Asking a question: か
… ですか。
Sentence + か = question. For an open question, the question word takes the place of the answer.
In short
To ask a question, you simply add か at the end of the sentence. No change in word order, no question mark required: the sentence ends with “。”.
- がくせいですか。gakusei desu kaAre you a student?
- これは なんですか。kore wa nan desu kaWhat is this?
- にほんじんですか。nihonjin desu kaAre you Japanese?
The basics
To turn a statement into a question, you add か at the end. That's all: no swapping the subject and verb, no “do”. The word order stays the same as in the statement.
In writing, the sentence often ends with 。 rather than a question mark: か already does the job. When speaking, your voice rises slightly on か.
- がくせいです。→ がくせいですか。gakusei desu → gakusei desu kaHe's a student. → Is he a student?
- にほんじんですか。nihonjin desu kaAre you Japanese?
With a question word
For open questions, the question word simply takes the place of the expected answer, where it would be in the statement. なん (what), だれ (who), どこ (where): the sentence keeps the same shape, with か at the end.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| これは なんですか。 | これは ほんです。 |
| あの ひとは だれですか。 | あの ひとは やまださんです。 |
| トイレは どこですか。 | トイレは あそこです。 |
- これは なんですか。kore wa nan desu kaWhat is this?
- トイレは どこですか。toire wa doko desu kaWhere are the toilets?
Answering yes or no
To a yes-or-no question, you answer はい (yes) or いいえ (no), then repeat the sentence. Careful: はい confirms what the other person has just said. So to a negative question, はい means “that's right, it isn't so”.
- はい、がくせいです。hai, gakusei desuYes, I'm a student.
- いいえ、がくせいじゃありません。iie, gakusei ja arimasenNo, I'm not a student.
Common mistakes
- Moving words around as you would in English: “ですか がくせい” makes no sense, the order stays the same as in the statement.
- Adding か to a sentence that already has なん or どこ but no です: say なんですか, not なんか (which means something else).
- Answering はい to a negative question when you mean “yes, it is”: はい confirms the other person's sentence, negation included.
5 exercises on this point
Particles to choose, sentences to put back in order, translations: marked straight away, then reviewed at the right time. This JLPT N5 point is on the Chiyoda Line (First words) of the Tokyo subway.