Question Words in Japanese
Translated from the Vietnamese original. View the original.
Question words in Japanese
In this lesson we will learn the interrogative words in Japanese. These words will make you more confident in Japanese conversation.
| No. | Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
| 1 | だれ | /dare/ | Who |
| 2 | どなた | /donata/ | Who (polite) |
| 3 | いつ | /itsu/ | When |
| 4 | どこ | /doko/ | Where |
| 5 | どちら | /dochira/ | Which way |
| 6 | どうして | /doushite/ | Why |
| 7 | なに | /nani/ | What |
| 8 | どのように | /donoyouni/ | How |
| 9 | なん | /nan/ | What |
| 10 | いくら | /ikura/ | How much (money) |
| 11 | おいくつ | /oikutsu/ | How old (polite) |
| 12 | なんさい | /nansai/ | How old |
| 13 | どのくらい | /donokurai/ | How long |
| 14 | なんじ | /nanji/ | What time |
| 15 | なんで | /nande/ | Why / by what means |
| 16 | どれ | /dore/ | Which one |
| 17 | どう | /dou/ | How |
| 18 | どんな | /donna/ | What kind of |
| 19 | なんようび | /nanyoubi/ | What day of the week |
| 20 | なんがつ | /nangatsu/ | What month |
| 21 | なんねん | /nannen/ | What year |
| 22 | なんにち | /nanichi/ | What day (of the month) |
| 23 | なんかげつ | /nankagetsu/ | How many months |
| 24 | なんにん | /nannin/ | How many people |
| 25 | なんかい | /nankai/ | How many times |
| 26 | なんがい | /nangai/ | What floor / how many floors |
| 27 | なんぞく | /nanzoku/ | How many pairs |
| 28 | なんげん | /nangen/ | How many houses |
| 29 | なんちゃく | /nanchaku/ | How many suits (of clothes) |
| 30 | なんぷん | /nanpun/ | How many minutes |
| 31 | なんびょう | /nanbyou/ | How many seconds |
| 32 | なんしゅうかん | /nanshuukan/ | How many weeks |
| 33 | なんまい | /nanmai/ | How many sheets |
| 34 | なんだい | /nandai/ | How many (machines, vehicles) |
| 35 | なんばん | /nanban/ | What number |
| 36 | なにじん | /nanijin/ | What nationality |
| 37 | なにご | /nanigo/ | What language |
| 38 | なんこ | /nanko/ | How many (small round objects) |
| 39 | なんさつ | /nansatsu/ | How many (books, notebooks) |
| 40 | なんぼん | /nanbon/ | How many (long objects such as bottles, pens) |
Notes:
なに and なん both mean “what” but are used in different contexts — なん is usually used before words beginning with t/d/n sounds or before counters (e.g. なんですか、なん時), while なに is used in the remaining cases (e.g. なにを、なにか).
おいくつ and なんさい both mean “how old”, but おいくつ is more polite/formal (used with older people or when politeness is needed), while なんさい is more casual.
なんで is glossed in the image as “by what means?”, but in practice なんで most commonly means “why” (like どうして); only in a few cases does it mean “by what / by what means of transport”.
どう and どんな are both translated as “how / what kind of” but are used differently — どう goes with verbs (e.g. どうですか – how is it?), while どんな comes before a noun to ask about its nature (e.g. どんな人 – what kind of person?).
Words 19–25 all start with なん (何) followed by a counter or time noun — a very useful pattern for building further questions, e.g. なんぼん (how many bottles/long objects), なんまい (how many sheets/thin objects), なんこ (how many pieces), etc.
Words 26–30 continue the なん + counter (助数詞) pattern; each type of object has its own counter: 階 (floors), 足 (pairs of shoes), 軒 (houses), 着 (suits of clothing), 分 (minutes). This is an important grammar point in Japanese — each group of nouns has its own counter rather than one universal way of counting.
Words 31–35 continue with more counters — 秒 (seconds), 週間 (weeks), 枚 (flat thin objects such as paper or tickets), 台 (machines, vehicles, devices), 番 (ordinal numbers). At this point the table covers almost all the common なん + counter patterns in conversational Japanese.
Words 38–40 use the counters 個 (small round objects such as fruit or sweets), 冊 (books, notebooks, magazines) and 本 (long objects such as bottles, pens, trees) — note that 本 changes its reading to ぼん/ぽん/ほん depending on the preceding number (いっぽん, にほん, さんぼん…).
See also:
44 N5–N4 Question Words to Remember
80 Japanese Phrases for Job Interviews