How to ask a Yes / No question in Japanese?
Question marker
When asking a Yes / No question, we add か (ka) at the end of the sentence.
For example,
A :
わたしはクルーズです。
Watashi wa Kuruuzu desu.
I’m Cruise.
B :
クリスさんですか。
Kurusu san desu ka.
Are you Cris?
*
1- Note that we don’t need to say “You” since it is clear that person B is addressing person A.
2- ? is not used for official documents (it can be used in private message or some literary works)
How to answer with YES?
When being asked with Yes / No question, we can answer with
はい、Xです。
Hai, X desu.
Yes, it’s X.
はい、そうです。
Hai, sou desu.
Yes, it is.
*”it” can be another subject like “I”, “You” and “They”, etc.
For example,
A :
クルーズさんですか。
Kuruuzu san desu ka.
Are you Cruise?
B (1) :
はい、クルーズです。
Hai, I’m Cruise.
Yes, I’m Cruise.
B (2) :
はい、そうです。
Hai, sou desu.
Yes, I’am.
How to answer with NO?
When answering Yes / No question with NO, we have more options than Yes answers.
いいえ、Xじゃないです。
Iie, X janai desu.
No, it is not X.
いいえ、ちがいます。
Iie, chigai masu.
No, it is different.
いいえ、Xです。
Iie, X desu.
No. It is X.
The 3rd way of answering might be difficult for English speakers.
Actually, this いいえ (Iie) answers whether the statement of the question is true or not.
Simply put, いいえ (Iie) can be understood like “That’s not true”.
So, for example, if you’re from Kenya and someone asks you like this :
アメリカ人ですか。
Amerika jin desu ka.
Are you American?
The statement of this sentence is “I’m American.” and it is not true.
So we can answer with いいえ (Iie) and add the correct answer like this :
いいえ、ケニア人です。
Iie, Kenia jin desu.
No. I’m from Kenya.
Of course, you can answer,
いいえ、アメリカ人じゃないです。
Iie, Amerika jin janai desu.
No, I’m not American.
いいえ、ちがいます。
Iie, chigai masu.
No, I’m not.
and add also the correct answer like this :
いいえ、アメリカ人じゃないです。ケニア人です。
Iie, Amerika jin janai desu. Kenia jin desu.
No, I’m not American. I’m from Kenya.
いいえ、ちがいます。ケニア人です。
Iie, chigai masu. Kenia jin desu.
No, I’m not. I’m from Kenya.
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