# Questions

https://langs123.com/en/japanese/sentence-basics/questions/
CEFR A0–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> **か** turns a sentence into a question; question words such as **なん**, **だれ** and **どこ** stand where the answer will stand. Add **か** at the end; the word order stays the same: これはほん**ですか**。

## Summary

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pattern | noun + **は** + noun + **ですか** | これはほん**ですか**。 | Is this a book? |
| Question word | It takes the place of the answer; **か** still ends the sentence. | これは**なん**ですか。 — ペンです。 | What is this? — It is a pen. |
| Words | **なん** “what”, **だれ** “who”, **どこ** “where”. | トイレは**どこ**ですか。 — あそこです。 | Where is the toilet? — Over there. |
| Answers | **はい** “yes”, **いいえ** “no”, then the answer. | **はい**、ほんです。 / **いいえ**、ノートです。 | Yes, it is a book. / No, it is a notebook. |
| Intonation | The voice rises on **か**. | これはほんですか。↗ | Is this a book? |
| More words | **いつ** “when”, **いくら** “how much”, **どれ** “which”, **どう** “how”. | この本ほんは**いくら**ですか。 — 800円えんです。 | How much is this book? — It is 800 yen. |
| Verbs | The answer repeats the verb. | あした日本にほんへ行いき**ますか**。 — はい、行いきます。 | Are you going to Japan tomorrow? — Yes, I am. |
| Subject | A question word as the subject takes **が**. | **だれが**来きますか。 — たなかさんが来きます。 | Who is coming? — Tanaka-san is coming. |
| Why | **どうして** asks for a reason; the answer ends in **から**. | **どうして**きのう休やすみましたか。 — びょうきでしたから。 | Why were you absent from school yesterday? — Because I was ill. |
| Negative question | **はい** agrees with the question as asked; **いいえ** corrects it. | たなかさんは学生がくせいじゃありませんか。 — いいえ、学生がくせい**です**。 | Isn’t Tanaka-san a student? — No, he is a student. |
| Trap | A polite question ends in **か**; rising voice alone is casual. | あした日本にほんへ行いきます**か**。 | Are you going to Japan tomorrow? |

## Overview

- **か** at the end makes a question; the word order stays the same. これはほん**ですか**。 (Is this a book?)
- A question word stands where the answer will stand; the rest of the sentence stays. これはほんです。 / これは**なん**ですか。 (This is a book. / What is this?)
- A question word as the subject takes **が**. See は and が.

## Form: questions with か

| Form | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| noun + **は** + noun + **ですか** | これはほん**ですか**。 | Is this a book? |
| noun + **は** + adjective + **ですか** | そのラーメンはおいし**いですか**。 | Is that ramen good? |
| noun + **でしたか** | きのうはあめ**でしたか**。 | Was it rainy yesterday? |
| verb + **ますか** | あした日本にほんへ行いき**ますか**。 | Are you going to Japan tomorrow? |
| verb + **ましたか** | 日本にほんへ行いき**ましたか**。 | Did you go to Japan? |

- **か** follows the polite ending without a pause: **ですか**, **ますか**.
- The forms of **ます** are in The ます-Form; the past of **です** is in です: Am, Is, Are.

## Question words

| Word | Meaning | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **なん** | “what” | これは**なん**ですか。 — ペンです。 | What is this? — It is a pen. |
| **だれ** | “who” | あのひとは**だれ**ですか。 — たなかさんです。 | Who is that person? — That is Tanaka-san. |
| **どこ** | “where” | トイレは**どこ**ですか。 — あそこです。 | Where is the toilet? — Over there. |
| **いつ** | “when” | パーティーは**いつ**ですか。 — 土曜日どようびです。 | When is the party? — On Saturday. |
| **いくら** | “how much” (price) | この本ほんは**いくら**ですか。 — 800円えんです。 | How much is this book? — It is 800 yen. |
| **どれ** | “which” of three or more things | あなたのかさは**どれ**ですか。 — あれです。 | Which one is your umbrella? — That one over there. |
| **どう** | “how”, “what is it like” | 日本にほんのりょうりは**どう**ですか。 — とてもおいしいです。 | How is Japanese food? — Very tasty. |
| **何時****なんじ** | “what time” | 今いま、**何時****なんじ**ですか。 — 三時さんじです。 | What time is it now? — It is three o’clock. |
| **どうして** | “why” | **どうして**きのう休やすみましたか。 — びょうきでしたから。 | Why were you absent from school yesterday? — Because I was ill. |

- **なに** becomes **なん** before **です**, **の** and counters, and stays **なに** before **を**, **が** and **も**; one kanji writes both. **何****なん**ですか。 / **何****なに**を食たべますか。 (What is this? / What do you eat?)
- A question word as the subject takes **が**; the answer takes **が** too. **だれが**日本にほんへ行いきますか。 (Who is going to Japan?)
- **どれ** and its family **どの**, **どこ**, **どちら** are in こそあど: This, That, Which; the time in Telling the Time; the prices in Counters.

## Answers

| Answer | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Yes | これはほんですか。 — **はい**、ほんです。 | Is this a book? — Yes, it is a book. |
| No | これはほんですか。 — **いいえ**、ノートです。 | Is this a book? — No, it is a notebook. |
| Yes to a verb | あした日本にほんへ行いきますか。 — はい、行いき**ます**。 | Are you going to Japan tomorrow? — Yes, I am. |
| No to a verb | あした日本にほんへ行いきますか。 — いいえ、行いき**ません**。 | Are you going to Japan tomorrow? — No, I am not. |
| Agreeing with a negative question | たなかさんは学生がくせいじゃありませんか。 — **はい**、学生がくせいじゃありません。 | Isn’t Tanaka-san a student? — Right, he is not a student. |
| Correcting a negative question | たなかさんは学生がくせいじゃありませんか。 — **いいえ**、学生がくせいです。 | Isn’t Tanaka-san a student? — No, he is a student. |

- **はい** or **いいえ** comes first; the answer after it has no **か**.
- **はい** confirms what the question says, positive or negative; **いいえ** denies it.
- The short answers **そうです** and **ちがいます** are in です: Am, Is, Are.

## Pronunciation: intonation

| Form | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| With **か**: the voice rises on **か** | これはほんですか。↗ | Is this a book? |
| Casual speech without **か**: the voice rises on the last syllable | コーヒー、飲のむ↗ — うん、飲のむ↘ | Want some coffee? — Yeah, I do. |

- In writing, a polite question ends in **か** and **。**; **？** belongs to casual messages. See The Plain Form.

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| これはほんです？ | これはほん**ですか**。 | a polite question ends in **か**; rising voice alone is casual |
| **だれは**来きますか。 | **だれが**来きますか。 | a question word as the subject takes **が**, not **は** |
| たなかさんは学生がくせいじゃありませんか。 — はい、学生がくせいです。 | たなかさんは学生がくせいじゃありませんか。 — **いいえ**、学生がくせいです。 | **はい** agrees with the negative question, so “he is a student” needs **いいえ** |