The か particle
か is a type of particle called a sentence-ending particle—you stick it onto the end of the sentence to get its effect. To make a yes/no question in Japanese, just add か to the statement.
So, let’s use our example from before, 「がくせいです」 (which, if you recall, has a dropped (null) subject, so we will assume the subject is “I”). It’s translated as “I am a student.” If we add か to the end of the sentence, we make it into a yes/no question: 「がくせいですか」 It doesn’t make much sense for me to ask if “I” am a student (I mean, maybe I have amnesia or something, idk. It all has to do with context), so the null subject in this case is you. “Are you a student?”
Of course, if you want to specify the subject, you sure as heck can! 「リアムは がくせいですか」 “Is Liam(/you) a student?”
Note: in Japanese, if you know someone’s name, it is very rude to call them “you.” Call them by their family name + さん if they are acquaintances/just met, or just their given name if they are a friend.
In casual conversations, you do not need to use か, and can use a rising intonation instead.
- Polite:
- 先生ですか。(せんせいですか, Are you a teacher? Are they a teacher?)
- 田中さんは医者ですか。(たなかさんは いしゃですか, Is Tanaka a doctor? (If you are Tanaka) Are you a doctor?)
- Casual (remember, だ is the casual form of です):
- 日本人だ？ (にほんじんだ, Are you a Japanese person? Are they a Japanese person? Are they Japanese people?)
- ベンはオタクだ？ (べんは おたくだ, Is Ben a nerd? (If you are Ben) Are you a nerd?)
Question Words
Like our who, what, where, when, why, and how, Japanese has many question words. However, while we make our question words a group of words that are all similar, Japanese usually groups indeterminate question words with their determinate counterparts. For example, the word which one, どれ, is in a group with this one, これ, that one, それ, and that one over there, あれ. However, the biggest and most important question word in Japanese stands alone: 何 (なに, what).
In English, when we use a question word, we invert the order of the sentence. Your name is Luke. becomes What is your name? You see how Luke became What and swapped places with your name? That doesn’t happen in Japanese. We leave things where they are and just replace what you want to know with the question word.
あの人の名前はビルです。(あのひとのなまえは びるです, That person’s name is Bill.)
あの人の名前は何ですか。(あのひとのなまえは なんですか, What is that person’s name?)
あなたの名前は何ですか。(あなたのなまえは なんですか, What is your name?)
僕の名前は何だ？(ぼくのなまえは なんだ, What’s my name?)
Note: When 何 is attached to other words, it is usually pronounced なん instead of なに.
Implicit Questions
It is very common in speech, even when speaking politely, to shorten questions. One way to do this is to affix the politeness marker お～ to the beginning of the thing you want to know, then adding は with a rising intonation. For example, if you wanted to ask someone’s name, you could ask: お名前は？(おなまえは, As for your name?) By addressing a new topic with は, we are putting the other person’s name into the spotlight. Adding the お～ prefix keeps it polite even without です, and the rising intonation prompts the listener to respond. It’s very elegant and makes so much sense!
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