To make a Japanese sentence into a question, in addition to question words like ‘なに/なん,’ ‘どう,’ or ‘どうして,’ we add the particle ‘か’ at the end of the sentence. When you’re saying this out loud, make sure to rise in intonation on the ‘か’ as you would at the end of an English sentence. If you use the ‘か’ particle, you do not need to use a question mark.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
Kimura answers, 「よねんせいです」(‘I am a fourth year student’) which means the right question is probably, ‘what year student are you?’ To express this, we write:
なんねんせいですか。
nannensei desu ka.

Kimura’s answer is,「よねんせいです」(‘I am a fourth year student’) so the right question is probably, ‘what year student are you?’ To express this, we write:
なんねんせいですか。
nannensei desu ka.

To make a Japanese sentence into a question, in addition to question words like ‘なに/なん,’ ‘どう,’ or ‘どうして,’ we add the particle ‘か’ at the end of the sentence. When you’re saying this out loud, make sure to rise in intonation on the ‘か’ as you would at the end of an English sentence. If you use the ‘か’ particle, you do not need to use a question mark.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
Kimura’s answer is「’れきしです’」(‘It is history’), so the right question is probably, ‘what is your major?’ To express this, we write:
せんこうはなんですか。
senkou ha (wa) nan desu ka.

Kimura’s answer is「’れきしです’」(‘It is history’), so the right question is probably, ‘what is your major?’ To express this, we write:
せんこうはなんですか。
senkou ha (wa) nan desu ka.

To make a Japanese sentence into a question, in addition to question words like ‘なに/なん,’ ‘どう,’ or ‘どうして,’ we add the particle ‘か’ at the end of the sentence. When you’re saying this out loud, make sure to rise in intonation on the ‘か’ as you would at the end of an English sentence. If you use the ‘か’ particle, you do not need to use a question mark.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
Kimura’s answer is「じゅうきゅうさいです」(‘I’m 19 years old’), so the right question is probably, ‘how old are you?’ Since we are addressing Kimura directly, we could use the word ‘あなた,’ which literally means ‘you,’ but it would be preferable to either omit the reference to the addressee or to use their name. To express this, we write:
(きむらさんは)なんさいですか。
(kimura-san ha [wa]) nansai desu ka.

Kimura’s answer is「じゅうきゅうさいです」(‘I’m 19 years old’), so the right question is probably, ‘how old are you?’ Since we are addressing Kimura directly, we could use the word ‘あなた,’ which literally means ‘you,’ but it would be preferable to either omit the reference to the addressee or to use their name. To express this, we write:
(きむらさんは)なんさいですか。
(kimura-san ha [wa]) nansai desu ka.

To make a Japanese sentence into a question, in addition to question words like ‘なに/なん,’ ‘どう,’ or ‘どうして,’ we add the particle ‘か’ at the end of the sentence. When you’re saying this out loud, make sure to rise in intonation on the ‘か’ as you would at the end of an English sentence. If you use the ‘か’ particle, you do not need to use a question mark.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
Kimura’s answer is「よんさんのろくきゅういちななです」(‘it is 43-6917′), so the right question is probably, ‘what is your telephone number’ Since we are addressing Kimura directly, we could use the word ‘あなたの,’ which literally means ‘your,’ but it would be preferable to either omit the reference to the addressee or to use their name plus the particle ‘の.’ To express this, we write:
(きむらさんの)でんわばんごうはなんですか。
(kimura-san no) denwabangou ha (wa) nan desu ka.

Kimura’s answer is「よんさんのろくきゅういちななです」(‘it is 43-6917), so the right question is probably, ‘what is your telephone number’ Since we are addressing Kimura directly, we could use the word ‘あなたの,’ which literally means ‘your,’ but it would be preferable to either omit the reference to the addressee or to use their name plus the particle ‘の.’ To express this, we write:
(きむらさんの)でんわばんごうはなんですか。
(kimura-san no) denwabangou ha (wa) nan desu ka.

To make a Japanese sentence into a question, in addition to question words like ‘なに/なん,’ ‘どう,’ or ‘どうして,’ we add the particle ‘か’ at the end of the sentence. When you’re saying this out loud, make sure to rise in intonation on the ‘か’ as you would at the end of an English sentence. If you use the ‘か’ particle, you do not need to use a question mark.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
Kimura’s answer is「いま　くじはんです」(‘it is 9:30’), so the right question is probably, ‘excuse me, what time is it now?’ To express this, we write:
すみません。いま　なんじですか。
sumimasen. ima nanji desu ka.

Kimura’s answer is「いま　くじはんです」(‘it is 9:30’), so the right question is probably, ‘excuse me, what time is it now?’ To express this, we write:
すみません。いま　なんじですか。
sumimasen. ima nanji desu ka.