EP 9: How to Ask Questions in Japanese

Asking Questions during conversation in Japanese

So in one of my earlier episode i have briefly mentioned about ‘Desu ka’ (ですか） which can give you the sense that someone is asking you a question.

Recently I have came across some useful question words that can be super useful for your conversation and listening skills too. So the basic list of question words are:

• だれ (dare): “Who?”

  誰ですか。/ Dare desu ka / “Who is it?

• なに (nani): “What?”

  なになに？Nani Nani? Probably not grammatically correct or polite but I often hear it in conversation

• いつ (itsu): “When?”

  いつは会えますか (Itsu wa aemasu ka): “When can we meet?”

• どこ (doko): “Where?”

  This is super useful. You can just add a word in front of (_________ wa doko desu ka) to turn it into a question like “Where is X?”

  Toire wa Doko desu ka? / Where is the toilet?

• どうして (doushite): “Why?”

  This is not formal nor polite, so can be a good ‘why’ to learn for most situation. But sometimes during conversation I heard the word “nande” which also means why / for what?

  なんで (nande) can also be used as a conversation filler if you forget what you were trying to say…for instance: Ah nande… / Ah, what was i saying…”

  Doushite nemui desu ka? / Why are you sleepy?

  Nanade doushita kanashi no? / What's the matter with you? or What's wrong with you?

• どう (dou): “How?”

  どうすればよいですか。 / Dou sureba yoi desu ka / “How do I do this?”

• どちら? (dochira): “Which?” / “Dono: Which?”

  どちらをえらびますか / Dochira wo erabimasu ka / “Which will you choose?”

  Dochira is used when choices are limited to 2. ( A or B). Dono is used when there are many choices.

  どの映画が好きですか？/ Dono eiga ga sukidesu ka? / Which movie do you like?

  I believe どんな (Donna) can also be used for “Which?”. No idea what the difference is between Dono and Donna. (Note to self: ask sensei!)

Now let me type out some useful questions that you may often use in a conversation:

• どこに住んでいますか (doko ni sunde imasu ka) – “Where do you live?”

• どこで働いていますか (doko de hataraite imasu ka) – “Where do you work?”

• トイレがどこですか (toire ga doko desu ka) – “Where is the bathroom?”

• いくら必要ですか。(Ikura hitsuyou desu ka) - “How much do you need?”

• いくつ持っていますか。(Ikutsu motte imasu ka) - “How many do you have?”

• どこにいますか (doko ni imasu ka) - “where are you?”

• 今日はどうでしたか (kyo wa dou deshita ka). - “How was your day/ how was today?”

• 何歳ですか (Nansai desu ka) – “How old are you?”

• お勧めの映画はありますか？Osusume no eiga wa arimasuka? - “Can you recommend me a movie?”

• 最近何を観ましたか？ Saikin nani wo mimashita ka? / What [film] have you seen recently?

• 何してるの？ Nani shiteru no? - What are you up to?

• 何飲んでるの？ Nani nonderu no? - What are you drinking?

• 何食べてるの？ Nani tabeteru no? - What are you eating?

Thats all for today! See you Tomorrow! Mata ashita!