Beginner Japanese · Lesson 4
Ask Simple Questions About People and Places
Ask a few simple polite questions about a person, work, or a place using Japanese you already know.
One small change
Turn a statement you know into a question
In the last lesson, 学生です was a polite statement. Keep that familiar ending, then listen for one small addition.
Your first question
Reading: がくせいですか。
学生です。学生ですか。
The final か changes this familiar polite pattern into a question. The rest of the sentence can stay the same.
Two answer words coming back
Use these familiar response words before giving a known statement that fits.
Review
はい
yes
Review
いいえ
no
Answer without adding a new negative form
Use はい or いいえ, then give a familiar statement that fits. If the answer is no, an alternative can do the work for now.
Answer yes
Reading: はい、がくせいです。
Give an alternative
Reading: いいえ、かいしゃいんです。
Build a sentence
Turn this polite noun pattern into a question
～ですか
In the polite pattern you know, adding the question marker at the end marks the sentence as a question. Use it here with a name, role, or another noun statement.
A は B です → A は B ですかThis is the polite question pattern you are learning now. Japanese also has other question styles, so do not treat か as a rule for every question.
Check your recall
Make the first question
Try each prompt before opening the answer.
学生です。Turn this known statement into the polite question from the lesson.
Reveal the question
学生ですか。Add the final question marker to the polite statement.
Someone asks whether you are a student. Answer no, then say that you are a company employee.
Reveal one bounded answer
いいえ、会社員です。Use a known alternative statement; no new negative ending is needed here.
Ask for the missing information
Each word asks for a different kind of answer: a thing or fact, a person, or a place. Learn them through the questions below rather than swapping them mechanically.
New word
何
what
The base reading appears above. The full question below uses a contextual reading.
New word
だれ
who
New word
どこ
where
Places and work in this lesson
These four nouns give the question words something useful to ask about. For now, you are learning how to ask—not a complete system for describing locations.
New word
会社
company
New word
学校
school
New word
仕事
work; job
This is a noun meaning work or job.
New word
家
house; home
Use the reading shown above in this lesson.
Choose by meaning
Use the question word that fits
The polite ending stays familiar. What changes is the information you are asking the other person to supply.
何 asks what
The word 何 has the base readingなに. In the whole expression何ですか, read it なんですか. That is the contextual reading you need here—not a rule that何 is always なん.
Ask about work
Reading: しごとはなんですか。
仕事 is a noun meaning work or job in this question. You are not learning a new action pattern here.
だれ asks who
Use だれ when the missing information is a person. This example brings back the teacher word from the previous lesson.
Ask about a person
Reading: せんせいはだれですか。
どこ asks where
Use どこ when the missing information is a place. You can ask these questions now; a later lesson will give you more ways to describe the answer.
Ask about school
Reading: がっこうはどこですか。
Change the place
Reading: かいしゃはどこですか。
家 means house or home here. Recognize the word; this lesson does not ask you to give a private address.
Check your recall
Choose the missing question word
Read the Japanese frame, decide what kind of information is missing, then open the answer.
仕事は ___ ですか。You want to ask what the person’s job is.
Reveal the word and reading
何（なん）Use the contextual reading shown in the answer.
先生は ___ ですか。You want to ask who the teacher is.
Reveal the question word
だれThis asks for a person.
学校は ___ ですか。You want to ask where the school is.
Reveal the question word
どこThis asks for a place.
Ask first; expand the answers later
You can now ask a real question about a job, a person, or a place. Detailed location answers need words and patterns that come later, so keep today’s goal small: recognize the question and build it clearly.
Check your recall
Build one useful question
Say the complete question before opening the model. Keep the familiar polite ending intact.
Ask someone what their job is.
Reveal the work question
仕事は何ですか。Use the contextual reading from the lesson.
Ask where the company is.
Reveal the place question
会社はどこですか。The missing information is a place.
Keep one question pattern at the center
- In this polite noun pattern, add か to ask a question.
- 何・だれ・どこ ask for a fact, a person, or a place.
- In 何ですか, read 何 as なん.