Asking Questions: か and Question Words
One tiny particle, か, turns any statement into a question — no word-order gymnastics required. Add the N5 question words and you can ask about anything: what, who, where, when, how and how much.
The easiest questions in any language
English questions are hard work: you swap word order ("You are…" → "Are you…?"), bolt on do/does, and change your intonation. Japanese does none of that. Take any statement from the last chapter and add か to the end — done.
「猫です。」 "It's a cat." → 「猫ですか。」 "Is it a cat?"
か is a spoken question mark. Because of it, formal Japanese doesn't even need the ？ symbol — though you'll see ？ everywhere in games and messages, including in Noun Town.
Listen: asking questions at school
Question words and the か particle, live in conversation. Tap ► to hear native pronunciation.
Lindo君も猫ですか？
Kimi mo nekodesu ka?
Are you a cat too?
PX296いいえ、ロボットですよ
Īe, robottodesu yo
No, I am a robot
Lindoお名前は？
Onamae wa?
What is your name?
PX296ピー・エックス・２９６号です
Pī ekkusu 296 desu
It is PX296
〜ですか — turning statements into questions
Put か directly after です and the sentence becomes a yes/no question. Nothing else moves. In speech, the final か rises in pitch, just like an English question. Subjects stay droppable too: with no topic stated, 「学生ですか。」 naturally means "Are you a student?" because context points at the listener.
学生ですか。
gakusei desu ka.
Are you a student?
No "you" needed — when you ask a question, the topic is usually the listener.
これはパンですか。
kore wa pan desu ka.
Is this bread?
Last chapter's これはパンです plus か — that's the whole trick.
田中さんは先生ですか。
tanaka-san wa sensei desu ka.
Is Mr/Ms Tanaka a teacher?
はい、そうです ／ いいえ、ちがいます — yes and no
The standard answers to a ですか question are はい、そうです ("yes, that's right", literally "it is so") and いいえ、ちがいます ("no, that's wrong", literally "it differs"). You can also skip the formula and simply state the correct fact. One bonus: said with falling intonation, そうですか isn't a question at all — it means "I see / oh really", and you'll hear it constantly in conversation.
「猫ですか。」「はい、そうです。」
neko desu ka. — hai, sō desu.
"Is it a cat?" "Yes, it is."
「先生ですか。」「いいえ、ちがいます。学生です。」
sensei desu ka. — iie, chigaimasu. gakusei desu.
"Are you a teacher?" "No, I'm not. I'm a student."
「犬ですか。」「いいえ、猫です。」
inu desu ka. — iie, neko desu.
"Is it a dog?" "No, it's a cat."
Skipping ちがいます and going straight to the correct answer is perfectly natural.
The N5 question words
To ask an open question, drop a question word into the B slot of AはBですか. The か stays — it's what makes the sentence a question. Here is the full N5 set:
| Word | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 何／何 | nani / nan | what |
| 誰 | dare | who |
| どこ | doko | where |
| いつ | itsu | when |
| どう | dō | how |
| どれ | dore | which one (stands alone) |
| どの | dono | which… (always before a noun) |
| いくら | ikura | how much (price) |
| 何時 | nanji | what time |
Watch the どれ/どの pair: どれ is a pronoun and stands alone (どれですか "which one is it?"), while どの must be glued to a noun (どのペン "which pen").
これは何ですか。
kore wa nan desu ka.
What is this?
トイレはどこですか。
toire wa doko desu ka.
Where is the toilet?
Arguably the most useful sentence for any visitor to Japan.
あの人は誰ですか。
ano hito wa dare desu ka.
Who is that person?
今、何時ですか。
ima, nanji desu ka.
What time is it now?
なん or なに? Reading 何
The kanji 何 ("what") has two readings, and the JLPT loves testing them. The rule of thumb:
- なん before です・だ and before counters: 何ですか ("what is it?"), 何時 ("what time"), 何度 ("how many degrees"). More generally, なん appears before sounds starting with t, d or n.
- なに before particles and in most other places: 何を ("what" + object particle), 何が, 何語 ("what language").
If you only memorise one case for N5, make it 何ですか — you will say it hundreds of times.
Practise: questions from the lessons
Every pattern here appears in the game's lessons below — the question drills come from the school, and そうかなあ from the house.
学校はどこですか。
gakkō wa doko desu ka.
Where is the school?
テストはいつですか。
tesuto wa itsu desu ka.
When is the test?
天気はどうですか。
tenki wa dō desu ka.
How is the weather?
You'll meet this exact line in the game's weather reports — see the vocabulary below.
そうかなあ。
sō kanā.
Hmm, I wonder… (is that really so?)
Casual style: か plus the musing particle なあ turns "it is so" into gentle doubt. The house lesson below drills it.
More practice in the game
The school lesson drills ですか questions with native audio; the house lesson teaches そうかなあ — how to wonder aloud when you're not convinced.
Real questions from the game
Seven full weather questions straight from Noun Town. The weather words themselves are previewed from chapter 19, but the grammar is exactly this chapter: topic + question word + ですか.
Tap ► to hear the native audio from the game, or tap a word to open its dictionary entry.
The art of not saying no
For correcting facts — wrong name, wrong station, wrong animal — いいえ、ちがいます is completely normal. But for refusing offers and invitations, Japanese speakers tend to avoid a blunt いいえ. Instead you'll hear ちょっと… ("it's a bit…") with the sentence deliberately left unfinished, a thoughtful そうですね…, or a tilted head and an intake of breath — all of which can politely mean "no". As a learner you won't offend anyone with a clear answer, but learn to hear the soft no: if your invitation gets ちょっと… and a pause, the answer has already arrived.
Test yourself
Eight questions on か, the question words and the right way to answer.
8 quick questions on this chapter.
Your score
Common questions
Quick answers about this chapter's grammar.
Does Japanese use question marks?
Formal writing doesn't need them — the particle か already marks the question, so the sentence simply ends with 。. In casual writing, games and messages, ？ is everywhere (Noun Town's phrases use it too). In speech, a ですか question rises in pitch on the final か.
When is 何 read なん and when is it なに?
Read it なん before です, だ and counters — なんですか, なんじ (what time), なんど (how many degrees) — and generally before t, d and n sounds. Read it なに before particles like を and が, and in most other positions. If you remember only one case for the JLPT N5, make it なんですか.
What's the difference between どれ and どの?
どれ is a pronoun and stands alone: どれですか "Which one is it?". どの can never stand alone — it must come directly before a noun, as in どのペンですか "Which pen is it?". The same split applies to これ／この and それ／その. There's also the politer どちら, originally "which of two".
Is it rude to say いいえ in Japanese?
Not in itself — for correcting facts, いいえ、ちがいます is normal and expected. But for turning down offers and invitations, Japanese speakers prefer softer, indirect phrases like ちょっと… ("it's a bit…"), often leaving the sentence unfinished. A clear polite refusal from a learner won't offend, but listen out for those soft noes from others.
Want more practice? Browse all free Japanese lessons or look words up in the Japanese dictionary.