Is A B? / A は B ですか？
Contents
How to say “Is A B?” in Japanese
A は B ですか？
To make a question sentence, add “か？” at the end of the sentence.
It is not necessary to add a “?”, But I recommend adding it to make it easier to understand that it is a question sentence.
Examples
- あなたはさとしさんですか？
- それはおいしいですか？
Practice
Translate the following sentences into Japanese using the “AはBですか？”.
Is he Mr.Takeshi?
Is this sushi?
6W1H
Due to the difference in grammatical structure, it may be better not to translate directly, but the basic translations are shown below.
| Japanese (Hiragana) | English | Kanji | Polite expression |
|---|---|---|---|
| だれ | Who | 誰 | 何方 or どちら様 |
| なに | What | 何 | – |
| いつ | When | 何時 | – |
| どこ | Where | 何処 | どちら |
| なぜ or どうして | Why | 何故 | – |
| どれ | Which | – | どちら |
| どんな, どうやって, どれくらい etc | How | – | どのように or いかが |
誰 and 何 are often written in Kanji but いつ, どこand なぜ are often written in Hiragana.
Examples
- (あなたは)誰ですか？
-
Polite expression
- あれは何ですか？
- (あなたの)誕生日はいつですか？
- トイレはどこですか？
- (あなたは)なぜそう思いますか？
- 彼女のスマホはどれですか？
- (あなたは)どうやって来ますか？
Vocabulary
| Japanese | Pronunciation | English | Another way |
|---|---|---|---|
| ペン | pen | pen | – |
| パソコン | pasokon | PC (personal computer) | PC |
| スマホ | sumaho | smartphone | スマートフォン |
| 机 | tsukue | desk | デスク |
| 椅子 | isu | chair | チェア |
| 誕生日 | tanjoobi | birthday | – |
| 期日 | kijitsu | due date | – |
| 予定 | yotee | schedule, plan, expectation | 計画 |
| 入口 | iriguchi | entrance | – |
| 出口 | deguchi | exit | – |
| トイレ | toire | toiret, bathroom, restroom | 便所 |
| 駅 | eki | station | – |
| バス停 | basutee | bus stop | – |
| 空港 | kuukoo | airport | – |
| Japanese | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| いくつ | ikutsu | How many, How old (for age) |
| いくら | ikura | How much (for price) |
| どれくらい | dorekurai | How much (for uncountables), How long, How far, How good etc. |
Examples
- おいくつですか？
-
1. (あなたは)おいくつですか？ *あなたは is omitted. *お is added before いくつ that is a polite expression.
2. (あたなは)おいくつ(欲しい)ですか？ *When shopping or counting, いくつ means “How many”. - おいくらですか？
-
(これは)おいくらですか？ *これは is omitted. *お is added before いくら is a polite expression.
- どれくらいかかりますか？
-
(それは)どれくらい(時間が)かかりますか？ *それは and 時間が are omitted if they are obvious in the context.
- どれくらい遠いですか？
-
(それは)どれくらい遠いですか？
Practice
Translate the following sentences into Japanese using “誰, 何, いつ, どこ, なぜ or どんな”.
Who is she?
What is it?
When is his birthday?
Where is the station?
Which is my chair?
Intermediate
Why is the sky blue?
Hints
How often do you see your girlfriend?
Hints
Practice for “why” and “how” will be described in another article later, because it is a little difficult for beginners.
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