| Creating basic questions is extremely easy in Japanese. Adding
the question particle か (ka) after the closing verb makes the sentence
a question.The word order in Japanese doesn't change, though the
inflection does of course.
| |
明日、来ます。 |
→ |
明日、来ますか。 |
| Ashita kimasu. |
→ |
Ashita kimasu ka. |
| I'm coming tomorrow. |
→ |
Are you coming tomorrow? |
| |
In the spoken language か is sometimes dropped. When the question
particle か is dropped, the "u" from "-masu"
becomes voiced and a questionmark is added. The same goes for "desu".
| |
明日、来ます。 |
→ |
明日、来ます? |
| Ashita kimasu. |
→ |
Ashita kimasu? |
| I'm coming tomorrow. |
→ |
Are you coming tomorrow? |
| |
In informal use か is hardly ever used. Men may use it on occasion
to sound tough.
| |
明日、来る? |
→ |
明日、来るか。 |
| Ashita kuru? |
→ |
Ashita kuru ka. |
| Are you coming tomorrow? |
→ |
Are you coming tomorrow, or what? |
| |
Note that when か is used the questionmark isn't.
In informal use か (ka) is often replace by の (no), followed by the
question mark.
| |
明日、来る? |
→ |
明日、来るの? |
| Ashita kuru? |
→ |
Ashita kuru no? |
| Are you coming tomorrow? |
→ |
Are you coming tomorrow? |
| |
You cannot use か (ka) and の (no) after the verb だ (da / to be),
in this case だ (da) is dropped and か (ka) is placed directly after
the noun. の (no) is preceded by な (na) when だ (da) is dropped..
| |
猫だ。 |
→ |
猫か。 |
| Neko da. |
→ |
Neko ka. |
| It's a cat. |
→ |
Is it a cat? |
| |
| |
猫だ。 |
→ |
猫なの? |
| Neko da. |
→ |
Neko na no? |
| It's a cat |
→ |
Is it a cat? |
| |
Rethoric questions
A rethoric question is a question to which you don't expect an answer,
or to which you expect a confirming response. By replacing か (ka)
with ね (ne) you can turn an interrogative question into a rethoric
question. The rethoric particle ね (ne) can be used in both polite
forms and informal forms.
| |
明日、来ます。 |
→ |
明日、来ますか。 |
→ |
明日、来ますね。 |
| Ashita kimasu. |
→ |
Ashita kimasu ka. |
→ |
Ashita kimasu ne. |
| I'm coming tomorrow. |
→ |
Are you coming tomorrow? |
→ |
You are coming tomorrow, right? |
| |
| |
クモが怖かったね。
Kumo ga kowakatta ne.
The spider was scary, wasn't it? |
そうね。
Sou ne.
It was, wasn't it. |
| |
Yes and no
The Japanese have several words for yes and no. For "yes",
はい (hai) and ええ (ee) are polite forms, うん (n) is used among friends.
For "no", いいえ (iie) and いえ (ie) are polite, and ううん (nn)
is used between friends. The intonation of ううん starts high, drops
and then rises again. うん and ううん aren't really words, but more sounds,
like the English "uhuh", and "uh-uh".
Negative questions
Negative questions in the present / future tense can often serve
as an invitation.
| |
お茶を飲みませんか。
O-cha wo nomimasen ka.
Won't you have some tea? |
お願いします。
Onegai shimasu.
Yes, please. |
| |
When replying to a negative question, the Japanese confirm or deny
the statement made in the question with yes and no.
| |
明日、行きませんか。
Ashita, ikimasen ka.
Aren't you going tomorrow?
紙がない?
Kami ga nai?
Isn't there any paper? |
はい、行きません。
Hai, ikimasen.
Yes, I'm not going.
うん、ない。
N, nai.
Yes, there isn't. |
いいえ、行きます。
Iie, ikimasu.
No, I am going.
ううん、ある。
Nn, aru.
No, there is. |
| |
Be aware that はい and うん are also used to confirm that someone is
listening. It does not necessarily mean that someone is agreeing
to what you say.
| |
明日、東京に行こう。
Ashita Toukyou ni ikou.
Let's go to Tokyo tomorrow. |
うん。
N.
Non-commital sound. |
| |
When giving an answer you should always repeat the main verb, as
shown above. Only はい or いいえ is not sufficient.
Requests
By making a negative question you can request someone to do something.
| |
お茶を飲みませんか。 (O-cha wo nomimasen ka.)
Won't you have some tea?
これをくださいませんか。 (Kore wo kudasaimasen ka.)
Won't you please give me this?
|
| |
For more information you should refer to the Making
requests.
Related pages:
Rentaikei
+ か (ka)
Rentaikei
+ の (no)
Ren'youkei
+ て (te)
Meireikei
Desiderative
forms
Imperative
forms
Requests
The particle か (ka)
The particle ね (ne)
The particle の (no) |
