Here is another installment from the revised Fast Track Japanese Grammar pages. Again, the goal of the series is simplicity and simplicity. Please leave any comments or questions!

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Making questions か

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.

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 above example) 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 have the upwards intonation at the end. But for now, let’s stick to using the ka

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Question words

By mastering these question words, your conversational skills will be much stronger!

いつ itsu - when
いつ　きました　か？ itsu kimashita ka? When did you come? [lit. when came?]
どこ doko - where
どこ　から　きました　か？ doko kara kimashita ka? Where did you come from? [lit. where from came?]
どうして doushite - why
どうして　きました　か？ doushite kimashita ka? Why did you come? [lit. why came?]
なぜ naze - why
なぜ naze? Why? [used in the same way as doushite]
だれ dare - who
だれが　きました　か。 dare ga kimashita ka? Who came?
何 nani - what
なにを買いましたか。 nani o kaimashita ka. What did you buy?

You can do a lot more with 何, see later lessons.

MAIN POINTS:

Even with the question word a か ka is used. (Except in casual spoken Japanese)
The question word is at the beginning, but after the は wa if there is one.

あなた　は　 だれ 　です　か？
anata wa dare desu ka?
Who are you? (the question word dare is after the wa )