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.
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.
The first person asks, ‘Are you a student?’ To which the second answers, ‘Yes, I am a student at Nihon University.’ In Japanese, instead of saying that you are a student ‘at’ a university, it is preferable to say that you are a student ‘of’ a university. To express this, we write:
がくせいですか。
はい、にほんだいがくのがくせいです。
gakusei desu ka.
hai, nihondaigaku no gakusei desu.

The first person asks, ‘Are you a student?’ To which the second answers, ‘Yes, I am a student at Nihon University.’ In Japanese, instead of saying that you are a student ‘at’ a university, it is preferable to say that you are a student ‘of’ a university. To express this, we write:
がくせいですか。
はい、にほんだいがくのがくせいです。
gakusei desu ka.
hai, nihondaigaku no gakusei desu.

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.
The first person asks, ‘Is Michiko a fourth-year student?’ To which the second answers, ‘No, she is a third-year student.’ Because we need to establish the subject of the question, it is appropriate to include the subject in our question. To express this, we write:
みちこさんはよんねんせいですか。
いいえ、みちこさんはさんねんせいです。
michiko-san ha (wa) yonnensei desu ka.
iie, michiko-san ha (wa) sannensei desu.

The first person asks, ‘Is Michiko a fourth-year student?’ To which the second answers, ‘No, she is a third-year student.’ Because we need to establish the subject of the question, it is appropriate to include the subject in our question. To express this, we write:
みちこさんはよんねんせいですか。
いいえ、みちこさんはさんねんせいです。
michiko-san ha (wa) yonnensei desu ka.
iie, michiko-san ha (wa) sannensei desu.