Asking questions

Asking is how you get the rest of the language for free. Every question you can form is a way of making somebody else supply the word you are missing, and Japanese makes questions cheaper than almost any language you could pick: there is no inversion, no helper verb, and no change to the sentence you already know how to say. You add one kana to the end.

か on the end

Take any statement, polite or plain, and put か after it. That is the entire operation. The word order does not move and the verb stays where it was.

やまださん は せんせい です か
yamada san wa sensei desu ka
Is Mr Yamada a teacher?

コーヒー を のみます か
koohii o nomimasu ka
Do you drink coffee?

あした ほん を かいます か
ashita hon o kaimasu ka
Are you going to buy a book tomorrow?

In writing, Japanese usually ends these with a full stop rather than a question mark, because か has already done the job. You will see both, and neither is wrong. In speech, the pitch rises slightly on か, though nothing like as far as an English question rises.

To answer, you repeat the verb rather than borrowing a helper the way English borrows "do".

のみます か。はい、のみます
nomimasu ka. hai, nomimasu
Do you drink it? Yes, I do

がくせい です か。いいえ、がくせい じゃ ありません
gakusei desu ka. iie, gakusei ja arimasen
Are you a student? No, I am not

The question words

Each of these is an ordinary noun as far as the grammar is concerned. It sits in the slot where the answer would sit, and it takes whatever particle that slot would take.

なに and なん are the same word. It is なん before です and before a counter, なに almost everywhere else. なん です か, なんじ, なんにん, but なに を たべます か.

Where the question word goes

This is the part that feels strange for about a day and then becomes obvious. English drags its question word to the front of the sentence. Japanese leaves it exactly where the answer belongs.

なに を たべます か
nani o tabemasu ka
What are you going to eat?

だれ が きます か
dare ga kimasu ka
Who is coming?

トイレ は どこ です か
toire wa doko desu ka
Where is the toilet?

Compare the answers and the shape is identical. なに を たべます か is answered by パン を たべます, in the same slot, with the same particle. The question is the answer with a hole in it.

Question words take が, never は

Lesson five ended with a promise, and this is it. は marks something the listener already has in mind. A question word is by definition the thing nobody has in mind yet, so it cannot be a topic.

だれ が やまださん です か
dare ga yamada san desu ka
Which one of you is Mr Yamada?

どれ が わたし の かさ です か
dore ga watashi no kasa desu ka
Which one is my umbrella?

なに が しゅみ です か
nani ga shumi desu ka
What is your hobby?

The answer inherits the particle. Asked だれ が きます か, you answer やまださん が きます, not やまださん は きます, because the questioner was picking one person out of several and your answer supplies that one person.

Asking when and what time

いつ is the broad one and asks for a day, a month or a vaguer stretch. なんじ asks for a reading off a clock. Neither takes に, because に belongs to the answer, not the question.

いつ えいが を みます か
itsu eiga o mimasu ka
When are you going to watch the film?

なんじ に あさごはん を たべます か
nanji ni asagohan o tabemasu ka
What time do you eat breakfast?

たんじょうび は いつ です か
tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka
When is your birthday?

That last one takes は quite legitimately, because the birthday is old information and いつ is the new part. The rule is not that questions take が; it is that the question word does.

Asking how much and how many

いくら is money and only money. For counting things you use いくつ, or the counter with なん in front of it: なんにん for people, なんまい for flat things, なんぼん for long things.

これ は いくら です か
kore wa ikura desu ka
How much is this?

りんご を いくつ かいます か
ringo o ikutsu kaimasu ka
How many apples are you buying?

なんにん です か
nan nin desu ka
How many people?

Asking why, and softening it

どうして asks for a reason. It is a plain word and carries no rudeness in itself, but a bare どうして です か can land hard, in the way a bare English "why?" can. In a shop or with somebody you have just met, most speakers soften a question by trailing off rather than by adding words.

どうして にほんご を ならいます か
doushite nihongo o naraimasu ka
Why are you learning Japanese?

これ は どう です か
kore wa dou desu ka
How about this one?

おなまえ は
onamae wa
Your name, please?

That last shape, a topic with は and nothing after it, is one of the most useful things in the lesson. Set the topic and stop, and the listener fills the rest in. It is polite, short, and it works with anything: おしごと は, たんじょうび は, にほんご は.

What learners get wrong

The first mistake is moving the question word to the front out of English habit. なに を たべます か is right; を なに たべます か is not a sentence.

The second is putting は on the question word. だれ は きます か is wrong every time. Use が.

The third is answering はい to a negative question and expecting it to mean what English means. Asked たべません か, はい agrees with the question as asked, so it means "correct, I do not". Answer with the verb instead of the bare particle and the ambiguity disappears.

Vocabulary

• なに (nani): what
• だれ (dare): who
• どこ (doko): where
• いつ (itsu): when
• どうして (doushite): why
• どう (dou): how
• いくら (ikura): how much
• いくつ (ikutsu): how many
• どれ (dore): which one
• はい (hai): yes
• いいえ (iie): no
• かさ (kasa): umbrella
• おなまえ (onamae): your name
• しゅみ (shumi): hobby
• きます (kimasu): come