Question words + か

Today’s Question

Question Words + か

I talked about Japanese Question words （だれ、なに、いつ、どこ、なぜ、どう） in this post and today I’m going to talk about those with か, which converts a question word into an indefinite pronoun like “something,” “someone,” etc.

Question word	English	Question word + か	English
だれ	who	だれか	someone; somebody
なに	what	なにか	something
いつ	when	いつか	sometime (or other); someday
どこ	where	どこか	somewhere
なぜ	why	なぜか	for some reason (or other); for whatever reason; somehow
どう	how	どうか	somehow or other

Because these words are no longer a question word, if they are used in a question sentence, it becomes a Yes or No question.

だれか

Examples of Question word	Translation	Examples of Question word + か	Translation
だれがきますか。	Who is coming?	だれかがきますか。	Is someone/anyone coming?
だれの本ほんですか。	Whose book is it?	だれかの本ほんですか。	Is this somebody’s book?
だれに会あいましたか。	Whom did you see (and have conversation with)?	だれかに会あいましたか。	Did you meet anybody/somebody?
だれを見みましたか。	Whom did you see (=catch sight of)?	だれかを見みましたか。	Did you see anyone/someone?
だれと 行いきますか。	Whom are you going with?	だれかと 行いきますか。	Are you going with someone?
だれからききましたか。	Whom did you hear it from?	だれかからききましたか。	Did you hear it from somebody?
だれにもらいましたか。	Whom did you receive it from? (=Who gave it to you?)	だれかにもらいましたか。	Did you get it from someone?

なにか、どれか

Examples of Question word	Translation	Examples of Question word + か	Translation
なにがすきですか。	What do you like?	なにかがすきですか。	Do you like something?
しゅうまつなにをしましたか。	What did you do during the weekend?	しゅうまつなにかをしましたか。	Did you do something over the weekend?
それはなんのほんですか。	What is that book about?	それはなにかのほんですか。 それはなんかのほんですか。 (colloquial)	Is that a book of some sort?
ジョンさんはなんといいましたか。	What did John say?	ジョンさんはなにかいいましたか。	Did John say something/anything?
どれをかいますか。	Which one are you buying?	どれかをかいますか。	Are you buying one/some (of these)?

いつか

Examples of Question word	Translation	Examples of Question word + か	Translation
いついきますか。	When are you going?	いつかいきますか。	Are you going one day?
いつオーストラリアにいきましたか。	When did you go to Australia?	いつかオーストラリアにいきましたか。	Did you go to Australia some 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?	なんねんか前まえにオーストラリアにきましたか。	Did you come to Australia some years ago?

どこか

Examples of Question word	Translation	Examples of Question word + か	Translation
どこで食べますか。	Where will/do you eat (it)?	どこかで食べますか。	Are we eating (it) somewhere?
どこにありますか。	Where is it?	どこかにありますか。	Is it (located) somewhere?
どこに行いきますか。 どこへ行いきますか。	Where will you go?	どこかに行いきますか。 どこかへ行いきますか。	Are you going somewhere?
どこからきましたか。	Where did you come from?	どこかからきましたか。	Did you/he/she/they/it come from somewhere?
どこまで歩あるきますか。	Where did you walk to?	どこかまで歩あるきますか。	Will you be walking (to) somewhere?

なぜか

Examples of Question word	Translation	Examples of Question word + か	Translation
なぜいきますか。	Why are you going?	なぜかいきます。	I don’t know why but I’m going.

どうか

Examples of Question word	Translation	Examples of Question word + か	Translation
どうしましたか。(a common phrase by a doctor)	What’s wrong?	どうかしましたか。(a common phrase by a doctor)	Is anything wrong?

Answer to Today’s Question

どうかしましたか means “has anything happened to you?” or “Is anything wrong?”, so my answer would be いいえ別べつに (no nothing particular)。

If you liked this post, please share it with your friends via your social media accounts. Your support will be appreciated!