Activities: How to ask questions in Japanese?

Read the following situations and complete the sentence using the words provided in the word bank. Make sure to include an appropriate question word. You may also need to add some particles or adjust the form accordingly.

• Situation: Your friend went to watch a movie yesterday. You want to ask what they watched.

  Key word: 見る[miru](to watch)

  昨日、。
  Kinō, ___.
  What did you watch yesterday?

• Situation: At the reception of your company, you saw a person you don’t know over there. You want to ask your colleague who they are.

  あの人は。
  Ano hito wa ___.
  Who is that person over there?

• Situation: You’re traveling in Japan. You’ve arrived at a station but cannot find the bathroom. Ask the staff where it is.

  Key word: ある[aru](there is)

  すみません。トイレは。
  Sumimasen. Toire wa ___.
  Excuse me, where is the restroom?

• Situation: Your friend took you to their favorite bakery. You cannot decide what to get because everything looks good. You want to ask your friend which one is the most delicious.

  Key words: 一番[ichi ban](the most), おいしい[oishii](delicious)

  。
  ___.
  Which one is the most delicious?

• Situation: You’ve come to a shoe shop with your mom. You’re on the fence between red shoes and blue shoes. Ask her which one is better.

  Key word: いい[ii](good)

  赤と青、。
  Aka to ao, ___.
  Which one is better, red or blue?

  どっち[docchi] is more common than どちら in this context because the casual form is usually used when talking with your family.

• Situation: You’ve met a person who is very fluent in Japanese. You want to ask when they started studying Japanese.

  Key word: 勉強[benkyō](studying)

  始めたんですか。
  ___ hajimeta ndesu ka.
  When did you start studying?

• Situation: At a reception of your company, your colleague asked you to call Ms. Yamada over. However, you don’t know her. You want to ask your colleague which person Ms. Yamada is.

  Key word: 山田さん[Yamada-san](Ms. Yamada)

  。
  ___.
  Which person is Ms. Yamada?

• Situation: When talking with your colleague, you found that they love books too. You want to ask what kind of books they often read.

  Key words: 本[hon](book), 読む[yomu](to read)

  よく。
  Yoku ___.
  What kind of books do you often read?

• Situation: On campus, you saw a classmate who missed class yesterday. You want to ask why they were absent from class.

  Key word: 授業[jugyō](class)

  昨日、休んだんですか。
  Kinō, ___ yasunda ndesu ka.
  Why did you miss the class yesterday?

• Situation: You saw a classmate who came back from a trip. You want to ask how the trip was.

  Key word: 旅行[ryokō](trip)

  。
  ___.
  How was the trip?

• Situation: Your classmate always gets good grades on exams. You want to ask how long they study every day.

  Key word: 勉強する[benkyō suru](to study)

  毎日。
  Mainichi ___.
  How long do you study every day?

• Situation: You’re traveling in Japan. You found a nice T-shirt but it doesn’t have a price tag. You want to ask the staff how much this is.

  Key word: これ[kore](this (one))

  すみません。。
  Sumimasen. ___.
  Excuse me. How much is this?

• Situation: You and your colleague are preparing for a reception. You’ve been asked to go get paper cups. You want to ask how many cups we need.

  Key word: 必要だ[hitsuyō da](to need)

  紙コップは。
  Kami koppu wa ___.
  How many paper cups do we need?