か – Forming Questions and Saying “Or” in Japanese [JLPT N5]

Quick Summary

• Meaning: The particle か turns a sentence into a question, or can mean “or” when choosing between things.
• How to Use: Put か at the end of a sentence for questions, or between two choices to say “A or B”.

Example:

• おじいさんは宇宙人ですか。
• Ojiisan wa uchuujin desu ka.
• Is grandpa an alien?

Overview

The particle か is one of the first and most important particles you will meet in Japanese. It has two core jobs:

• To make a yes/no question or wh-question (who, what, where, etc.).
• To connect two things with the meaning “or”.

In English, you usually show a question with word order and a question mark:

• Are you a student?

In Japanese, you keep the normal sentence order and simply add か at the end of the sentence to show it is a question. The question mark is often added in modern writing, but the real “question mark” in Japanese is the particle か itself.

For example, a normal statement:

• ロボットは先生です。
• Robotto wa sensei desu.
• The robot is a teacher.

Now add か to turn it into a question:

• ロボットは先生ですか。
• Robotto wa sensei desu ka.
• Is the robot a teacher?

You can also use か in the middle of a sentence to connect choices, like “A or B”. This is very common with nouns and short phrases, especially when you are asking someone to choose.

Because か is so simple and regular, it is a friendly grammar point for beginners. Learn it well, and suddenly you can ask all kinds of questions in Japanese, from normal ones to very strange ones like:

• この猫は人間ですか。
• Kono neko wa ningen desu ka.
• Is this cat a human?

Structure / Formation

1. Making Yes/No Questions with か

The basic pattern to make a yes/no question is:

• Sentence + か

Here, “Sentence” can be many things: a noun sentence, a verb sentence, or an adjective sentence. You just keep the normal form, and then add か at the end.

Common base patterns:

• N + です + か
• V (polite) + か 　e.g. V-ます + か
• i-adj + です + か (optional です)
• na-adj + です + か

Think of it like this: you first make the normal polite sentence, then you “stick” か to the end to ask.

Type	Statement	Question
Noun	ロボットは学生です。 Robotto wa gakusei desu. The robot is a student.	ロボットは学生ですか。 Robotto wa gakusei desu ka. Is the robot a student?
Verb	私は飛びます。 Watashi wa tobimasu. I fly.	私は飛びますか。 Watashi wa tobimasu ka. Do I fly?
i-adj	このケーキはあまいです。 Kono keeki wa amai desu. This cake is sweet.	このケーキはあまいですか。 Kono keeki wa amai desu ka. Is this cake sweet?
na-adj	おじいさんは元気です。 Ojiisan wa genki desu. Grandpa is energetic.	おじいさんは元気ですか。 Ojiisan wa genki desu ka. Is grandpa energetic?

Example:

• あなたは忍者ですか。
• Anata wa ninja desu ka.
• Are you a ninja?

In casual spoken Japanese, people often drop です and even か, using just a rising intonation. But at the N5 level and in polite speech, it is best to keep です and か as in the patterns above.

2. Using Question Words with か

You also use か with question words like:

• だれ (who)
• なに / なん (what)
• どこ (where)
• いつ (when)
• どうして (why)
• どれ / どの (which)

The basic idea is the same:

• Question word + … + か

Just build the sentence normally, replace the unknown part with a question word, and finish the sentence with か.

Pattern	Example
だれ + が / は + ～ + か	だれが先生ですか。 Dare ga sensei desu ka. Who is the teacher?
どこ + Place + か	トイレはどこですか。 Toire wa doko desu ka. Where is the toilet?
なに / なん + を + V-ま + す + か	あなたはなにを食べますか。 Anata wa nani o tabemasu ka. What do you eat?

Example:

• だれが月でピクニックをしますか。
• Dare ga tsuki de pikunikku o shimasu ka.
• Who is having a picnic on the moon?

Notice how the only thing that always stays the same in these questions is the final か. This makes it a very reliable marker for questions.

3. Using か for Choices: “A or B”

か can also join two options with the meaning “or”. This is most common with nouns for beginners.

Basic patterns:

• N1 か N2
• N1 か N2 か (when listing more choices, the last か is often followed by どれ / どれですか, etc.)

This can be used inside a question, or even inside a statement.

Type	Pattern	Example
Question	N1 か N2 + か	コーラか水か。 Koora ka mizu ka. Cola or water?
Question (full)	N1 か N2 + ですか	ペンか刀かどちらがほしいですか。 Pen ka katana ka dochira ga hoshii desu ka. Which do you want, a pen or a sword?
Statement	N1 か N2 + です	きょうの晩ご飯はカレーかラーメンです。 Kyou no bangohan wa karee ka raamen desu. Tonight’s dinner is curry or ramen.

Example (inside a question):

• あなたの友だちは魔法使いかロボットですか。
• Anata no tomodachi wa mahoutsukai ka robotto desu ka.
• Is your friend a wizard or a robot?

When you use か like this, the nuance is that you are offering clear options. It feels like saying “this or that?” in English.

4. か with Clauses (Preview)

At higher levels, か can also connect whole clauses (full sentences) to mean things like “whether A or B”. For example:

• 行くか帰るか決めます。
  Iku ka kaeru ka kimemasu.
  I will decide whether to go or go home.

For now, as an N5 learner, focus on these two key uses:

• Sentence + か for questions.
• N1 か N2 for “A or B”.

With just these, you can already ask many fun questions in Japanese, from “Are you a student?” to “Is your cat the boss of this company?”:

• この会社の社長は猫ですか。
• Kono kaisha no shachou wa neko desu ka.
• Is the president of this company a cat?

Example Sentences

• この先生は宇宙人ですか。
• Kono sensei wa uchuujin desu ka.
• Is this teacher an alien?

• だれが火星でサッカーをしますか。
• Dare ga kasei de sakkaa o shimasu ka.
• Who plays soccer on Mars?

• 朝ご飯はパンか寿司かどちらですか。
• Asagohan wa pan ka sushi ka dochira desu ka.
• For breakfast, is it bread or sushi?

• あなたのおじいさんは忍者か魔法使いですか。
• Anata no ojiisan wa ninja ka mahoutsukai desu ka.
• Is your grandpa a ninja or a wizard?

• ロボットは犬と話しますか。
• Robotto wa inu to hanashimasu ka.
• Does the robot talk with dogs?

Quick Practice

(Answers and explanations are right under this section.)

Multiple-Choice

1. Choose the correct question: “Is your cat a teacher?”

• A. あなたの猫は先生です。(Anata no neko wa sensei desu.)
• B. あなたの猫は先生か。(Anata no neko wa sensei ka.)
• C. あなたの猫は先生ですか。(Anata no neko wa sensei desu ka.)
• D. あなたの猫は先生と。(Anata no neko wa sensei to.)

2. Choose the best sentence for: “Is it coffee or tea?”

• A. コーヒーとお茶ですか。(Koohii to ocha desu ka.)
• B. コーヒーかお茶ですか。(Koohii ka ocha desu ka.)
• C. コーヒーやお茶ですか。(Koohii ya ocha desu ka.)
• D. コーヒーでもお茶ですか。(Koohii demo ocha desu ka.)

3. Choose the correct question using a question word: “Where is the ninja?”

• A. 忍者はどこですか。(Ninja wa doko desu ka.)
• B. 忍者はどこか。(Ninja wa doko ka.)
• C. 忍者はどこをですか。(Ninja wa doko o desu ka.)
• D. 忍者はどこやですか。(Ninja wa doko ya desu ka.)

4. Choose the correct polite yes/no question: “Do you read manga every night?”

• A. あなたは毎晩マンガを読みますか。(Anata wa maiban manga o yomimasu ka.)
• B. あなたは毎晩マンガを読みますか？か。(Anata wa maiban manga o yomimasu ka? ka.)
• C. あなたは毎晩マンガを読みます。か。(Anata wa maiban manga o yomimasu. ka.)
• D. あなたは毎晩マンガを読みますと。(Anata wa maiban manga o yomimasu to.)

5. Choose the best sentence: “For lunch, is it ramen or pizza?”

• A. 昼ご飯はラーメンとピザですか。(Hirugohan wa raamen to piza desu ka.)
• B. 昼ご飯はラーメンやピザですか。(Hirugohan wa raamen ya piza desu ka.)
• C. 昼ご飯はラーメンかピザかどちらですか。(Hirugohan wa raamen ka piza ka dochira desu ka.)
• D. 昼ご飯はラーメンでもピザですか。(Hirugohan wa raamen demo piza desu ka.)

Spot-the-Error

6. One sentence has an incorrect use of か. Which one is wrong?

• A. おじいさんはアイドルですか。(Ojiisan wa aidoru desu ka.)
• B. このロボットはやさしいかです。(Kono robotto wa yasashii ka desu.)
• C. だれが図書館でゲームをしますか。(Dare ga toshokan de geemu o shimasu ka.)

7. One sentence has a mistake with “A or B” using か. Which one is wrong?

• A. 今日の宿題は漢字かカタカナです。(Kyou no shukudai wa kanji ka katakana desu.)
• B. 先生かロボットかどちらがこわいですか。(Sensei ka robotto ka dochira ga kowai desu ka.)
• C. 猫か犬も好きです。(Neko ka inu mo suki desu.)

Translation

8. Translate into Japanese using か: “Is your mother a singer?”

9. Translate into Japanese using か: “Who is in the spaceship?”

10. Translate into Japanese using か: “Is your homework math or science?”

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Answers and Explanations

1. あなたの猫は先生ですか。(Anata no neko wa sensei desu ka.) — This is the correct polite question form with です and final か.
2. コーヒーかお茶ですか。(Koohii ka ocha desu ka.) — か correctly links the two clear choices “coffee or tea.”
3. 忍者はどこですか。(Ninja wa doko desu ka.) — This is the normal pattern “question word + です + か.”
4. あなたは毎晩マンガを読みますか。(Anata wa maiban manga o yomimasu ka.) — A simple polite yes/no question: “Sentence + か.”
5. 昼ご飯はラーメンかピザかどちらですか。(Hirugohan wa raamen ka piza ka dochira desu ka.) — か links the options before どちら to ask “which, ramen or pizza?”
6. このロボットはやさしいかです。(Kono robotto wa yasashii ka desu.) — か cannot come before です in a normal yes/no question; it should be やさしいですか.
7. 猫か犬も好きです。(Neko ka inu mo suki desu.) — か does not work together with も like this; for “I like both cats and dogs” you would normally use と.
8. あなたのお母さんは歌手ですか。(Anata no okaasan wa kashu desu ka.) — A polite noun sentence plus か makes “Is your mother a singer?”
9. だれが宇宙船にいますか。(Dare ga uchuusen ni imasu ka.) — Uses the question word だれ and ends with か to ask “Who is in the spaceship?”
10. あなたの宿題は数学か理科ですか。(Anata no shukudai wa suugaku ka rika desu ka.) — か connects the two subjects “math or science” in a yes/no question.