Whom in japanese hiragana?

But, of course, Japanese is a little different. Let’s look at Japanese question words in this article, and learn when and how to use them.

The word “who” in Japanese is pretty simple. It’s just “dare” (誰). “Dare” doesn’t change at all, no matter how many people you’re talking about, your level of formality, or really anything. Okay, well, if you’re going to be really formal there’s stuff like “Dochira-sama” (どちら様), but honestly, you won’t be speaking like that very often at all.

“Dare” is perfectly fine to use in any normal conversation, even when speaking with your boss.

Note that 何ですか is used when we use the word what at the end of the sentence.

If you’ve seen any anime, you’ve heard the word “nani” (何) before. And for good reason. It means “what,” and it’s used all the time.

“Nani” can also be shortened to “nan” depending on what comes after it, and it still takes the same kanji. This is to make reading easier. A common example of this is the phrase “Nan darou” (何だろう), which also means “what,” but adds a bit of uncertainty to it. Kind of like “Yeah, I wonder what it is.” It’s also shortened in compound words such as “nanji” (何時), or “what time?”

As far as exclamations go, it’s less common for people to just yell out “Nani??” as you may have heard in a show. To say “What?” or “Huh?” it’s more likely that people will use vocalizations that aren’t really words. This includes things like “Eee?” and “Hah?” The speaker will use tone and length of the sound to express how confused or surprised they are.

The word for “where” is one of those ko-so-a-do words, which makes it easy to remember. “Where” is “doko” (どこ), which can be answered with the other words in its group, “koko” (ここ: here), “soko” (そこ: there), and “asoko” (あそこ: over there).

This is also a good place to mention other ko-so-a-do words, because the ones that start with “do” are all question words. “Dochira” (どちら) means “which way,” and can be abbreviated in informal speech to “docchi” (どっち). These can both be answered with the other words from their groups as well (kochira/kocchi, sochira/socchi, and achira/acchi).

The word “dore” (どれ) means “which,” and follows all of these same rules with “kore,” “sore,” and “are.”

Remember that these words come after the subject (place, object, time) comes first.

The basic word for “when” is “itsu” (いつ). It’s important to remember that this is only used as a question word. You can say “When will you go home?” with “Itsu kaerimasu ka?” (いつ帰りますか？). However, you cannot use “itsu” in a sentence like “I’ll do my homework when I get home.” That “when” requires a different grammar structure because it isn’t a question.

The word I’ve heard used most often for “why” is “nande” (なんで). If you want to be more formal, you can kick it up to “naze” (なぜ).

If you want to drop the formality even more and sound like you’re from Kansai, a signature Kansai-ben phrase is “Nande ya nen” (なんでやねん). It also kind of just means “why,” but it’s definitely region-specific slang.

“Doushite” (どうして) can also be used to say “why.” But it can also mean “how” depending on context.

The reason “doushite” can be used for “how” as well is because the basic word for “how” is “dou” (どう). You can use “dou” on its own, such as the sentence “How is it?” with “Dou desu ka?” (どうですか？).

You can also tack verbs on after “dou” to ask “How do I (verb)?” or “What do you (verb)?” Common examples of this include, “How do I read this kanji?” as “Kono kanji wa dou yomimasu ka?” (この漢字はどう読みますか？) and “What do you think?” as “Dou omoimasu ka?” (どう思いますか？).

“Dou” is similar to the ko-so-a-do groups because it can be answered with “kou” (こう: like this) and “sou” (そう: like that). I’m not sure if there is an “a” word in this group, which just goes to show that you will probably never need to use it, if it exists.

The formal version of “dou” is “ikaga” (如何), and they actually have the same kanji that pretty much no one uses. You may hear people offering you things with “ikaga” by using the phrase “Ikaga deshou ka?” (如何でしょうか？) or “How about this?” Overall, you’re more likely to use “dou” than “ikaga” in everyday conversation.

Make sure to remember that question words usually use the particle “ga” (が) over “wa” (は). This is because they signify unknown information.

Try to learn the ko-so-a-do words especially. Words that are grouped up like this can really help you build your vocabulary because they’re pretty much a 4-for-1 special. They also help a lot when you need to give or receive directions, so, hey, they’re practical!

It’s also good to try not to mentally group these question words into our English translations of them. If you noticed, sometimes words were translated differently based on context, such as “dou” being translated as “what.” I grouped them here into our English question words to help explain them, but these words will sometimes jump around in meaning based on how they are used. Keep up your studying, and you’ll get these down in no time!

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Questions in Japanese:

WhoWhatWhenWhereWhy/How

More commonly known as the 5W’s and 1 H, these are words there are more or less the essentials to almost every language when it comes to asking questions. In this blog, we’ll cover just that on how you can express who, what, when, where, why and how in Japanese!

First up, let’s take a look at how to express “Who” in Japanese! The word 誰 (だれ, Dare), can more commonly be used in the Japanese language to express “Who”. Below is a sample sentence in which how 誰 (だれ) can be commonly used!

誰が好き？

Romaji: Dare ga suki?

English: Who do you like?

Next, let’s take a look at expressing “What” in Japanese. The word 何 (なに/なん, Nani/Nan), is commonly used to express “What” in Japanese and can be used in a variety of situations. From anime, television dramas to even popular culture, this has got to be one of the most popular words that non-native speakers know about! Let’s now take a look at how we can go about using this!

何が可笑しいの？

Romaji: Nani ga okashii no?

English: What’s so funny/weird?

それは何？

Romaji: Sore wa nani?

English: What is it?

Now, let’s take a look at how to express “When” in Japanese with the word “いつ (Itsu)”. Unlike 誰 (だれ, Dare), attaching a “か (Ka)” to “いつ” makes it “いつか”, a word that indicates “Some time (in the future)”. If you’d like to ask a question, do take a look at the sample sentence later! As for attaching “も (Mo)” to “いつ”, the word “いつも” can be more or less translated to “Always, Usually or All the time”.

いつから漫画が好きなの？

Romaji: Itsu kara manga ga suki na no?

English: Since when did you like manga?

Moving on, we look at expressing “Where” through the use of the Japanese word “どこ (Doko)”! More often than not, this word may come across as familiar for those out there who absolutely love Doraemon! Why? Well, he has a door known as the “どこでもドア (Doko demo doa)” that can bring him anywhere of course!

どこでその話を聞いたの？

Romaji: Doko de sono hanashi wo kiita no?

English: Where did you hear that from?

Lastly, let’s take a look at expressing “Why” and “How”. In the Japanese language, there are some words with overlapping meanings where some can mean both “Why” and “How at the same time. As such, it can be really hard to differentiate between the two sometimes. Nevertheless, here are some of the more common words of which can be used interchangeably to mean both “Why” and “How”!

The first word, なぜ (Naze) can be used in various contexts to refer to “Why” or “How”.

なんで(なぜ)お父さんがここにいるの？

Romaji: Nande (Naze) otousan ga koko ni iru no?

English: Why is dad here?

Note: なんで is used in a more Casual Setting.

The second word, どうして (Doushite) can be used in certain contexts to express “How/Why did that happen?”, “Why?”

どうしてそう言ったの？

Romaji: Doushite sou itta no?

English: Why did you say that?

Last but not least, we have どう (Dou) which is specifically used to refer to “How”. When used as a question, it can also mean “In what way/How was it done?” or “How was it?”.

そのドーナツはどう？

Romaji: Sono donaatsu wa dou?

English: How was the donut?

As confusing as it sounds, some Japanese words tend to have overlapping meanings. When to use them can largely vary and would often depend on the context. Once you are able to familiarise yourself with when to use the word, we’re sure you’d definitely be able to ask questions in Japanese like a pro!

Let’s watch an animated video to revise on what you have learned!

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