Japanese Grammar 07 – Question Words · N5

📋 Formation Reference — Question Words

All N5 question words and how to use them. Press ▶ to hear examples.

QUESTION WORDS (ぎもんし)

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning	Example
なに / なん	nani / nan	what	これはなんですか
だれ	dare	who	あのひとはだれですか
どこ	doko	where	トイレはどこですか
いつ	itsu	when	たんじょうびはいつですか
どう	dou	how (impression)	にほんごはどうですか
どんな	donna	what kind of	どんなおんがくがすきですか
なぜ / どうして / なんで	naze / doushite / nande	why	なぜにほんごをべんきょうしますか
いくら	ikura	how much (price)	これはいくらですか
いくつ	ikutsu	how many / how old	おいくつですか
どれ	dore	which one (standalone)	どれがいいですか
どの	dono	which + noun	どのいろがすきですか

KEY PATTERN — Question word + か

[Question Word] + [Sentence] か

[gimonshi] + [sentence] ka

→ Word order stays the same — just add か at the end.

なに vs なん — Distribution Rule

Use	Form	Rule	Example
Before です, で, の, counters	なん nan	Easier to pronounce before d/n sounds	なんですか / なんにん
Before を, が, も, most particles	なに nani	Default form before vowels/particles	なにを / なにが

🗣 Example Sentences

See how question words work in context. Press ▶ to hear each sentence.

WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN

What

おなまえはなんですか。

Onamae wa nan desu ka.

What is your name?

おなまえはなんですか

onamae wa nan desu ka

→ "What is your name?" (なん before です)

Who

だれといきますか。

Dare to ikimasu ka.

Who are you going with?

Where

えきはどこですか。

Eki wa doko desu ka.

Where is the station?

When

たんじょうびはいつですか。

Tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka.

When is your birthday?

HOW, WHAT KIND, WHY

How

にほんはどうですか。

Nihon wa dou desu ka.

How is Japan? / What do you think of Japan?

[Topic] はどうですか

[topic] wa dou desu ka

→ "How is [topic]?" — asks for opinion/impression

What kind

どんなりょうりがすきですか。

Donna ryouri ga suki desu ka.

What kind of food do you like?

Why

なんでにほんにきましたか。

Nande nihon ni kimashita ka.

Why did you come to Japan?

PRICE, COUNT, WHICH

Price

このりんごはいくらですか。

Kono ringo wa ikura desu ka.

How much is this apple?

Which

どのいろがすきですか。

Dono iro ga suki desu ka.

Which colour do you like?

どのいろがすきですか

dono iro ga suki desu ka

→ どの always pairs with a noun (どの + noun)

📋 Quick-Reference Cheatsheet ▼

Question word + も + negative = "nothing / nobody / nowhere"

✅ CORRECT

なにもたべませんでした。

Nani mo tabemasen deshita.

I didn't eat anything.

Question word + も + negative verb = total negation

❌ COMMON MISTAKE

なにもたべました。

Nani mo tabemashita.

(Intended: I didn't eat anything)

も must pair with a negative — affirmative gives unnatural meaning

Question word + でも = "any-" (anyone, anything, anywhere)

✅ なんでも

なんでもいいです。

Nandemo ii desu.

Anything is fine.

でも after question word = inclusive "any"

✅ どこでも

どこでもいきます。

Dokodemo ikimasu.

I'll go anywhere.

Same pattern: どこでも, だれでも, いつでも

どう vs どんな

どう — impression / opinion

にほんごはどうですか。

Nihongo wa dou desu ka.

How is Japanese? (What do you think?)

どう stands alone — asks for your feeling or reaction

どんな — type / category

どんなおんがくがすきですか。

Donna ongaku ga suki desu ka.

What kind of music do you like?

どんな must be followed by a noun

なに vs なん — distribution rule

✅ なん (before です/で/の/counters)

これはなんですか。

Kore wa nan desu ka.

What is this?

なん before d/n sounds and counters: なんにん, なんじ

✅ なに (before particles を/が/も)

なにをかいますか。

Nani wo kaimasu ka.

What will you buy?

なに before most particles: なにを, なにが, なにも

Politeness ladder for "why"

Formal → Casual

なぜ → どうして → なんで

naze → doushite → nande

formal → neutral → casual

All mean "why" — choose based on the social situation

❌ COMMON MISTAKE

ビジネスでなんでそうしましたか。

Bijinesu de nande sou shimashita ka.

(Intended: Why did you do that? — in a business meeting)

なんで is too casual for formal/business settings — use なぜ or どうして

A — Flashcards

Click a card to flip it. Use ▶ to hear the Japanese.

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B — Listen & Choose the Meaning

Press ▶ to hear each phrase, then choose the correct English meaning.

D — Listen & Write in Romaji

Press ▶ to hear each phrase, then type what you heard in romaji.

💡 Tip: Long vowels → double the vowel (おう = ou / oo). Double consonants → write them twice (きって = kitte).

📖 Grammar Deep Dive ▼

なに vs なん — the distribution rule

Both mean "what" but the choice depends on what follows: • なん is used before です, で, の, and counters (なんにん, なんじ, なんさい). The n-sound blends more naturally with following d/n sounds. • なに is the default form before particles like を, が, も, and most other particles (なにを, なにが, なにも). • In casual speech, なに is sometimes used more broadly, but following the rule above will always be correct.

なん + です / で / の / counter

なに + を / が / も / other particles

→ なんですか (what is it?) · なにをしますか (what will you do?)

おしごとはなんですか。

Oshigoto wa nan desu ka.

What is your job?

Japanese questions don't change word order

In English, questions require inverted word order ("Are you a student?" vs "You are a student."). Japanese does not do this. • Simply place the question word where the unknown information goes and add か at the end. • This means the sentence structure is identical to a statement — only か (or a rising tone in casual speech) marks it as a question. • This makes Japanese questions much easier to construct once you know the question words.

Statement: これはりんごです。

Question: これはなんですか。

→ Replace the unknown with the question word — no inversion needed

たんじょうびはいつですか。

Tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka.

When is your birthday? (same structure as "birthday is [date]")

The politeness ladder for "why": なぜ → どうして → なんで

All three words mean "why" but carry different registers: • なぜ — formal/written. Used in news, business, academic writing. • どうして — neutral/standard. Safe to use in most everyday conversations. • なんで — casual/colloquial. Common among friends. Can sound blunt in formal settings. • When in doubt, どうして is the safest choice for spoken Japanese.

なぜにほんごをべんきょうしますか。（フォーマル）

Naze nihongo wo benkyou shimasu ka. (formal)

Why do you study Japanese?

どう as a conversation starter — ～はどうですか

どう (how) is one of the most useful conversational tools in Japanese: • [Topic] はどうですか asks for someone's opinion, impression, or reaction. • It can start a conversation ("How about Japanese food?") or follow up ("How was it?"). • Compare: どんなりょうりがすきですか (what kind of food?) → asks for a category. にほんりょうりはどうですか (how about Japanese food?) → asks for an opinion.

[Topic] はどうですか

[topic] wa dou desu ka

→ "How about [topic]?" / "What do you think of [topic]?"

おちゃはどうですか。

Ocha wa dou desu ka.

How about some tea? / What do you think of tea?

📝 Key Vocabulary ▼

Japanese	Romaji	English
なまえ	namae	name
えき	eki	station
たんじょうび	tanjoubi	birthday
りょうり	ryouri	cooking / food / dish
いろ	iro	colour
トイレ	toire	toilet / bathroom
おんがく	ongaku	music
りんご	ringo	apple
ひと	hito	person
にほん	nihon	Japan