Japanese Question Words: How to Ask Who, What, Where & When
You already know how to make a yes/no question by adding か (ka) to the end of a sentence. But what if you need to ask for specific information, like "what," "who," or "when"?
For that, you need Interrogatives, or "question words." You simply place the question word where the information would go in a normal sentence and end the sentence with か (ka).
The structure is simple: (Topic) は [Question Word] ですか。
The Basic Question Words
Here are the most fundamental question words you'll need for everyday conversations.
| Question Word | Example Sentence & Meaning |
|---|---|
| 何 (なに/なん) What |
これは何ですか。(Kore wa nan desu ka?) What is this? |
| 誰 (だれ) Who |
あの人は誰ですか。(Ano hito wa dare desu ka?) Who is that person? |
| いつ When |
誕生日はいつですか。(Tanjōbi wa itsu desu ka?) When is your birthday? |
| どこ Where |
駅はどこですか。(Eki wa doko desu ka?) Where is the station? |
| どうして/なぜ Why |
どうして日本語を勉強しますか。(Dōshite nihongo o benkyō shimasu ka?) Why do you study Japanese? (Note: なぜ (naze) is a bit more formal than どうして.) |
| どう How |
日本の生活はどうですか。(Nihon no seikatsu wa dō desu ka?) How is life in Japan? |
| いくら How much (cost) |
このかばんはいくらですか。(Kono kaban wa ikura desu ka?) How much is this bag? |
何: なん (nan) vs なに (nani)?
A common question! It's usually read as なん (nan) before です (desu) or words starting with 't', 'd', or 'n' sounds. In most other cases, it's なに (nani). For example, 何を (nani o)食べますか。
Congratulations! You have now mastered the absolute basics of Japanese sentence rules. You know the parts of speech, the S-O-V sentence structure, how to make statements negative or into questions, and how to point to things and ask for information.
With this foundation, you are ready to move on to Part 1's next chapter, where we will dive deeper into each part of speech, starting with nouns.