Do you know how to say “Question” in Japanese?
We use this word often; for example,
“I have a question” or
“May I ask a question?”
What is the word “Question” in Japanese?
Watch the video and find it out.
The useful expressions using the word “Question”
“しつもん shitsumon” means “Question.”
If you have any questions, please use these phrases.
I have a question.
しつもんが あります。
Shitsumon ga arimasu.
May I ask a question?
しつもんしても いいですか。
Shitsumon shite mo iidesu ka.
When you take an exam, you may want to say like this.
About an exam paper
That question was difficult.
あのもんだいは むずかしかったです。
Ano mondai wa muzukashikatta desu.
To call the questions on the exam paper, we use the term “もんだい mondai.”
But watch out!
“もんだい mondai” also means “problem.” 😱
もんだいが あります。
Mondai ga arimasu.
There are problems.
When you have a question, please use the term “しつもん shitsumon.”
しつもんが あります。
Shitsumon ga arimasu.
When you have some problems, you can say,
もんだいが あります。
Mondai ga arimasu.
Let’s recap!
There are two Japanese words that mean “Question.”
しつもん Shitsumon
しつもん means questions you can ask.
もんだい Mondai
もんだい means questions on an exam paper or problems.
Happy learning!
- About
- Latest Posts
Asuka sensei is an award-winning Japanese Educator, Psychologist, and Amazon #1 Author. She teaches the authentic Japanese language and culture and provides interactive, easy-to-follow lessons in various places, including the University of Southampton, UK.
Japanese Question Words: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How : Have you ever wondered how to say question words in Japanese? In English, it’s easy to remember who, what, where, when, why, and how, because almost all of them start with “w.” It’s also easy because there aren’t really variations for any of them.
Contents
- 1 Japanese Question Words: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How
- 2 Japanese Question Words: Who?(だれ)
- 2.1 Japanese Question Words: What?(なに)
- 2.2 Japanese Question Words: Where?(どこ)
- 2.3 Japanese Question Words: When?（いつ）
- 2.4 Japanese Question Words: Why?（なぜ、なんで）
- 2.5 Japanese Question Words: How?（どう）
- 3 Some Tips and Tricks
- 4 Learn Japanese with BondLingo?
- 5 Recommend
- 5.1 Related
Japanese Question Words: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How
But, of course, Japanese is a little different. Let’s look at Japanese question words in this article, and learn when and how to use them.
| Japanese | Romaji | English (Meaning) |
| だれ? | Dare | Who |
| どこ? | Doko | Where |
| なに? | Nani | What |
| いつ? | Itsu | When |
| なぜ? | Naze | Why |
| どう? | Dou | How |
| Number | Formal | Casual |
| What | 何（なに）、
何（なん）ですか |
何 |
| Why | なぜ、どうして | どうして、なんで |
| Where | どこ | どこ |
| When | いつ | いつ |
| How | いかにして、どのように、どうして | どうして |
Japanese Question Words: Who?(だれ)
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
Who is it ?
だれですか？
[Daredesuka]
The word “who” in Japanese is pretty simple. It’s just “dare” (誰). “Dare” doesn’t change at all, no matter how many people you’re talking about, your level of formality, or really anything. Okay, well, if you’re going to be really formal there’s stuff like “Dochira-sama” (どちら様), but honestly, you won’t be speaking like that very often at all.
“Dare” is perfectly fine to use in any normal conversation, even when speaking with your boss.
Japanese Question Words: What?(なに)
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
Oh!! What is this ?
これは何ですか？
[Korewa nandesuka]
“What do you want to eat?” → 「何が食（た）べたいですか。」
“What is your dream?” → 「あなたの夢（ゆめ）は何ですか。」
Note that 何ですか is used when we use the word what at the end of the sentence.
If you’ve seen any anime, you’ve heard the word “nani” (何) before. And for good reason. It means “what,” and it’s used all the time.
“Nani” can also be shortened to “nan” depending on what comes after it, and it still takes the same kanji. This is to make reading easier. A common example of this is the phrase “Nan darou” (何だろう), which also means “what,” but adds a bit of uncertainty to it. Kind of like “Yeah, I wonder what it is.” It’s also shortened in compound words such as “nanji” (何時), or “what time?”
As far as exclamations go, it’s less common for people to just yell out “Nani??” as you may have heard in a show. To say “What?” or “Huh?” it’s more likely that people will use vocalizations that aren’t really words. This includes things like “Eee?” and “Hah?” The speaker will use tone and length of the sound to express how confused or surprised they are.
Japanese Question Words: Where?(どこ)
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
Where is the bathroom?
トイレはどこですか？
[Toirewa dokodesuka]
“Where are we meeting up tomorrow?” → 「明日（あした）はどこで会（あ）う？」
The word for “where” is one of those ko-so-a-do words, which makes it easy to remember. “Where” is “doko” (どこ), which can be answered with the other words in its group, “koko” (ここ: here), “soko” (そこ: there), and “asoko” (あそこ: over there).
This is also a good place to mention other ko-so-a-do words, because the ones that start with “do” are all question words. “Dochira” (どちら) means “which way,” and can be abbreviated in informal speech to “docchi” (どっち). These can both be answered with the other words from their groups as well (kochira/kocchi, sochira/socchi, and achira/acchi).
The word “dore” (どれ) means “which,” and follows all of these same rules with “kore,” “sore,” and “are.”
Japanese Question Words: When?（いつ）
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
When is your birthday?
誕生日はいつですか？
[Tanjyoubiwa itsudesuka]
“When is the library going to close?” → 「図書館（としょかん）はいつ閉（し）まるの？」
Remember that these words come after the subject (place, object, time) comes first.
The basic word for “when” is “itsu” (いつ). It’s important to remember that this is only used as a question word. You can say “When will you go home?” with “Itsu kaerimasu ka?” (いつ帰りますか？). However, you cannot use “itsu” in a sentence like “I’ll do my homework when I get home.” That “when” requires a different grammar structure because it isn’t a question.
Japanese Question Words: Why?（なぜ、なんで）
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
Why do you study Japanese?
なぜ日本語を勉強するのですか？
[Naze nihongowo benkyou surunodesuka]
“Why are you wearing a jacket when it is so hot outside?”
→ 「こんなに外（そと）は暑（あつ）いのに なんで/どうして ジャケットを着（き）てるの？」
The word I’ve heard used most often for “why” is “nande” (なんで). If you want to be more formal, you can kick it up to “naze” (なぜ).
If you want to drop the formality even more and sound like you’re from Kansai, a signature Kansai-ben phrase is “Nande ya nen” (なんでやねん). It also kind of just means “why,” but it’s definitely region-specific slang.
“Doushite” (どうして) can also be used to say “why.” But it can also mean “how” depending on context.
Japanese Question Words: How?（どう）
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
Why do you know?
どうして知ってるの？
[Doushite Shitteruno]
The reason “doushite” can be used for “how” as well is because the basic word for “how” is “dou” (どう). You can use “dou” on its own, such as the sentence “How is it?” with “Dou desu ka?” (どうですか？).
You can also tack verbs on after “dou” to ask “How do I (verb)?” or “What do you (verb)?” Common examples of this include, “How do I read this kanji?” as “Kono kanji wa dou yomimasu ka?” (この漢字はどう読みますか？) and “What do you think?” as “Dou omoimasu ka?” (どう思いますか？).
“Dou” is similar to the ko-so-a-do groups because it can be answered with “kou” (こう: like this) and “sou” (そう: like that). I’m not sure if there is an “a” word in this group, which just goes to show that you will probably never need to use it, if it exists.
The formal version of “dou” is “ikaga” (如何), and they actually have the same kanji that pretty much no one uses. You may hear people offering you things with “ikaga” by using the phrase “Ikaga deshou ka?” (如何でしょうか？) or “How about this?” Overall, you’re more likely to use “dou” than “ikaga” in everyday conversation.
Some Tips and Tricks
Make sure to remember that question words usually use the particle “ga” (が) over “wa” (は). This is because they signify unknown information.
Try to learn the ko-so-a-do words especially. Words that are grouped up like this can really help you build your vocabulary because they’re pretty much a 4-for-1 special. They also help a lot when you need to give or receive directions, so, hey, they’re practical!
It’s also good to try not to mentally group these question words into our English translations of them. If you noticed, sometimes words were translated differently based on context, such as “dou” being translated as “what.” I grouped them here into our English question words to help explain them, but these words will sometimes jump around in meaning based on how they are used. Keep up your studying, and you’ll get these down in no time!
Learn Japanese with BondLingo?
Recommend
bondlingo-learn-japanese wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio”>
bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
This lesson introduces Japanese question words, the equivalent of English who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Recommended background:
Questions and Negation – introduces the question marker ka, yes-no questions
What is it?
The Japanese word for “what” has two forms, nani and nan, both of which are written with the same Kanji （何）. The rule for using them is simple: it’s nan before desu (and other forms of the copula), and nani elsewhere. Let’s start with the first case.
| これは なんですか。 | Kore wa nan desu ka? | What is this? (Near the speaker) |
| それは なんですか。 | Sore wa nan desu ka? | What is that? (Near the listener) |
| あれは なんですか。 | Are wa nan desu ka? | What is that over there?
(Far from both people) |
| なんですか。 | Nan desu ka? | What is it? |
“Nan desu ka?” without the topic is the most general. Including the “kore wa” gives it more of a feeling of “what about this one?”, such as if you’re asking about several things one after the other. If the object is not near you, sore (that) or are (that over there) would be the word to use.
(Words like these are called demonstratives and are covered in Demonstratives: The Ko-so-a-do Series.)
Notice that as with yes-no questions, the basic word order is unaltered in Japanese. In English we invert the order to get “What is this?” where as in Japanese it’s the equivalent of “This is what?”. In linguistics this is called movement, and does not occur much in Japanese.
To answer this type of question, simply substitute the item’s identity in place of the question word.
| これ・それ・あれは とけいです。 | Kore/sore/are wa tokei desu. | This/that/[that over there] is a watch. |
| とけいです。 | Tokei desu. | It’s a watch. |
Kore and sore will be flipped in the answer since they refer to the objects proximity to the speaker, while are stays the same since it’s still far away from both. “[Answer] desu” on the other hand, can be used in all cases.
| それは なんですか。 | Sore wa nan desu ka? | What is that (near you)? |
| （これは） とけいです。 | (Kore wa) tokei desu. | (This near me) is a watch. |
This works the same way for questions where the topic is not a pronoun.
| おなまえは (なんですか)。 | O-namae wa (nan desu ka). | (What is) your name? |
| （なまえは） やまぐちです。 | (Namae wa) Yamaguchi desu. | (My name) is Yamaguchi. |
In this case, the “nan desu ka?” is the part of the question that is dropped, whereas dropping “o-namae wa” would make the question too vague (what is what? my shirt?). Here’s another question you can ask in the same way.
| おしごとは (なんですか)。 | O-shigoto wa (nan desu ka). | (What is) your job? |
| いしゃです。 | Isha desu. | It’s (= I am) a doctor. |
This works whenever topic is a noun that can be qualified. You could ask “Kore wa?” or “Sore wa?” as well, but generally only in the context of asking repeated questions (like pointing to one Kanji after another).
Question Words as Subjects
When a question word is used as a subject, it must take the subject marker ga.
| なにが おいしいですか。 | Nani ga oishii desu ka? | What’s delicious (=good)? |
| やきそばが おいしいですよ。 | Yakisoba ga oishii desu yo. | The yakisoba (fried noodles) is good. |
(Read more about the sentence ending particle “yo”)
Because a question word refers to an unknown entity, it can’t be a topic, so question words can never be used with wa. The response is also generally marked by ga, since it is now a newly introduced subject.
The contrastive wa, however, *can* be used in place of ga in the response. The contrastive wa will be covered in an future lesson.
So, no matter where the question word is used, simply substitute the answer in the response.
Other Question Words
Here is a list of the basic question words.
| Hiragana | Roomaji | English |
| なに・なん | nani/nan | what |
| だれ | dare | who |
| どれ | dore | which one |
| どの | dono | which (modifier) |
| どこ | doko | where |
| どちら | dochira | which direction |
| どのぐらい | donogurai | how long |
| どう | dou | how |
| どうして | doushite | how/why |
| なんで | nande | how/why |
| いつ | itsu | when |
| いくつ | ikutsu | how many |
| いくら | ikura | how much |
Other question words you’ll encounter frequently are generally compound words created by adding nani or nan to various counters and other suffixes. All work in essentially the same way, and the detailed use of each will be covered in a relevant lesson. (Links will be added as those pages are written.)
Question Word Compounds
You’ll probably come across sentences like these at some point:
| なにか ほしいですか。 | Nanika hoshii desu ka? | Do you want something? |
| なんでも いいです。 | Nandemo ii desu. | Anything is fine. |
| なにも ありません。 | Nanimo arimasen. | I don’t have anything. |
These nani ka, nan de mo, and nani mo…(neg) are examples of question word compounds, and are used to create words equivalent to the English “some/any/no + thing/where/time”. These words will be covered in a future lesson.
What Next?
The Sentence Ending Particles “Ne” and “Yo”
Having trouble understanding something? Anything I’ve missed? Please send your feedback using the contact form and help me improve this site. All questions, comments, and corrections are welcome.
Questions in polite form
Vocabulary
- 田中 【た・なか】 – Tanaka (last name)
- お母さん【お・かあ・さん】 – mother (polite)
- どこ – where
- 鈴木 【すず・き】 – Suzuki (last name)
- 母 【はは】 – mother
- 買い物 【か・い・もの】 – shopping
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
- イタリア – Italy
- 料理 【りょう・り】 – cooking; cuisine; dish
- 食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) – to eat
- すみません – sorry (polite)
- ちょっと – a little
- お腹 【お・なか】 – stomach
- いっぱい – full
- ごめんなさい – sorry (polite)
- ごめん – sorry
The question marker is covered here because it is primarily used to clearly indicate a question in polite sentences. While it is entirely possible to express a question even in polite form using just intonation, the question marker is often attached to the very end of the sentence to indicate a question. The question marker is simply the hiragana character 「か」 and you don’t need to add a question mark. For previously explained reasons, you must not use the declarative 「だ」 with the question marker.
Example 1
さん：はですか。
Tanaka-san: Where is (your) mother?
さん：はに。
Suzuki-san: (My) mother went shopping.
Example 2
キムさん：をにか。
Kim-san: Go to eat Italian food?
鈴木さん：。、がです。
Suzuki-san: Sorry. (My) stomach is a little full.
Here the question is actually being used as an invitation just like how in English we say, “Won’t you come in for a drink?” 「」 is a polite way of apologizing. Slightly less formal is 「」 while the casual version is simply 「」.
The question marker in casual speech
Vocabulary
- こんな – this sort of
- 本当 【ほん・とう】 – real
- 食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) – to eat
- そんな – that sort of
- ある (u-verb) – to exist (inanimate)
It makes sense to conclude that the question marker would work in exactly the same way in casual speech as it does in polite speech. However, this is not the case. The question marker 「か」 is usually not used with casual speech to make actual questions. It is often used to consider whether something is true or not. Depending on the context and intonation, it can also be used to make rhetorical questions or to express sarcasm. It can sound quite rough so you might want to be careful about using 「か」 for questions in the plain casual form.
Examples
- のをにか？
Do you think [he/she] will really eat this type of thing? - のは、かよ！
Do I look like I would have something like that?!
Instead of 「か」, real questions in casual speech are usually asked with the explanatory の particle or nothing at all except for a rise in intonation, as we have already seen in previous sections.
- のをに？
Are you really going to eat something like this? - のは、の？
Do you have something like that?
「か」 used in relative clauses
Vocabulary
- 昨日【きのう】 – yesterday
- 何【なに】 – what
- 食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) – to eat
- 忘れる 【わす・れる】 (ru-verb) – to forget
- 彼 【かれ】 – he; boyfriend
- 言う 【い・う】 (u-verb) – to say
- 分かる 【わ・かる】 (u-verb) – to understand
- 先生 【せん・せい】 – teacher
- 学校 【がっ・こう】 – school
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
- 教える 【おし・える】 (ru-verb) – to teach; to inform
- どう – how
- 知る 【し・る】 (u-verb) – to know
Another use of the question marker is simply grammatical and has nothing to do with the politeness. A question marker attached to the end of a relative clause makes a mini-question inside a larger sentence. This allows the speaker to talk about the question. For example, you can talk about the question, “What did I eat today?” In the following examples, the question that is being considered is in red.
- をか。
Forgot what I ate yesterday. - はをか。
Don’t understand what he said. - がにか？
Won’t you inform me whether teacher went to school?
In sentences like example 3 where the question being considered has a yes/no answer, it is common (but not necessary) to attach 「どうか」. This is roughly equivalent to saying, “whether or not” in English. You can also include the alternative as well to mean the same thing.
- がにかか。
Don’t know whether or not teacher went to school. - がにかか。
Don’t know whether teacher went to school or didn’t.
Using question words
Vocabulary
- おいしい (i-adj) – tasty
- クッキー – cookie
- 全部 【ぜん・ぶ】 – everything
- 食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) – to eat
- 誰 【だれ】 – who
- 盗む 【ぬす・む】 (u-verb) – to steal
- 知る 【し・る】 (u-verb) – to know
- 犯人 【はん・にん】 – criminal
- 見る 【み・る】 (ru-verb) – to see
- この – this （abbr. of これの）
- 中 【なか】 – inside
- ～から (particle) – from ～
- 選ぶ 【えら・ぶ】 (u-verb) – to select
While we’re on the topic of questions, this is a good time to go over question words (where, who, what, etc.) and what they mean in various contexts. Take a look at what adding the question marker does to the meaning of the words.
| Word+Question Marker | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 誰か | Someone |
| 何か | Something |
| いつか | Sometime |
| どこか | Somewhere |
| どれか | A certain one from many |
Examples
As you can see by the following examples, you can treat these words just like any regular nouns.
- がを。
Someone ate all the delicious cookies. - がのか、か。
Doesn’t anybody know who stole it? - をでか。
Did you see the criminal somewhere? - からをの。
(Explaining) You are to select a certain one from inside this (selection).
Question words with inclusive meaning
Vocabulary
- 全部 【ぜん・ぶ】 – everything
- 皆 【みんな】 – everybody
- 皆さん 【みな・さん】 – everybody (polite)
- この – this （abbr. of これの）
- 質問 【しつ・もん】 – question
- 答え 【こた・え】 – answer
- 知る 【し・る】 (u-verb) – to know
- 友達 【とも・だち】 – friend
- 遅れる 【おく・れる】 (ru-verb) – to be late
- ここ – here
- ある (u-verb) – to exist (inanimate)
- レストラン – restaurant
- おいしい (i-adj) – tasty
- 今週末 【こん・しゅう・まつ】 – this weekend
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
The same question words in the chart above can be combined with 「も」 in a negative sentence to mean “nobody” （）, “nothing” （）, “nowhere” （）, etc.
「」 and 「」 are primarily used only for negative sentences. Curiously, there is no way to say “everything” with question words. Instead, it is conventional to use other words like 「」. And although 「誰も」 can sometimes be used to mean “everybody”, it is customary to use 「」 or 「」
The remaining three words 「」 (meaning “always”) and 「」 (meaning “any and all”), and 「」 (meaning everywhere) can be used in both negative and positive sentences.
| Word+も | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 誰も | Everybody/Nobody |
| 何も | Nothing (negative only) |
| いつも | Always |
| どこも | Everywhere |
| どれも | Any and all |
Examples
-
のは、。
Nobody knows the answer of this question. - は。
Friend is always late. - には 。
Any and all restaurants that are here are not tasty. - は、。
Went nowhere this weekend.
(Grammatically, this 「も」 is the same as the topic particle 「も」 so the target particle 「に」 must go before the topic particle 「も」 in ordering.)
Question words to mean “any”
Vocabulary
- この – this （abbr. of これの）
- 質問 【しつ・もん】 – question
- 答え 【こた・え】 – answer
- 分かる 【わ・かる】 (u-verb) – to understand
- 昼ご飯 【ひる・ご・はん】 – lunch
- いい (i-adj) – good
- あの – that (over there) （abbr. of あれの）
- 人 【ひと】 – person
- 本当 【ほん・とう】 – real
- 食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) – to eat
The same question words combined with 「でも」 can be used to mean “any”. One thing to be careful about is that 「」 is read as 「なんでも」 and not 「なにでも」
| Word+でも | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 誰でも | Anybody |
| 何でも | Anything |
| いつでも | Anytime |
| どこでも | Anywhere |
| どれでも | Whichever |
Examples
- のは、。
Anybody understands the answer of this question. - は、です。
About lunch, anywhere is good. - は、に。
That person really eats anything.
By
Last updated:
December 20, 2022
The Curious Learner’s Guide to Using Japanese Question Words
Questions (and the words used to form them) are essential building blocks for communication.
Though occasionally effective, reliance upon wild gesticulations and prayers that the other person will understand you are not a reliable method of communicating.
The good news is that you can learn the basics of Japanese question words to ask a wide range of polite or informal questions. We’ll show you the fundamentals of what to look for and how to use these words.
Contents
- How to Identify Questions in Japanese
- Creating Simple, Polite Questions? Just Add か (Ka)
- Creating Simple Informal Questions
- Creating “Wh-” Word Questions
-
- Who/Whose
- What
- Which
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
How to Identify Questions in Japanese
With written Japanese, ascertaining whether a sentence is a question or not will vary depending on the formality of the medium. In more casual communication channels such as texting, emails, manga and creative writing, there will be a question mark punctuation just like in English.
However, when it comes to formal Japanese texts they are nonexistent, with sentences ending in the Japanese full stop. (。) So, how is one supposed to know whether it is a question or not in such settings?
Well, just as the particles は and を mark the topic and direct object respectively in Japanese grammar, か (ka) is the particle that indicates a question and will be found at the end of the sentence, just before the full stop. か can be found in other parts of a sentence as a particle as well, but in those cases, it is serving a different purpose; only when it is at the end of a clause or sentence is it a question.
As for spoken Japanese, rising intonation at the end of a sentence indicates a question, just like in English. Additionally, the か particle at the end of a sentence is still featured prominently when speaking politely and formally, though it is often dropped in more casual conversation.
Creating Simple, Polite Questions? Just Add か (Ka)
With the basics of interrogative grammatical structure laid out, we can move on from merely recognizing questions in Japanese to creating our own. Knowing that ending a sentence with か designates an interrogative makes it easy to turn a simple statement into a simple question.
- 好きです。(すきです。) ― I like it.
好きですか？ (すきですか？) ― Do you like it?
- 彼女はそこにいます。(かのじょは そこに います。) ― She is there.
彼女はそこにいますか？ (かのじょは そこに いますか？) ― Is she there?
It is important to note that these examples are in the formal and polite vein, utilizing both the copula of です and ーます as well as the か particle; both must be present for a polite question.
Dropping the particle renders it a statement rather than a question, while leaving out the copula makes for an unnatural sentence.
Creating Simple Informal Questions
Informal question constructions can be easier than polite in some ways, but also involve nuance. For that reason, it is best to stick with the polite form when you are first learning to ask questions. However, for the sake of being able to recognize questions that appear outside of that narrow range, it is important to at least be familiar with common informal structures as well.
The simplest casual version drops both the copula and particle, relying on intonation when speaking and question mark punctuation in casual writing to convey a question.
暑い (あつい) ― Hot
暑い？ (あつい？) ― Hot?
Another possibility is to still use the copula, either the polite (conjugated) or casual (root) form, along with intonation or punctuation, but without the particle.
彼は外にいる。(かれは そとにいる。) ― He is outside.
彼は外にいる？ (かれは そとにいる？) ― Is he outside?
Lastly, there is another particle that can turn up at the end of a sentence to make an informal question: の. Though more often utilized by women and children, it is not necessarily out of bounds for usage by men.
いい ― Good.
いいの？― Is it good/ok?
Creating “Wh-” Word Questions
The next step required for acquainting oneself with Japanese questions is the vocabulary.
In English, the essential question words to know are: who, what, when, where, why and how. Sometimes referred to as the Five Ws. Even though there are six of them. And one starts with an “h.”
Japanese has corollaries for such question words, and just as in English, they are vital for inquiry and problem solving.
Who/Whose
First up is the question word regarding persons:
誰 (だれ) ― Who
It is used much the same way as in English. For example:
それは誰ですか？ (それは だれですか？) ― Who is that?
誰が私のイチゴを食べた？ (だれが わたしの いちごをたべた？) ― Who ate my strawberry?
However, when it comes to the possessive form, “whose,” Japanese structure deviates from English. Rather than declining the pronoun as we do in English, Japanese already has a system in place to signify which words serve what function within a sentence grammatically: particles. As such, the root pronoun, 誰 (だれ), simply gets the possessive particle の to make “whose.”
誰の (だれの) ―Whose
これは誰の本ですか？ (これは だれの ほんですか？) ―Whose book is this?
What
Next is “what,” the catchall question word in English and frequently in Japanese, too.
- 何 (なに) ― What
昨日は何をしましたか？ (きのうは なにをしましたか？) ―What did you do yesterday?
- 何 (なん) ― What
何ですか？ (なんですか？) ― What is it?
The most common ways the question word “what” is expressed come in the two forms above. They both use the same kanji, mean the same thing and even sound very similar; so why are there two?
Simply put: auditory aesthetics and flow. In writing, there is no difference between them; they are the same word. But the “i” at the end sometimes gets dropped when speaking to aid in smoothing out the sound of words, depending on what they are situated between.
So, how does one know when to use なに vs. なん when speaking? Well, the best way is to really just get a feel for it by listening to fluent speakers since it is an evolution of speech and pronunciation rather than set grammar. But, there are some examples throughout this post.
Which
There are also two ways to indicate “which.”
- どちら ― Which
寿司かラーメン、どちらがいいですか？ (すしか らーめん、どちらが いいですか？) ―Which is better, sushi or ramen?
- どれ ― Which
田中さんの家はどれですか？ (たなかさんの いえは どれですか？) ―Which house is Tanaka’s?
Mercifully, the reason for the difference between those two is much more straightforward. どちら is for “which” between two things, while どれ is for more than two.
When
Time for the next question word! Get it? Because it is the question word about time? Haha, ha, ha… Well, get used to it; puns are the go-to jokes in Japanese.
- いつ ― When
いつ日本に来ましたか？ (いつ にほんに きましたか？) ― When did you come to Japan?
- 何時 (なんじ) ― What time
何時ですか？ (なんじですか？) ― What time is it?
何時 (なんじ) is one of those “what”-based words where the “i” is dropped from 何 (なに) that was mentioned earlier. 何 (なに) + 時 (じ) literally means “what hour.”
Where
The vocabulary for “where,” determining place, is fairly direct.
どこ ― Where
トイレはどこですか？ (といれは どこですか？) ― Where is the bathroom?
Why
The obnoxious favorite question word of children, “why,” has a number of iterations in Japanese. The first two essentially mean the same thing, but vary in formality.
- なぜ ― Why
なぜ電車は遅れていますか？ (なぜ でんしゃは おくれていますか？) ― Why is the train late?
- どうして ― How come
どうしてこのパンは黒いですか？ (どうして このぱんは くろいですか？) ― Why is this bread black?
The third is trickier:
何で (なんで) ― For what reason
何で私に嘘を吐いたの？(なんで わたしに うそをついたの？) ― Why did you lie to me?
The complication is due to the fact that 何で can mean both “why” and “how,” depending on the context.
One way to help separate them and make yourself clear when speaking is to reserve 何で (なんで) for “why” and pronounce the “how” version by combing 何 (なに) and the particle で, signaling “by way of,” which together make “by what means.” (Or you could just use one of the “how” words covered in the next section.)
Both 何で (なんで) and どうして are more informal. Use なぜ for polite conversation.
How
Lastly, the irregular question word breaking the Five W mold: “how.” As seen previously, some question words will have various instantiations or different endings added onto the same root. This one does both.
- どう ― How
どうですか？ ― How is it?
- どうやって ― How do you do it
ハンバーガーをどうやって食べますか？ (はんばーがーを どうやって たべますか？) ― How do you eat a hamburger?
- いくら ― How much
この靴はいくらですか？ (このくつは いくらですか？) ― How much are these shoes?
- いくつ ― How many
いくつ欲しいの？ (いくつ ほしいの？) ― How many do you want?
Though there are several ways of asking “how,” they all have different flavors and are appropriate for different situations.
So now we have mastered Japanese questions!
Well, not entirely.
In fact, there are still quite a lot question words are capable of and much more nuance regarding questions in general. But, at least you’ve got a solid grasp of the essentials so you can engage in conversation. And if you have questions, now you can just ask!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)