The English question word “what” is usually written as 何 in Kanji but sometimes it is pronounced as “なに” and other times as “なん”. Many people seem to think it’s random but there is a pattern, so today I will explain when it is “なに” and when it is “なん.”
Rule #1: When 何 is used on its own (i.e. followed by a particle or an auxiliary verb)
When it is used by itself, the default is “なに,” but when it is followed by one of the following 2, it changes to “なん”.
- ～です
- ～の
- ～と
| Japanese | ひらがな | English Translation |
| 何を食べますか | なにをたべますか | What would you eat? |
| 何が好きですか | なにがすきですか | What do you like? |
| 何ですか。 | なんですか (followed by です) | What is it? |
| 何の本ですか。 | なんのほんですか (followed by の) | What book is it? |
| 何といいますか | なんといいますか (followed by と) | What is it called? |
Rule #2: When 何 is part of a word (i.e. followed by another kanji character)
Apart from 何月, 何日 and 何曜日 mentioned below, if what is being asked is
- about the nature of the item (i.e. “what colour, what flavour, etc”) it is pronounced as “なに,”
- about the number of the items (“how many …)” it is read as “なん”.
| Japanese | ひらがな | English Translation |
| 何味のアイスクリームが好きですか。 | なにあじのあいすくりーむがすきですか。 | What flavour icecream do you like? – asking about the nature |
| 何歳ですか。 | なんさいですか。 | How old are you? – asking about the number |
There are some tricky phrases like 何人.
There are some tricky phrases where depending on the context, the pronunciation and its meaning change like below.
| Japanese | ひらがな | English Translation |
| ジョンさんは何人ですか。 | じょんさんはなにじんですか。 | What nationality is John? |
| 何人いますか。 | なんにんいますか。 | How many people are there? |
| ジョンさんは何語を話しますか。 | じょんさんはなにごをはなしますか。 | What language does John speak? |
| 何語ありますか。 | なんごありますか。 | How many words are there? |
| 何色が好きですか。 | なにいろがすきですか。 | What colour do you like? |
| 何色使いましたか。 | なんしょくつかいましたか。 | How many colours did you use? |
Exceptions to the Rule #2
The following words are exception to Rule #2. Even though they are not asking the quantity, 何 is pronounced なん.
| Japanese | ひらがな | English Translation |
| 何月ですか。 | なんがつですか。 | What month is it? |
| 何日ですか。 | なんにちですか。 | What date is it? |
| 何曜日ですか。 | なんようびですか。 | What day (of the week) is it? |
For more beginners’ study material, please visit JLPT N5 Grammar and JLPT N5 Kanji pages.
Nancy Wood
2 May 2022 at 12:33 amThis was very helpful and concise. Thank you!
admin
2 May 2022 at 10:02 amThank you for taking time to leave a comment!
Julia
30 May 2022 at 5:29 pmThank you for explaining it so well!
Question words | EasyJapaneseE
3 August 2021 at 6:40 pm[…] *For the difference between なん and なに, see this post. […]