Japanese/Lessons/Introduction/Ogenki desu ka/Questions using ka
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In this unit, you will learn how to ask and answer yes/no questions.
Try It
[edit | edit source]Try to ask and answer the following questions using the vocabulary given. For questions, use 〜ですか。 〜 desu ka?, and for answers, use はい、〜です。 hai, 〜 desu. If you are in a classroom, participate with your fellow students. If you are studying independently, converse with yourself. It may help to record yourself with a tape recorder, cell phone, computer, etc.
Ex: Are you well? Yes, I am. (
元気 ですか。- はい、
元気 です。
- Are you happy? Yes, I am. (
幸 せ) - Are you sick? Yes, I am. (
病気 ) - Is she pretty? Yes, she is. (
奇麗 ) - Is he cheerful? Yes, he is. (
陽気 ) - Are you students? Yes, we are. (
学生 ) - Is that rude? Yes, it is. (
失礼 )
Understand
[edit | edit source]Duration: 3-5 minutes
Grammar
[edit | edit source]Particles
[edit | edit source]Japanese particles (助詞 joshi) are a Japanese part of speech consisting of suffixes or short words which follow other words such as nouns, verbs and adjectives, to indicate a wide range of grammatical and discursive (communicative) functions. For instance, particles are used to indicate, or mark, the subject, direct object, and so on; in English, this task is normally performed by word order. Particles may also indicate the speaker's assertiveness, certitude, or other feelings. Note that a particle cannot exist by itself, it always follows another word or phrase.
Question Marker: か ka
[edit | edit source]One example of a particle is the question marker か ka, so-called because it is placed at the end of a phrase to indicate that that phrase is a question. Look at the following examples:
元気 です。 "I'm fine."元気 ですか。"How are you?"学生 です。 "She is a student."学生 ですか。 "Is she a student?"- スミスさんです。 "That's Mr. Smith."
- スミスさんですか。 "Is that Mr. Smith?"
Because か ka always comes at the end of a sentence, it is called a sentence-final particle. You have already been exposed to another sentence-final particle (ね ne) in the first lesson. More details about this, as well as other examples of sentence-final particles, will be given in future lessons.
Discuss
[edit | edit source]Duration: 0-5 minutes
If in the classroom, use this time to discuss questions the students may have.
Please post any questions you have about the lesson here, and a contributor will answer.
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