Surviving in Japan and knowing how to speak Japanese means being able to ask questions of those around you in order to make sense of what is going wrong. Even if it is only one word of a question such as what? This is far better than nothing or pointing alone. Depending on the amount of sake you have drunk at this stage, then one word maybe all you can manage anyway!
Let’s look at some crucial question words:
- Where?...DOKO (doh-koh):
- Who?…DARE (dah-reh)
- Why?…NAZE (nah-zeh)
- When?…ITSU (ee-tsoo)
- How much?…IKURA (ee-koo-rah)
- How many?…IKUTSU (ee-koo-tsoo)
- How?…DO/IKAGA (doh/ee-kah-gah)
- What?…NAN/NANI (nahn/nah-nee)
Question phrases:
- Which one?…Dore?
- What is it?…Nan desu ka?
- How much is it?…Ikura desu ka?
- Who is it?…Dare desu ka?
- When is it?…Itsu desu ka?
- Which direction?…Dochira?
- What nationality?…Nani-jin?
- How long?…Donogurai?
- What time?…Nan-ji?
- How old?…Nan-sai?
