Module 6.1 – What do you eat on Christmas day?

5W1H

When writing an essay in Japanese, teachers often tell students to include all ごダブリューいちエイチ, which is written as “5W1H” and that refers to the set of English words, who, what/which, when, where, why and how. They are all question words (interrogatives). I will talk about each of these 6 English words.

The basic form of these words are:

who	だれ
what	なに
which	どれ
when	いつ
where	どこ
why	なぜ or どうして
how	どう and others

The first 5 of this table are “proNOUNS,” and depending on what particle is used with them, the meaning is different.

Who, whose, whom – だれ（が、の、に、お、と、から, etc)

If someone asks me out of the blue what “who” is in Japanese, I would just say だれ. However, だれ only means “which person?.” The English word “who” changes its form and becomes “whose” or “whom” depending on how it’s used in the sentence and these changes need to be expressed with particles in Japanese. See below.

Asking for/about	Example Sentence	Translation
subject (doer of the action)	だれがきますか。 It’s very rare to say だれは	Who is coming?
owner	だれの本ほんですか。	Whose book is it?
target of the verb – most cases	だれに会あいましたか。	Whom did you see (and have conversation with)?
target of the verb – rare	だれを見みましたか。	Whom did you see (=catch sight of)?
companion	だれと 行いきますか。	Whom are you going with?
origin	だれからききましたか。	Whom did you hear it from?
doer of an passive action when you are the receiver of the action	だれにもらいましたか。	Whom did you receive it from? (=Who gave it to you?)

What/which as a pronoun – なに、なん、どれ

”What/which” is not the easiest word to translate into Japanese. One reason is because, “what” is a pronoun as well as is an adjective.

If “what” is used as a pronoun (i.e. used as it is without being followed by a noun), it is usually なに in Japanese, except when its followed by です, の or と, in which case it is なん. For more on the difference between なん and なに, see this post.

If you are asking which one among a limited number of options, you can use どれ.

Example Sentence	Translation	Possible answer	Translation
なにがすきですか。	What do you like?	ラーメンがすきです。	I like ramen.
しゅうまつなにをしましたか。	What did you do during the weekend?	テニスをしました。	I played tennis.
いちばんすきなたべものはなんですか。	What is your favourite food.	すしです。	It is sushi.
それはなんのほんですか。	What is that book about?	れきしのほんです。	It’s a history book.
ジョンさんはなんといいましたか。	What did John say?	OKといいました。	He said OK.
どれをかいますか。	Which one are you buying?	これにします。	I’ll decide on this.
どれですか。	Which one is it?	それです。	That one near you.

What/which as an adjective – なにxxx、なんxxx、どんなxxx、どのxxx

The “what” in “What colour do you like?” or “What languages do you speak?” is an adjective and that “what” can be translated as なに、なん、どんな and these must be followed by a noun (shown as “xxx”). For more on the difference between なん and なに, see this post. If you are asking “which xxx” (out of a limited number of choices), then you can use どの.

• なにxxx is used when what you want to find out is the nature of “xxx.”
  • なにいろ（何色） what colour
  • なにご（何語） what language
  • なにじん（何人） what nationality, etc.
• なんxxx to ask about the number of xxx (i.e. “how many xxx”)
  • なんしょく（何色） how many colours
  • なんご（何語） how many words
  • なんにん（何人） how many people
• なんxxx in customary use – you should remember these as they are
  • なんようび（何曜日） what day (of the week)
  • なんにち（何日） what day (of the month), what date
  • なんがつ（何月） what month (of the year)
• どんなxxx is usually used when you are asking for some explanation (i.e. “what kind of…”)
  • どんないろ（どんな色） what kind of colourどんなことば（どんな言葉） what kind of wordsどんなひと（どんな人） what kind of person
• どのxxx is used when you are asking which one among a limited number of choices (i.e. “which xxx”).
  • どのいろ（どの色） which colour
  • どのひと（どの人） which person

Example Sentence	Translation	Expected answer	Translation
なんようびですか。	What day (of the week) is it?	きんようびです。	It is Friday.
なんにちですか。	What date is it?	はつかです。	It is the 20th.
なにいろがすきですか。	What colour do you like?	あかがすきです。	I like red.
どのいろがすきですか。	Which colour do you like?	あかがすきです。	I like red.
なんしょくありますか。	How many colours are there?	さんしょくあります。	There are 3 colours.
どんないろがすきですか。	What kind of colours do you like?	やわらかいいろがすきです。	I like soft colours.
なにごをはなしますか。	What language do you speak?	日本語にほんごをはなします。	I speak Japanese.
どんなことばをつかいますか。	What type of words do you use?	むずかしいことばをつかいます。	I use difficult words.

When – いつ、なんxxx （なんじ、なんようび, etc.)

If you are asking “when” in general, いつ is the correct and the most common question word. However, if you want a precise answer, you may need to use なんxxx as below.

Example Sentence	Translation	Expected answer	Translation
いついきますか。	When are you going?	あしたいきます。	I’m going tomorrow.
なんじにいきますか。	What time are you going?	五時にいきます。	I’m going at 5 o’clock.
なんようびにいきますか。	On which day are you going?	きんようびにいきます。	I’m going on Friday.
いつオーストラリアにきましたか。	When did you come to Australia?	ずっと前まえにきました。	I came here a long time ago.
なんねん前まえにオーストラリアにきましたか。	How many years ago did you come to Australia?	二十年にじゅうねん前まえにきました。	I came here 20 years ago.

Where – どこ

In Japanese どこ is an interrogative PRONOUN meaning”what place?” while the English “WHERE” is an adverb, so in Japanese you usually need to use an appropriate particle with どこ.

Asking for/about	Example Sentence	Translation
place of action	どこで食べますか。	Where will/do you eat (it)?
Place of existence	どこにありますか。 トイレはどこですか。	Where is it? Where is the toilet?
destination	どこに行いきますか。 どこへ行いきますか。	Where will you go?
starting point	どこからきましたか。	Where did you come from?
ending point	どこまで歩あるきますか。	Where did you walk to?

Why – なぜ、どうして

なぜ is rather formal, so in conversation どうして, which is more like “how come,” is more often used. However, depending on the context, どうして can be used for “how (asking for means).”

Example Sentence	Translation	Expected answer	Translation
なぜいきますか。	Why are you going?	いかなければならないからです。	Because I have to.
なぜですか。	Why is that?	すきだからです。	Because I like it.
どうしていきますか。	Why are you going? or How are you going?	いかなければならないからです。 or じてんしゃでいきます。	Because I have to. or I’m going by bicycle.
どうしてですか。	Why is that?	すきだからです。	Because I like it.

how – asking about the condition (how things are) – どう

Example Sentence	Translation	Expected answer	Translation
さいきんどうですか。	How are you/have you been lately?	いそがしいです。	I’ve been busy.
どうしましたか。(a common phrase by a doctor)	What’s wrong?	かぜをひきました。	I’ve caught a cold.

how – asking about the means (how to do things) – どうやって、どのように、etc.

Example Sentence	Translation	Expected answer	Translation
どうやっていきますか。	How do you go there?	あるいていきます。	I’ll walk.
どのようにつくりますか。	How did you make it?	オーブンでやきました。	I baked it in the oven.

Others

For the JLPT N5 exam, you need to know the following question words on top of the above. These words are another version of one/some of the above.

Word	what it replaces
いかが	politer version of どう
どちら	politer version of だれ、どれ、どこ
どっち	more casual version of どれ
どなた	politer version of だれ
どちらの	politer version of どの
どっちの	more casual version of どの

Examples

1. きょうは いかが ですか。（＝きょうはどうですか。）
   How are you today?
2. いかがなさいましたか。（＝きのうはどうしましたか。）
   What happened yesterday?
3. どちらさまですか。（＝だれですか。）
   May I ask who’s talking, please? (= who are you?)
4. どちらが おすきですか。（＝どれがすきですか。）
   Which do you like?
5. せんしゅう どちらに いかれましたか。（＝せんしゅうどこにいきましたか。）
   Where did you go last week?
6. どちらで おかいになりましたか。（＝どこで かいましたか。）
   Where did you buy it?
7. あの おとこの ひとは どなたですか。（＝あの おとこの ひとは だれですか。）
   Who is that man over there?
8. どなたのほんでしょう？（＝だれのほんでしょう？）
   I wonder whose book is this?
9. どっちが すきですか。（＝どれがすきですか。）
   Which do you like?
10. どちらのおみせですか。（＝どのみせですか。）
    Which shop is it?
11. どっちのみせですか。（＝どのみせですか。）
    Which shop is it?