Asking questions: か, の, かな, っけ and indirect questions
Every way of asking: polite か, casual rising tone, の-questions, tag questions (でしょう, じゃない), 'I wonder' (かな), 'what was it again?' (っけ), and embedding questions in a longer sentence (〜か分からない).
About 6 minutes to read
か: the question mark
か at the end of a sentence makes it a question:
学生studentですか*
Are you a student?
これthisは何whatですか*
What is this?
If there is a question word (何, 誰, いつ, どこ), か is still used in polite speech. In casual speech, a question word and a rising tone are enough.
Rising tone
In casual speech, drop か and raise your voice:
行くgo？
ご飯meal食べたate？
Are you going? / Did you eat?
の: casual questions
Plain form + の (rising) is a soft, friendly question, often asking for an explanation:
どうしたhow did it goの*
何whatを見ているwatchingの*
What happened? / What are you watching?
Using の instead of か is the usual way to ask a casual question in standard Japanese. In writing it often appears as のか: どうしたのか。
ですか / ますか
Polite questions: add か to です/ます:
毎日every day勉強しますstudyか*
Do you study every day?
Tag questions: でしょう, じゃない, ね
Pattern
Meaning
でしょう？
right? (confirming)
だよね？
right?
じゃない？
isn't it? / don't you think?
よね？
surely, right?
これthis、おいしいdeliciousでしょうright
This is delicious, isn't it?
変strangeじゃないisn't it
Isn't that strange?
Note: じゃない with a rising tone is a question, not a negative.
Wondering: かな, かしら
かな (casual) and かしら (feminine or older) = "I wonder". They're questions you ask yourself:
彼heは来るcomeかなI wonder
I wonder if he's coming.
これthisでいいgoodかなI wonder
Is this okay, I wonder?
What was it again: っけ
っけ is a casual question for something you are trying to recall:
明日tomorrow何時what timeだっけwas it again
What time is it tomorrow, again?
あの人personの名前name何whatだっけwas it
What's that person's name, again?
Questions inside sentences
To make a question part of a longer sentence, put it in plain form, followed by か:
彼heがどこに行ったwentか(question)分からないdon't know
I don't know where he went.
何whatを食べたいwant to eatか(question)教えてtellください
Please tell me what you want to eat.
Yes/no: かどうか
For yes/no questions, add どうか ("whether or not"):
彼heが来るcomeかどうかwhether分からないdon't know
I don't know whether he's coming.
これthisでいいfineかどうかwhether聞いてaskみる
I'll ask whether this is okay.
か〜か: either or
行くgoかor行かないnot goか(whether)決めるdecide
decide whether to go or not
Answering
Japanese answers say whether the statement inside the question is right, not whether the verb is positive.
Question
Yes
No
食べますか。
はい、食べます。
いいえ、食べません。
食べませんか。
はい、食べません。(that's right, I'm not eating)
いいえ、食べます。(no, I am eating)
So with a negative question, はい confirms the negative. It feels backwards to English speakers. In casual speech, うん (yes) and ううん (no) work the same way.
Rhetorical questions
A question can be a statement:
誰whoがそんなsuchことをするかwould do
Who would do such a thing? (Nobody.)
そんなことがあるexistもんかas if
As if such a thing could happen!
Longer sentences
Interviews and conversations braid questions, embedded questions and echo questions.
どうしてwhy日本語をJapanese勉強しようとtrying to study思ったんですかdid you think
実はactually子供のchild's頃にwhen見たsawアニメがanime忘れられなくてcouldn't forget andいつかsomeday字幕なしでwithout subtitles見られるようにso I could watchなりたいとI wanted to become (quote)思ったんですI thought
そうなんですねI seeところでby the way今nowどのぐらいhow much分かるんですかdo you understand
さあwell半分ぐらいabout halfかなI wonder自分でもeven I myselfよくwell分からないんですけどdon't know, but
Why did you decide to study Japanese?
The truth is, I couldn't forget an anime I saw as a child, and I wanted to be able to watch it without subtitles someday.
I see. By the way, how much do you understand now?
Well, about half, I guess. Even I'm not sure, though.
An interview in full
本日はtodayお時間をtimeいただきreceivingありがとうございますthank youまずfirst、この仕事をthis job選ばれたchose (honorific)きっかけをthe reason教えてtellいただけますかcould you
子供の頃からsince childhood本がbooks好きでliked andいつかsomeday自分でもmyself too書いてみたいとwant to try writing (quote)思っていたんですI'd been thinking
ではthen今後のfuture目標はgoal何でしょうかwhat is it
そうですねwell読者のreaders'心にhearts残るremain作品がwork書けるかcan I writeどうかwhether分かりませんがI don't know, but挑戦し続けたいwant to keep challengingと(quote)思っていますI think
Thank you for your time today. First, could you tell us what led you to this work?
I've loved books since childhood, and I'd always thought that someday I'd like to try writing one myself.
Then, what is your goal for the future?
Well, I don't know whether I'll be able to write a work that stays in readers' hearts, but I'd like to keep on trying.
Key points
か for polite questions; rising tone or の for casual.
でしょう / じゃない: tag questions. かな / かしら: wondering.
っけ: "what was it again?".
plain form + か / かどうか: embedded questions.
Answers agree with the statement, not the question form.
Drill these patterns
Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: