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Interrogatives and Particles

Some of the most common interrogatives in Japanese are:

  • 誰 - Who

  • 何
    なに／なん

  • What

  • どこ - Where

  • どう - How

  • どうして - Why

  • どちら - Which way

  • どれ - Which

  • なんで - Why (casual)

  • なぜ - Why (formal)

  • いつ - When

  • いくつ - How many

  • いくら - How much

These can be affixed to sentences to create more precise questions, that take you beyond the realm of か.

Many of these words can also be combined with different particles to make other vocabulary, many of which aren't interrogatives in their own right, but are an extraordinarily useful set of words.

Interrogatives with も​

Adding も to an interrogative adds inclusiveness or exclusiveness.

  • 誰も - everybody/nobody when used with negative
  • 何も - nothing when used with negative
  • どこも - everywhere/nowhere when used with negative
  • どうしても - no matter what
  • どちらも - both ways
  • いつも - always

The rule isn't consistent as to which words change meaning depending on the positivity or negativity of the sentence and other words exist to fill in some of the holes:

  • 皆 - everybody
  • 皆さん - everybody (polite)
  • 全部 - everything
  • [全然] () - not at all (when used with negative)
  • 絶対 - absolutely, unconditionally or never when used with negative

Interrogatives with でも​

Adding でも to an interrogative is like adding the word 'any'

  • 誰でも - anybody
  • 何でも - anything
  • どこでも - anywhere
  • どうでも - anyhow
  • どちらでも - any way
  • いつでも - any time
  • いくつでも - any number of things
  • いくらでも - any amount

Interrogatives with か​

Adding か to an interrogative is like adding the word 'some'

  • 誰か - somebody
  • 何か - something
  • どこか - somewhere
  • どうか - somehow
  • どちらか - one way (of the two)
  • どうしてか - for some reason
  • なんでか - for some reason (casual)
  • なぜか - for some reason (formal)
  • いつか - sometime
  • いくつか - some number of things
  • いくらか - some amount

Interrogatives with の​

By combing the interrogative 誰 with の you can create the word 誰の which translates to 'whose'. の can also be used as a question marker in its own right.