5. Making Questions - か

Making questions in Japanese is easy! -- REALLY! Usually you can change a statement into a question by just adding a ka to the end!

アメリカ人 です。

  • amerikajin desu.
  • I am an American.

Now add a

アメリカ人 です か。

  • amerikajin desu ka.
  • Are you an American?
Main points
  • ka is added to the end of statements
  • Word order is not changed as in English.
  • In Japanese (see the example on the right side) the ? (question mark) is not required (optional).
  • Just like in English, the last syllable goes up in intonation.
  • In spoken Japanese sometimes the ka can be dropped if you raise your voice at the end as we do with "You want to eat?". But for now, let's stick to using the ka.

See "Questions and Question Words - 10 minute lesson" for more on this.