Japanese questions are simpler than English ones: you don’t reorder the sentence — you keep normal word order, drop a question word into the slot where the answer goes, and stick か on the end. The core words are だれ (who), なに/なん (what), いつ (when), どこ (where), どうして / なぜ (why), and どう (how) — plus the choosing trio どれ / どの / どんな. Master these and you can ask anything, with furigana examples throughout.
Most beginners spend months building a vocabulary they can only use to make statements. But a conversation is powered by questions — they’re how you keep a talk alive, get the word you’re missing, and turn a monologue into an exchange. The good news is that Japanese question formation is remarkably regular. Learn one small system and you unlock the ability to ask about anything.
This guide gives you three things: the yes/no question engine (か), the full question-word set (the 5W1H), and the two grammar rules — where the question word sits, and why it demands が — that separate natural questions from textbook-sounding ones.
Step 1: The か That Turns Any Statement Into a Question
English flips word order (“This is a pen” → “Is this a pen?”). Japanese does nothing of the sort. You keep the sentence exactly as it is and add か.
In polite speech, か does all the work — no rising intonation required. In casual speech people often drop か and just raise their pitch: 元気？ (You good?).
Step 2: The 5W1H — Your Complete Question-Word Set
Here is the whole toolkit. Notice how many share the ど- root — the same root behind the こそあど demonstratives — which is your built-in signal that a word is asking something.
| Question word | Meaning | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| だれ / どなた | who / who (polite) | dare / donata |
| 何 / 何 | what | nani / nan |
| いつ | when | itsu |
| どこ | where | doko |
| どうして / なぜ / なんで | why (neutral / formal / casual) | dōshite / naze / nande |
| どう / どうやって | how (in what way) / by what method | dō / dōyatte |
| どれ / どの / どんな | which one / which + noun / what kind of | dore / dono / donna |
| いくつ / いくら | how many / how much (price) | ikutsu / ikura |
Step 3: Put the Question Word Where the Answer Goes
This is the single most important rule, and it’s what makes Japanese questions easy once it clicks: the question word occupies the exact slot the answer would fill. The sentence frame never moves.
See how 何 and パン sit in the same を-slot? That’s the whole trick. To ask, you don’t rebuild the sentence — you swap the unknown for a question word.
For politeness (asking a customer or superior who someone is), use どなた: どなたですか. In business settings this softness matters.
いつ takes no particle for time (never いつに at the start of a question). どこ behaves like a normal place noun: どこで働きますか (where do you work?), どこにいますか (where are you?) — the same に vs で logic applies.
どう asks “in what state / how is it going.” For “by what method” use どうやって: 駅までどうやって行きますか (how do you get to the station?).
Register ladder: なんで (casual, spoken) < どうして (neutral, everyday) < なぜ (formal, written). Answer a why-question with …から / …からです to close the loop.
Step 4: The どれ / どの / どんな Trio (Choosing)
These three all mean roughly “which,” but they attach differently — a classic exam point.
The line: どれ stands alone (“which one?”). どの must be followed by a noun (“which train?”). どんな asks about type or quality, not identity (“what sort of…?”).
The が Rule That Separates Natural from Textbook
This is the mistake that instantly marks a beginner. A question word is, by definition, unknown information — and Japanese marks unknown or new subjects with が, never the topic particle は.
The が carries through to the answer, because the identity of the person is the new information the whole exchange is about. This mirrors the deeper は vs が logic: が spotlights new information, は frames the already-known.
Bonus: Question Words That Become “Some / Any / Every”
Add a particle to a question word and it stops asking — it starts quantifying. This one pattern multiplies your range enormously.
| + か = some- | + も (+ neg) = no- | + でも = any- |
|---|---|---|
| 誰か — someone | 誰も…ない — no one | 誰でも — anyone |
| 何か — something | 何も…ない — nothing | 何でも — anything |
| どこか — somewhere | どこも…ない — nowhere | どこでも — anywhere |
How to Make Questions Automatic
Knowing the words is one thing; producing the right question at conversation speed is another. Two principles turn this list into a reflex:
- Drill question-and-answer as a unit. Don’t memorize 何 alone — memorize 何を食べますか paired with パンを食べます. Storing the full exchange trains the slot-swap that makes questions effortless.
- Review before you forget. The が-not-は rule and the どれ/どの/どんな split fade fast because they’re fine distinctions. Spaced repetition resurfaces each one at the edge of forgetting — exactly when review builds the strongest memory.
This is the loop Kanjijo is built for — grammar and vocabulary taught inside real sentences and scheduled so they stick:
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Frequently Asked Questions
The core set covers who, what, when, where, why and how: だれ (who), なに/なん (what), いつ (when), どこ (where), どうして/なぜ (why), and どう (how). Three more built on the ど- root handle choosing: どれ (which one), どの (which + noun), and どんな (what kind of). Add いくつ (how many) and いくら (how much), and you can ask almost anything.
Take a normal statement and add か to the end: これはペンです becomes これはペンですか (Is this a pen?). Japanese does not invert word order the way English does — the sentence stays in the same order and か marks it as a question. To ask about specific information, drop the question word into the exact slot where the answer would go: なにを食べますか keeps the same を slot the answer would fill.
Question words carry new, unknown information, and Japanese marks unknown or new subjects with が, never the topic particle は. So it is だれが来ますか (who is coming?), not だれは来ますか. The same rule flips the answer: 田中さんが来ます uses が too, because the identity of the person is the new information the question was asking for.
They are the same word 何 read two ways. It is read なん before sounds in the t-, d-, and n-rows and before counters: なんですか (what is it?), なんじ (what time?), なんにん (how many people?). It is read なに elsewhere, especially before particles like を and が: なにを食べますか, なにが好きですか. When in doubt, if the next sound is t/d/n or a counter, say なん.
From memorizing words to holding a conversation
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