|
question |
some- |
no-
(used with a negative form of verb or adjective.) |
-ever |
What |
nani nan (used with desu ka) |
nanika (something) |
nanimo (nothing) |
nandemo (whatever) |
Where |
doko |
dokoka |
dokonimo |
dokodemo |
When |
itsu |
itsuka |
itsumo
(always) |
itsudemo |
Who |
dare |
dareka |
daremo |
daredemo |
Which
(1. more than 2 choices) |
dore |
doreka
(some of these) |
doremo
(none of these) |
doredemo |
Which
(2. More than 2 choices. A noun follows dono.) |
dono+noun |
dono
+ noun+ ka (some of these) |
dono
+ noun + mo (none of these) |
dono
+ noun + demo |
Which
(3. Only 2 choices.) |
docchi |
docchika
(either of these) |
docchimo
(neither of these) |
docchidemo |
What
kind of |
donna
+ noun |
|
|
|
Why |
doshite Nande (more casual) |
|
|
|
How
1 |
do
(used with desu ka) |
|
|
|
How
2 |
doyatte
(used with a verb) |
|
|
|
How
much |
ikura |
|
|
|
How
long |
donogurai or donokurai |
|
|
|
How
old |
nansai |
|
|
|
How
many people |
nannin nanmei (more formal) |
nanninka nanmeika |
|
nannindemo nanmeidemo (any number of people) |
How
many things |
ikutsu |
ikutsuka |
|
Ikutsudemo (any number of things) |
What
time |
nanji |
|
|
nanjidemo |
Here are explanations for the words marked in yellow.
docchi : meaning “which one” when you have two alternatives like meat or fish. It often refers to directions like this way or that way.
donogurai/donokurai:refers to time, distance or degree.
- Tokyo kara Osaka made donogurai (or nanjikan) kakarimasu ka? “How long (or how many hours) does it take to travel from Tokyo to Osaka?”
- Tokyo kara Osaka made donogurai (or nankilo) desu ka? “How long (or how many kilometers) is it from Tokyo to Osaka?”
- kono test wa donogurai muzukashii desu ka? “ How difficult will this test be?”
ikutsu:A general counter for objects, so you can use “ikutsu”
for anything you want to know the number of. There are many other counter words
for certain types of objects. Japanese people usually choose the appropriate counter
word over “ikutsu” according to the object in question.
dokonimo:
“Ni” is a particle which has two different meanings when it is used with “doko”.
One indicates direction meaning “to” or “towards”. The other one indicates
location meaning “in” or “at”.
- ashita wa dokonimo ikanai. “I’m not going anywhere tomorrow.”
- konoo machi wa conbini ga dokonimo nai. “There are no convenience stores anywhere in this city.”
How
is a series of these words used? Let’s take the nani-series as an example.
- Q. nani o tabeteimasu ka? >> A. ramen o tabeteimasu. “Q. What are you eating? >> A. I’m eating ramen.”
- Q. Asagohan o tabemashita ka? >> A, iie, kyo no asa nanimo tabemasendeshita. “Did you have breakfast? >> No, I didn’t eat anything this morning.”
- Q. nani o tabemasho ka? >> A. nandemo ii desu yo. “What shall we eat? >> A. Anything is fine.”
Listing out these words really helps you learn them. I suggest you always make lists or charts of words or expressions in your notebook. This way is much better than writing down the words randomly!!