5. Making Questions - か

Oni's picture

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

アメリカ人　です。

  • amerikajin desu.
  • I am an American.

Now add a
か

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.

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then how to explain "Am I an

Submitted by teacherlau on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 17:59.

then how to explain "Am I an American?"

ananya chatterjee's picture

watashi wa amerikajin desu

Submitted by ananya chatterjee on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 23:46.

watashi wa amerikajin desu ka?

astaroth's picture

I'd say 私はアメリカ人ですか -- 私 (わたし)

Submitted by astaroth on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 21:56.

I'd say 私はアメリカ人ですか -- 私 (わたし) is the (polite) I pronoun.

ー　流光　ー

　　　花地世
小　　見獄の
林　　かの中
一　　な上は
茶　　　の　

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