かka“question particle”

か is the Japanese question particle. Put it at the very end of a polite sentence and the statement becomes a question: 行きます (“I’ll go”) turns into 行きますか (“Will you go?”). It is one of the first JLPT N5 grammar points you learn, and you will use it in almost every polite conversation.

Japanese does not change word order to make a question the way English does (“You are…” → “Are you…?”). The sentence stays exactly the same, and か does the work at the end.

Statement + か = question. No word order change, no extra helper verb — just one syllable at the end.

What does か mean?

か has no direct English translation. Its job is to mark the sentence as a question, much like a question mark or rising intonation in English. In polite Japanese it is the normal, standard way to ask anything:

• Yes/no questions: 学生ですか。 — Are you a student?
• Questions with a question word: 何ですか。 — What is it? / どこですか。 — Where is it?

Because か already shows it is a question, standard written Japanese ends the sentence with 。, not ？. You will see ？ in manga, text messages, and casual writing, but textbooks and the JLPT use 。 after か.

How to form か

In polite speech, か goes straight after です or a ます-form verb. Nothing else changes.

Some quick conversions:

• 学生です → 学生ですか (Are you a student?)
• 高いです → 高いですか (Is it expensive?)
• 行きます → 行きますか (Will you go?)
• 行きました → 行きましたか (Did you go?)
• 行きません → 行きませんか (Won’t you go? / Would you like to go?)

With a question word, the word goes where the answer would go, and か still ends the sentence: 田中さんはどこですか (“Where is Mr Tanaka?”) → 田中さんは図書館です (“Mr Tanaka is in the library”).

When is か used?

• Polite questions to anyone: teachers, strangers, shop staff, colleagues. This is where か is essential.
• Invitations: 〜ませんか means “Would you like to…?”. 映画を見ませんか。 — Shall we watch a movie?
• Offers: 〜ましょうか means “Shall I…?”. 窓を開けましょうか。 — Shall I open the window?
• Reacting with そうですか: said with a falling tone, it means “Oh, I see,” not a real question.

In casual speech between friends, you usually drop か and just raise your voice at the end: 行く？ (“You going?”). Plain form + か (行くか？) exists, but it sounds blunt and masculine, or like you are talking to yourself. As a beginner, use ですか/ますか with everyone except close friends.

か example sentences

Notice how the yes/no answer in the third example reuses the question: はい、そうです or はい、学生です. For a “no,” say いいえ、学生じゃありません.

Nuance of か

With です and ます, か sounds neutral and polite — never rude. The intonation changes the meaning, though. A rising tone on 〜ですか↑ is a real question. A falling tone on そうですか↓ is a reaction (“I see”), and on 〜ませんか it becomes a gentle invitation instead of a negative question.

か also combines with question words to make indefinite words: 何か (“something”), だれか (“someone”), どこか (“somewhere”). 何かありますか means “Is there anything?”, not “What is there?”. Keep that in mind when you see か right after 何.

💡 Watch the position: か at the end of the sentence makes a question. か directly after a question word (何か, だれか) makes “some-” words. Same particle, two different jobs.

か vs の

Both か and の can end a question, but they belong to different registers and add different feelings.

Use か when you are speaking politely. Use の？ with friends, especially when you are curious about the background (for example, you saw them packing a bag). The polite form of that curious question is 行くんですか — see のです.

Common mistakes with か

Is か on the JLPT?

A common test trap puts 何か and 何が side by side. 何かありますか is “Is there anything?” (answer はい/いいえ), while 何がありますか is “What is there?” (answer with a thing).

Practice questions for か

Learning path for か

Related grammar to review next

• ね — the ending particle for checking something you already think is true, as opposed to asking with か.
• 〜ませんか — a negative question with か that works as a polite invitation.
• か～か — the same particle used twice to offer a choice: “A or B.”
• のです — the explanatory ending behind 〜んですか and casual 〜の？ questions.

Learn か with Hane

Hane lets you practise turning statements into questions and back, so ですか and ますか become automatic. Try N5 question practice in Hane.