Properly Use 'What' 'Why' And 'How' In Japanese

In this article, we will learn how to use "what," "why" and how in Japanese. However, before we do, let’s go over a few important points about the differences between the basic particles.

A quick review of Japanese particles

The は (wa) particle

This is the “topic marker” particle. It’s role in the sentence is to indicate what the topic is.

Example:

今日はクリスマスです。
Kyou WA kurisumasu desu (japanese how to: read)
It's Christmas today (literally: as for today, it is Christmas).

The が (ga) particle

This is the “subject marker” particle. It’s role in the sentence is to indicate what the subject is.

Example:

いいえ、明日がクリスマスですよ。
Iie, ashita GA kurisumasu desu yo (japanese how to: read)
No, tomorrow is Christmas.

Note: To learn more about the differences between は and が, please refer to the italki article The Ultimate Guide to: wa vs. ga.

The を (wo) particle

This is the “object marker” particle. It’s role in the sentence is to indicate what object is before a verb.

Example:

日本語を勉強しています。
Nihon-go WO benkyou shite-imasu (japanese how to: read)
I've been learning Japanese.

In the example above, Nihon-go (Japanese) is the object. However, despite the fact that this particle is written with a W, we don't pronounce it as "wo." Instead, we pronounce is as just "o" (this is the same pronunciation as お).

The で particle

This particle indicates where the action is taking place. It’s the equivalent of "in" and "at" in English.

Example:

レストランで晩ご飯を食べました。
Resutoran DE ban-gohan wo tabe-mashita (japanese how to: read)
I had dinner at the restaurant.

The で particle can also mean "by using ~."

Examples:

おはしで食べられます。
Ohashi DE tabe-rare-masu
I can eat with (by using) chopsticks.

車で仕事に行きます。
Kuruma DE shigoto ni iki-masu
I go to work by (using a) car.

Skypeで話そう！
Sukaipu de hanas-ou
Let's talk on (by using) Skype!

The に particle

This indicates direction and will explain, how japanese people use it. Its English equivalent is the preposition "to."

Examples:

来年日本に行きます。
Rainen nihon NI iki-masu
I'm going to Japan next year.

友達に電話をかけた。
Tomodachi NI denwa wo kaketa
I called (to) my friend.

彼女にプレゼントをあげます。
Kanojo NI purezento wo age-masu
I'll give a present to my girlfriend.

に can also mean "in” or “at," just like the で particle. However, this is only the case with verbs that express where one is or exists.

Examples of such verbs are:

ある / いる : to exist / there is ...
住む sumu: to live
泊まる tomaru: to stay (in a hotel or at a friend's house)
滞在する taizai suru: to stay (in a country or city)
座る suwaru: to sit
立つ tatsu: to stand

Please note that the verb 寝る (neru, to sleep) is not included in the list above. We consider it to be an action rather than a verb that focuses on where you are.

Examples:

Person A:

今どこにいる？
Ima doko NI iru
Where are you now?

Person B:

うちにいるよ。
Uchi ni iru yo
I'm at home.

Further examples:

アメリカに住んでいます。
Amerika NI sunde-imasu
I live in the US.

父はあそこに立っています。
Chichi wa asoko NI tatte-imasu
My father is standing (at) there.

Now that we’ve reviewed those particles, let's take a look at the words “what,” “why” and “how.”

One thing that is important to know before we begin is that the は particle does not come after these words.

“What” in Japanese (何　なに nani)

When you simply want to ask "What is (noun)?" then you should always use:

Aは何ですか。
A wa naN desu ka
What is A?

Example:

それは何ですか。
Sore wa nan desu ka
What is that (near you / you have)?

Using “what” with the が particle

This consists of 何が nani ga + expressions that take が. Have a look at this article about the wa vs. ga particle to see more examples of them.

Examples:

何が好きですか。
Nani ga suki desu ka
What do you like?

何が欲しいですか。
Nani ga hoshii desu ka
What do you want?

何がしたいですか。
Nani ga shi-tai desu ka
What do you want to do?

何が動きましたか。
Nani ga ugoki-mashita ka
What moved?

何が大きいですか。
Nani ga ookii desu ka
What is big?

Using “what” with the を particle

"What" is used to ask about the object in a sentence. In English, when you ask a question with the word “what,” you must place “what” in a different position than the object it is referring to.

Example:

“I (S) eat (V) sushi (O)” BECOMES “What (O) do (V1) you (S) eat (V2)?” (Not "you eat what").

However, we do not change this order in Japanese. Instead, "what" stays in the same place as the object it is referring to.

Example:

（Aは）すしを食べます。BECOMES（Aは）何を食べますか。
(A wa) sushi wo tabe-masu BECOMES (A wa) nani wo tabe-masu ka

Further Examples:

何を読んでいますか。
Nani wo yonde-imasu ka
What are you reading?

教科書は何を使っていますか。
Kyoukasho wa nani wo tsukatte-imasu ka
As for the textbook, what are you using?/ What textbook are you using?

Using “what” with the で particle

何で
naNI de
By using what? / How? (as in what method)

Examples:

Person A:

京都には何で行きますか。
Kyouto ni wa nani DE iki-masu ka
How (by using what) will you go to Kyoto?

Person B:

新幹線で行きます。
Shinkansen DE iki-masu
I'll go by shinkansen (bullet train).

So, for the question なにで, three examples of acceptable answers would be: "by car," "with a pen," and "with chopsticks."

“How” in Japanese

Expressing "how" is a bit tricky in Japanese, being that there are several different words for it. Let's have a look at them all, and discuss their differences.

When you want to ask "how is ~?" and are referring to the condition of something or a person’s opinion about it, then you should use どう:

Aはどうですか。
A wa dou desu ka
How is "A"?

Examples:

日本の生活はどうですか。
Nihon no seikatsu wa dou desu ka
How is life in Japan? / How do you like it?

旅行はどうでしたか。
Ryokou wa dou deshita ka
How was your trip?

There are lots of expressions that use どう. For example:

Expression #1

～はどうですか
"How about~?"

Examples:

明日はどうですか。
Ashita wa dou desu ka
How about tomorrow?

～でもどうですか
How about ~ (or something)?

This is used when offering something to someone.

お茶でもどうですか。
Ocha demo dou desu ka
How about a cup of tea (or something)?

ビールでも一杯どう？
Biiru demo ippai dou
How about a glass of beer? / Do you fancy a glass of beer?

Note: ippai refers to a cup of something to drink.

Expression #2

～は日本語でどう言いますか。
~ wa nihon-go de dou ii-masu ka
How do you say ~ in Japanese?

Examples:

Person A:

"article"は日本語でどう言いますか。
"article" wa nihon-go de dou ii-masu ka
How do you say "article" in Japanese?

Person B:

記事です。
kiji desu
It's kiji.

Expression #3

どう + する (literally: what + to do)
～はどうしますか。(formal)
～はどうするの。 (informal)
What are you going to do about it? / How are you going to deal with it?

Examples:

留学したいのは分かるけど、お金はどうするの？
Ryuugaku shi-tai no wa wakaru kedo, okane wa dou suru no
I understand that you want to study abroad, but what are you going to do about money?

旅行するって...猫はどうするの？誰かにお世話してもらうの？
Ryokou suru tte...neko wa dou suru no. Dare-ka ni o-sewa shite-morau no
You say that you will go traveling but… what are you going to do about your cat? Will you ask somebody to take care of it?

Expression #4

どう + しよう (literally: How + let's do)
What should I/we do…? (Oh gosh! There’s a problem!)

Example:

どうしよう！間違えて、部長にあのメールを送っちゃった！
Doushiyou! Machigaete, buchou ni ano meeru wo okucchatta
Oh gosh! (What should I do!) I sent that e-mail to my boss by mistake!

Expression #5

どう思いますか。
Dou omoi-masu ka
What do you think about it? (literally: How do you think?)

Please note that while in English we use "what" to ask about what you are thinking, in Japanese we use the question word “how.” (that's how japanese language work) This is something that you will realize fairly quickly if you speak to Japanese people in English, being that they commonly make the mistake of asking "how do you think?" Keeping this in mind, please be kind to Japanese speakers and don’t make a mean remark like "with my brain."

Expressing “how” to do something

We’ve now learned that どう means "how is ~" and なにで means "by using what." So, what expression should we use for "how” in the context of “how to do something”? It’s easy! Just use:

どうやって
Dou-yatte

やって comes from the verb やる which means "to do" (like する). Therefore, this expression is literally made up of "how + to do," which makes sense. Now, let's take a look at some examples.

Examples:

このアプリはどうやって使うの？
Kono apuri wa dou-yatte tsukau no
How do you use this app?

お好み焼きはどうやって作るの？
Okonomi-yaki wa dou-yatte tsukuru no
How do you make Okonomiyaki? (Japanese pancake...YUM!)

どうやって漢字を勉強すればいいですか。
Dou-yatte kanji wo benkyou sureba ii desu ka
How should I study kanji?

Differences between “why” and how in Japanese

なにで means "by using what" but be careful! If you read 何で as なんで (usually written in Hiragana), it means "why / how come?"

Example:

なんで英語がそんなに上手なの？
Nande eigo ga sonna-ni jouzu-na no
Why is your English so good?

You can also use:

どうして
Dou-shite
why

However, なんで sounds slightly more colloquial.

して itself comes from する (to do). Does this sound familiar? It should because we have already seen どうやって (how), and どうして (why) is quite similar.

In fact, both of these expressions literally mean "how to do." You just need to remember that どうして specifically means "why" or "how come."

Examples:

どうして日本語を勉強し始めたんですか。
Doushite nihon-go wo benkyou shi-hajimeta n desu ka
How come you started learning Japanese?

どうして空は青いの？
Doushite sora wa aoi no
Why is the sky blue?

Nan to

One final expression that can be translated as "how" in English is:

何と
Nan + TO

Please note that it is required to include the to after a quote or quoted speech.

Example:

山下くんは遅れると言っていました。
Yamashita-kun wa okureru to itte-ima-shita
Yamashita said he'll be late.

何と (nan to) used as "how":

Examples:

この漢字は何と読みますか。
Kono kanji wa nan to yomi-masu ka
How do you read this kanji?

Ａは日本語で何と言いますか。
A wa nihon-go de nan to ii-masu ka

Which is equivalent to:

Ａは日本語でどう言いますか。
A wa nihon-go de dou ii-masu ka
How do you say "A" in Japanese?

何と (nan to) not used as "how":

何と言いましたか。
Nanto ii mashita ka
What did you say?

Now, do you remember that instead of asking "what do you think," we ask "how do you think" in Japanese? That is why the sentence below does not use the construction "what do you think about ~?"

これは何だと思いますか。
Kore wa nan DA to omoi-masu ka
What do you think this is?

As you can see, the sentence above is made up of two parts:

これは何 + だ
と思います

Also, please note that だ is added in this context because the to particle requires da after a noun.

A quick summary

What: なに
How: どう or どうやって or なにで
Why: どうして or なんで

The の particle

Finally, for those who are wondering what the の particle or んですか does at the end of a sentence, here's the answer:

の is placed at the end of a sentence in order to express the nuance that you are giving an explanation, looking for an explanation or encouraging a conversation.

This consists of the plain form (without masu or desu) plus:

の (for informal questions)
んです (for formal affirmative sentences)
んですか (for formal questions)

Examples:

なんで隠れてるの？
nande kakurete(i)ru NO?
Why are you hiding? (I want an explanation).

明日は何するんですか？
ashita wa nani suru n desu ka
Where are you doing tomorrow? (formal)

ねえ、聞いて！彼氏ができたの！(female speech)
nee, kiite! kareshi ga dekita NO!
Hey, listen! I got a boyfriend! (I’m encouraging a conversation. I want you to ask me questions.)

Note: In affirmative sentences (not questions), males use んだ instead of の.

Example:

彼女ができたんだ！ (both male and female speech)
kanojo ga dekita N DA!
I got a girlfriend!

Note: You should use んです instead of の or んだ for formal speech.

In my next article, I'll be explaining how to use "where," "when," "who" and "which." Stay tuned!

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