Questions with か
Question formation with か and question words
Can form yes/no and WH-questions
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
これは何ですか。
What is this?
トイレはどこですか。
Where is the toilet?
誰が来ましたか。
Who came?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
疑問文 — Questions
Japanese questions are formed simply by adding か to the end. No word order change!
Yes/No questions: Statement + か
WH-questions: Replace the unknown part with a question word, add か.
| Question word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 何(なに/なん) | what | これは何ですか。(What is this?) |
| 誰(だれ) | who | あの人は誰ですか。(Who is that person?) |
| どこ | where | トイレはどこですか。(Where is the toilet?) |
| いつ | when | テストはいつですか。(When is the test?) |
| どうして/なぜ | why | どうして来ましたか。(Why did you come?) |
| どう | how | 日本語はどうですか。(How is Japanese?) |
| いくら | how much | これはいくらですか。(How much is this?) |
Rule: Question words use が as subject marker, not は: 誰が来ましたか。
Casual questions: Drop か and use rising intonation: これ、何？(What's this?)
これは何ですか。
What is this?
これ(this) + は(topic) + 何(なに, what) + ですか(is?)
トイレはどこですか。
Where is the toilet?
トイレ(toilet) + は(topic) + どこ(where) + ですか — an essential survival phrase!
誰が来ましたか。
Who came?
誰(だれ, who) + が(subject, NOT は) + 来ました(きました, came) + か
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises