存知ですか。	gozonji desu ka.	Do you know?
コーヒーを飲みませんか。	kouhii wo nomimasen ka.	Would you like to drink coffee?

Notice how the polite form is used in situations where you're talking to someone of a higher social status, an older person or someone you're not familiar with.

Dialogue

Person 1: お名前は何ですか。(o-namae wa nan desu ka.) (What's your name?) Person 2: 田中です。(tanaka desu.) (My name is Tanaka.) Person 1: 何歳ですか。 (nansai desu ka.) (How old are you?) Person 2: 二十五歳です。(nijuugo-sai desu.) (I'm twenty-five years old.) Person 1: 日本には何回来ましたか。(nihon ni wa nankai kimashita ka.) (How many times have you been to Japan?) Person 2: 一回だけです。(ikkai dake desu.) (Just once.)

Conclusion

You've now learned how to ask different types of questions in Japanese! Keep practicing, and don't be afraid to use them in conversations.

To improve your Japanese grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Wikipedia - Japanese grammar
• Wikipedia - Japanese language

Finished this lesson? Check out these related lessons: Japanese Grammar → Particles and Conjunctions → Conjunctions ..., Emphasis and Intensification, Nouns & Adjective Types and Usage.

Other Lessons

• Adjectives
• Give your Opinion
• Adverbs 副詞
• How to Use Be
• Negation 否定
• Questions 質問
• Plurals
• Conditional Mood
• Negation

Sources

• The Question Marker – Learn Japanese
• Japanese Question Words: "What", "Where", When", "Who", "How ...