How to ask questions in Japanese?

Yes-No questions are questions that can be answered with はい (transcribed hai, meaning “yes”) or いいえ (transcribed iie, meaning “no”).

If you’re looking for confirmation of something you’re pretty sure of already, you can use the particle ね (transcribed ne) in place of か (transcribed ka).

Alternative questions offer the listener two or more options, requiring the listener to choose one. In Japanese, they are formed by combining asking two yes-no questions, back-to-back, sometimes with the word それとも (transcribed soretomo, meaning “or”) between them.

Wh-questions are questions that include a question word like 何 (transcribed nani, meaning “what”) and いつ (transcribed itsu, meaning “when”). They are more open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.

In English, the question word always comes first, but in Japanese it comes in the same place where the answer to the question would come in a statement. Don’t forget to add the question marker か (transcribed ka) at the end though! For example:

Question adverbs, though, do tend to come at the beginning of a question.

When you’re asking about the subject of a sentence, it should always be followed by the particle が (transcribed ga), rather than the topic marker は (transcribed wa).

There are various question words in Japanese. In the next section, we will discuss them in more detail so that you can select the most suitable one for your question!

The question pronoun 何 (transcribed nani) is used to ask “what.”

When it’s followed by any of the sounds in the な (transcribed na), た (transcribed ta), or だ (transcribed da)-lines of the Hiragana chart, 何 (transcribed nani) is pronounced (transcribed nan), since that’s easier to say.

You can combine 何 (transcribed nani) with the particle の (transcribed no) as a way to modify a noun.

The question words 誰 (transcribed dare) and どなた (transcribed donata) are both used to ask “who,” but どなた (transcribed donata) carries a much more polite and sophisticated connotation.

誰 (transcribed dare) can be connected with another noun using the particle の (transcribed no) to ask about the possessor of something, just like “whose” in English.

The question words どこ (transcribed doko) and どちら (transcribed dochira) are used to ask “where.” どこ (transcribed doko) is more common in everyday conversation, while どちら (transcribed dochira) sounds much more polite.

We often use these words to ask about where someone works or goes to school.

You can use a noun + の (transcribed no) before どこ (transcribed doko) as a way to ask “what part of…” or “where in…”

In Japanese we use the word どれ (transcribed dore) to ask “which one”, if you’re choosing from three or more options.

If you’re choosing between just a pair of options, though, you’d use どっち (transcribed docchi), or its polite version どちら (transcribed dochira).

どちら (transcribed dochira) and どっち (transcribed docchi) can also be used to ask for directions, meaning “which way.”

The question word いつ (transcribed itsu) is used to ask "when.”

If you want to ask “around when” or “about when,” you can add ごろ (transcribed goro) after いつ (transcribed itsu).

While you can answer an いつ (transcribed itsu) question with an exact time, you can more specifically ask for a clock time can ask “at what time” using 何 (transcribed nani) + time counter. Check out our post on clock time in Japanese to learn more!

Use the word どの (transcribed dono) before a noun to mean “which”, when you’re picking between three or more options.

どんな (transcribed don’na) or どういう (transcribed dōiu), or the more formal word どのような (transcribed donoyōna), are used before a noun to ask “what kind of…”.

どういう (transcribed dōiu) can be used before 意味 (transcribed imi, meaning “meaning”) or こと (transcribed koto, meaning “thing”) as a way to seek clarification about the meaning of what somebody said or why they said what they did.

The word どうして (transcribed dōshite) is used to ask “why” in most circumstances. For a more casual equivalent, use なんで (transcribed nande), and for a more formal or bookish word use なぜ (transcribed naze).

When using these adverbs in question sentences, it's common to add the sentence-ending expression のだ (transcribed no da) or んだ (transcribed n da).

To ask “how” in Japanese, use the word どう (transcribed dō). This word is used to ask about the way or manner in which something was done.

The phrase どうやって (transcribed dō yatte) is often used instead of どう (transcribed dō) when you’re asking how someone does something. やって (transcribed yatte) is the te-form of the verb やる (transcribed yaru, meaning “to do”).

The phrase どのくらい (transcribed dono kurai) is used to ask about about a quantity (“how much” or “how many”) or to ask “how long” something lasts. You can optionally replace くらい (transcribed kurai) with ぐらい (transcribed gurai).

You can also sometimes use いくつ (transcribed ikutsu) for “how many,” as long as the item you’re asking about can be counted using the Japanese counters 〜つ (transcribed tsu) or 〜個 (transcribed ko).

When asking about the approximate number of items, you can add ぐらい (transcribed gurai).

Please note that for those items that require counters other than 〜つ (transcribed tsu) and 〜個 (transcribed ko), you’ll need to use either どのくらい (transcribed dono kurai), a generic “how many?”, or 何 (transcribed nani) + the appropriate counter word, which is more like “what number of…”, as in:

いくつ (transcribed ikutsu) can also be used to ask about someone’s age, like you might use the question phrase 何歳 (transcribed nan sai, meaning “how old”). When using it this way, you can make the question more polite by adding the prefix お (transcribed o).

• いくつ (transcribed ikutsu) is more commonly used to ask a child how old they are.

  To a child:

  今、いくつなの？

  Transcription: Ima, ikutsu na no?

  Translation: How old are you now?

• 何歳 (transcribed nan sai) or おいくつ (transcribed oikutsu) are more commonly used for adults, with おいくつ (transcribed oikutsu) sounding a little more polite.

  To an adult:

  失礼ですが、今、おいくつですか。

  Transcription: Shitsurei desu ga, ima, oikutsu desu ka?

  Translation: Excuse me, but how old are you now?

The question word いくら (transcribed ikura) is another way to say “how much.” You can use it to ask about quantity in general, but it’s most commonly used to as something’s price. You can add the prefix お (transcribed o) to make it polite.

When you use a question word followed by the particle か (transcribed ka), it creates an indefinite pronoun like “something” or “somewhere.” The table below summarizes the combinations of question words and か (transcribed ka).

Here are some examples.

Questions words followed by the particle も (transcribed mo), can be used to form indefinite pronouns either of the “every”-type (e.g. “everyone” or “everything”) or of the “not any”-type (e.g. “not anyone” or “nothing”).

• In a negative sentence, these words work like “not any-” indefinite words, indicating the 100% absence something:

  Question word + も (transcribed mo)	English
  何も Transcription: nani mo	not anything, nothing
  誰も Transcription: dare mo	not anybody, nobody
  どこも Transcription: doko mo	not anywhere, nowhere
  どれも Transcription: dore mo	not any of them, none of them
  どちらも Transcription: dochira mo どっちも Transcription: docchi mo	neither of them

• In an affirmative sentence, these words work like “every-” indefinite words, indicating 100% presence of something.

  Question word + も (transcribed mo)	English
  どこも Transcription: doko mo	everywhere
  どれも Transcription: dore mo	every one of them
  どちらも Transcription: dochira mo どっちも Transcription: docchi mo	both of them
  どの … も Transcription: dono … mo	every one of…
  どんな Transcription: don’na どういう Transcription: dōiu どのような … も Transcription: donoyōna … mo	any (kind of)...

When you use particles other than は (transcribed wa), が (transcribed ga), and を (transcribed o) after these expressions, they are inserted between the question word and も (transcribed mo), as in:

Let’s look at some examples of how to use these in sentences. Notice how whether the sentence is affirmative or negative impacts the meaning of the indefinite word.

Lastly, when you use a question word before でも (transcribed demo), it forms the “any”-type indefinite pronouns that you would use in an affirmative sentence, like “anything (you want)” or “(go) anywhere.”

Once again, notice that particles other than は (transcribed wa), が (transcribed ga), and を (transcribed o) are inserted between the question word and でも (transcribed demo), like:

Here are some examples in sentences.