Grammar › Particles
か (ka) — the question marker
Turns any statement into a question — no word-order change
Questions in Japanese are wonderfully simple: say the statement, add か. No word-order flip, no helper verbs. これはすしです (this is sushi) → これはすしですか (is this sushi?). In casual writing the か is often dropped and rising intonation (or just ?) does the work.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Statement + か | 学生ですか — Are (you) a student? |
| Question word + ですか | 何ですか — What is it? |
| AですかBですか | 犬ですか、ねこですか — Is it a dog or a cat? |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| トイレはどこですか。 | といれはどこですか。 toirehadokodesuka。 | Where is the toilet? |
| これを食べてもいいですか。 | これをたべてもいいですか。 korewotabetemoiidesuka。 | May I eat this? |
| コーヒーですか、お茶ですか。 | こーひーですか、おちゃですか。 ko-hi-desuka、ochadesuka。 | Coffee, or tea? |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
Japanese questions don't need a question mark — か is the question mark. Also note ですか never becomes “desu ka?” with English inversion; the statement order never changes.