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\n \u4f55 (\u306a\u3093) <\/a>\n <\/td>
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\n \u4f55\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f <\/a>\n (What is it?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\n \u3069\u3061\u3089 <\/a>\n <\/td>
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\nWhich (polite\/formal)<\/td>
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\n \u3069\u3061\u3089\u304c\u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f <\/a>\n (Which one is good?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In the sections below, we’ll dig deeper into each question word and how to use them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who\/Whose<\/h3>\n
First up is the question word regarding persons:<\/p>\n
\u8ab0 (\u3060\u308c) \u2015 Who<\/p>\n
It’s used much the same way as in English. For example:<\/p>\n
\u305d\u308c\u306f\u8ab0\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u305d\u308c\u306f \u3060\u308c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Who is that?<\/p>\n
\u8ab0\u304c\u79c1\u306e\u30a4\u30c1\u30b4\u3092\u98df\u3079\u305f\uff1f(\u3060\u308c\u304c \u308f\u305f\u3057\u306e \u3044\u3061\u3054\u3092\u305f\u3079\u305f\uff1f) \u2015 Who ate my strawberry?<\/p>\n
However, when it comes to the possessive form, “whose,” Japanese structure deviates from English.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rather than declining the pronoun as we do in English, Japanese adds the particle<\/a> \u306e to show possession. This particle goes right after the root pronoun, \u8ab0 (\u3060\u308c) to make “whose”:<\/p>\n \u8ab0\u306e (\u3060\u308c\u306e) \u2015 Whose<\/p>\n \u3053\u308c\u306f\u8ab0\u306e\u672c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u3053\u308c\u306f \u3060\u308c\u306e \u307b\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Whose book is this?<\/p>\n These are the two most common ways to express the question word “what”:<\/p>\n \u6628\u65e5\u306f\u4f55\u3092\u3057\u307e\u3057\u305f\u304b\uff1f(\u304d\u306e\u3046\u306f \u306a\u306b\u3092\u3057\u307e\u3057\u305f\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 What did you do yesterday?<\/p>\n \u4f55\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 What is it?<\/p>\n These two forms use the same kanji<\/a>, mean the same thing and even sound very similar. So why are there two?<\/p>\n Simply put, auditory aesthetics and flow. In writing, there’s no difference between them; they’re the same word. But the “i” at the end sometimes gets dropped when speaking to help smooth out the sound of words, depending on what they’re situated between<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, how does one know when to use \u306a\u306b vs. \u306a\u3093 when speaking? Well, the best way is to really just get a feel for it by listening to fluent speakers<\/a> since it’s an evolution of speech and pronunciation rather than set grammar. You’ll also find a few examples throughout this post.<\/p>\n There are also two ways to indicate “which”:<\/p>\n \u5bff\u53f8\u304b\u30e9\u30fc\u30e1\u30f3\u3001\u3069\u3061\u3089\u304c\u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u3059\u3057\u304b \u3089\u30fc\u3081\u3093\u3001\u3069\u3061\u3089\u304c \u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Which is better, sushi or ramen?<\/p>\n \u7530\u4e2d\u3055\u3093\u306e\u5bb6\u306f\u3069\u308c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u305f\u306a\u304b\u3055\u3093\u306e \u3044\u3048\u306f \u3069\u308c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Which house is Tanaka’s?<\/p>\n The reason for the difference between these two is much more straightforward. \u3069\u3061\u3089 is for “which” between two things, while \u3069\u308c is for more than two.<\/p>\n Like in English, you can ask “When?” or “What time?” in Japanese:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u3044\u3064\u65e5\u672c\u306b\u6765\u307e\u3057\u305f\u304b\uff1f(\u3044\u3064 \u306b\u307b\u3093\u306b \u304d\u307e\u3057\u305f\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 When did you come to Japan?<\/p>\n \u4f55\u6642\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u306a\u3093\u3058\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 What time is it?<\/p>\n \u4f55\u6642 (\u306a\u3093\u3058) is one of those “what”-based words where the “i” is dropped from \u4f55 (\u306a\u306b) that was mentioned earlier. \u4f55 (\u306a\u306b) + \u6642 (\u3058) literally means “what hour.”<\/p>\n The vocabulary for “where” is fairly direct:<\/p>\n \u3069\u3053 \u2015 Where<\/p>\n \u30c8\u30a4\u30ec\u306f\u3069\u3053\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u3068\u3044\u308c\u306f \u3069\u3053\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Where is the bathroom?<\/p>\n The question word “why” has a number of iterations in Japanese. The first two essentially mean the same thing but vary in formality.<\/p>\n \u306a\u305c\u96fb\u8eca\u306f\u9045\u308c\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u306a\u305c \u3067\u3093\u3057\u3083\u306f \u304a\u304f\u308c\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Why is the train late?<\/p>\n \u3069\u3046\u3057\u3066\u3053\u306e\u30d1\u30f3\u306f\u9ed2\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u3069\u3046\u3057\u3066 \u3053\u306e\u3071\u3093\u306f \u304f\u308d\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Why is this bread black?<\/p>\n The third is trickier:<\/p>\n \u4f55\u3067\u79c1\u306b\u5618\u3092\u3064\u3044\u305f\u306e\uff1f(\u306a\u3093\u3067 \u308f\u305f\u3057\u306b \u3046\u305d\u3092\u3064\u3044\u305f\u306e\uff1f) \u2015 Why did you lie to me?<\/p>\n The complication is due to the fact that \u4f55\u3067 can mean both “why” and “how,”<\/a> depending on the context.<\/p>\n One way to help separate them and make yourself clear when speaking<\/a> is to reserve \u4f55\u3067 (\u306a\u3093\u3067) for “why” and ask “how” by combing \u4f55 (\u306a\u306b) and the particle \u3067, which together make “by what means.” (Or you could just use one of the “how” words covered in the next section.)<\/p>\n Both \u4f55\u3067 (\u306a\u3093\u3067) and \u3069\u3046\u3057\u3066 are more informal. Use \u306a\u305c for polite conversation.<\/p>\n As seen previously, some question words will have various instantiations or different endings added onto the same root. This one does both.<\/p>\n \u3069\u3046\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f \u2015 How is it?<\/p>\n \u30cf\u30f3\u30d0\u30fc\u30ac\u30fc\u3092\u3069\u3046\u3084\u3063\u3066\u98df\u3079\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u306f\u3093\u3070\u30fc\u304c\u30fc\u3092 \u3069\u3046\u3084\u3063\u3066 \u305f\u3079\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 How do you eat a hamburger?<\/p>\n \u3053\u306e\u9774\u306f\u3044\u304f\u3089\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u3053\u306e\u304f\u3064\u306f \u3044\u304f\u3089\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 How much are these shoes?<\/p>\n \u3044\u304f\u3064\u6b32\u3057\u3044\u306e\uff1f(\u3044\u304f\u3064 \u307b\u3057\u3044\u306e\uff1f) \u2015 How many do you want?<\/p>\n Though there are several ways of asking “how,” they all have different flavors and are appropriate for different situations.<\/p>\n Now that you’re familiar with the basics of grammar for asking questions, we can move on from merely recognizing questions in Japanese to creating our own.<\/p>\n Knowing that ending a sentence with \u304b designates an interrogative<\/a> makes it easy to turn a simple statement into a simple question.<\/p>\n \u597d\u304d\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u3059\u304d\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Do you like it?<\/p>\n \u5f7c\u5973\u306f\u305d\u3053\u306b\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f(\u304b\u306e\u3058\u3087\u306f \u305d\u3053\u306b \u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff1f) \u2015 Is she there?<\/p>\n It’s important to note that these examples are in the formal and polite vein, utilizing both the copula of \u3067\u3059 and \u30fc\u307e\u3059 as well as the \u304b particle; both must be present for a polite question.<\/p>\n Dropping the particle renders it a statement rather than a question, while leaving out the copula makes for an unnatural sentence.<\/p>\n Informal Japanese<\/a> question constructions can be easier than formal ones in some ways, but also involve nuance. For that reason, it’s best to stick with the polite form when you’re first learning to ask questions.<\/p>\n However, it’s important to at least be able to recognize questions with common informal structures as well.<\/p>\n The simplest informal version drops both<\/em> the copula and particle, relying on intonation when speaking and question mark punctuation in casual writing to convey a question.<\/p>\n \u6691\u3044 (\u3042\u3064\u3044) \u2015 Hot<\/p>\n \u6691\u3044\uff1f(\u3042\u3064\u3044\uff1f) \u2015 Hot?<\/p>\n Another possibility is to still use the copula, either the formal (conjugated) or informal (root) form, along with intonation or punctuation, but without the particle.<\/p>\n \u5f7c\u306f\u5916\u306b\u3044\u308b\u3002(\u304b\u308c\u306f \u305d\u3068\u306b\u3044\u308b\u3002) \u2015 He is outside.<\/p>\n \u5f7c\u306f\u5916\u306b\u3044\u308b\uff1f(\u304b\u308c\u306f \u305d\u3068\u306b\u3044\u308b\uff1f) \u2015 Is he outside?<\/p>\n Lastly, there’s another particle that can be used at the end of a sentence to make an informal question: \u306e<\/strong>. Though more often utilized by women and children, it’s not necessarily out of bounds for usage by men.<\/p>\n \u3044\u3044 \u2015 Good.<\/p>\n \u3044\u3044\u306e\uff1f \u2015 Is it good\/ok?<\/p>\n With written Japanese, determining whether a sentence is a question or not will vary depending on the formality of the medium. In more casual communication channels such as texting, emails, manga and creative writing, there will be a question mark just like in English.<\/p>\n However, question marks are nonexistent in formal Japanese texts and all sentences, including questions, end in the Japanese full stop. (\u3002) So, how is one supposed to know whether it’s a question or not in such settings?<\/p>\n Well, just as the particles \u306f and \u3092 mark the topic and direct object respectively in Japanese grammar<\/a>, \u304b (ka) is the particle that indicates a question and will be found at the end of the sentence, just before the full stop.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u304b can be found in other parts of a sentence as a particle as well, but in those cases, it serves a different purpose; only when it’s at the end of a clause or sentence is it a question.<\/p>\n As for spoken Japanese<\/a>, rising intonation at the end of a sentence indicates a question, just like in English. Additionally, the \u304b particle at the end of a sentence is still featured prominently when speaking politely and formally, though it’s often dropped in more casual conversation. You can hear this in action by watching videos on the immersive learning platform, FluentU<\/a>. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n What<\/h3>\n
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Which<\/h3>\n
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When<\/h3>\n
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Where<\/h3>\n
Why<\/h3>\n
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How<\/h3>\n
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Creating Simple Formal Questions<\/h2>\n
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Creating Simple Informal Questions<\/h2>\n
How to Identify Questions in Japanese<\/h2>\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/6\/NativeAd-Japanese.jpg\")
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