Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [interrogatives]

疑問詞. Questions involving the "question" words, such as なに・なぜ・どこ・どうして・いつ・だれ・どれ・どんな.

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Using 何を with intransitive verbs (eg 何をにやついているの?)

貴様、何をにやついておるのだ…？ What are you grinning at, you bastard? This sentence (asked in this question) seemed fairly natural and simple to me...until I realized にやつく is an intransitive verb. [×]彼は私をにやついた is ungrammatical. Instead, you have to say…
naruto
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だれでも楽しむ corrected to だれもが楽しむ. Why?

A Japanese learner I know had written a sentence that contained the phrase 「日本の文化はだれでも楽しむものじゃないか？」, however this was corrected to 「日本の文化はだれもが楽しむものじゃないか？」 by a native speaker. Based on the explanations about 疑問詞 elsewhere on this site (such as here,…
Hikonyan
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どれ as an attribute

I found this sentence and I wonder whether I understand it correctly: どれ腹の傷をおみせ、薬草をぬってあげよう。 The どれ there looks to me like “whichever” or “all”, so I’d get the sentence as “Let me look at all the wounds on your belly…” However I could not find a…
Glutexo
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誰も used in a positive sentence

I am reviewing the interrogative words like 何、誰、どこ etc. and I saw 誰も being used in a positive sentence, I wonder what the difference would be if みんな were used instead. For example: 誰もが知っている みんなが知っている Some people said it means the same but if there…
Tchang
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The difference between 明日何をしますか and 明日どうしますか

What is the difference between 明日何をしますか and 明日どうしますか？ I have come across the following question and answer: 明日どうしますか。 傘を箱の中に入れます。 So, I wonder if I can say 明日何をしますか instead.
Enguroo
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Explanatory の/ん in questions with interrogatives: Two conflicting rules

I'm working through this grammar book, which goes into a lot of detail about the grammar of questions and when the explanatory の/ん needs to be included. On pg. 284, the book says that a question must include の/ん if the following is true: 疑問文中に疑問語…
Hikonyan
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Unsure about this usage of か

I recently encountered this sentence: 床には血痕が残っている。かなり時間が経つのか血が固まっている。 I believe I understand that the second part is saying the blood is dry (or has hardened) because quite some time has passed. I'm not sure what the か after 経つの is doing -- is the…
Oren Ronen
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Seemingly non-interrogative use of sentence-ending か

I keep on coming across the particle か at the end of sentences without it having a clear or necessary interrogative nuance. An example. The 1st Angel in Neon Genesis Evangelion is regenerating itself after the first raid: 予想通り、自己修復中か. Why would they…
Miketrocadero
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Confusion between 誰でも and 誰か

I was practicing and tried to write the following sentence in Japanese: Anyone playing games on PS4 or Switch? 誰でもPS4でゲームをやっていますか。スイッチでゲームをやっていますか。 A few minutes later my sentence was corrected to 誰かPS4でゲームをやっていますか。スイッチでゲームをやっていますか。 Why was…
Tylersanzura
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(Sumo cloze passage) What in tarnation was I supposed to put in this blank?

I was given the following cloze passage with 9 questions. Blanks 3, 6, 7 and 8 have [requirements in brackets] that must be followed when answering. I have filled in my own answers in bold. While all other blanks were marked correct, I was marked as…
rhyaeris
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What is the difference between 何 and どれ?

何 means what and can be conjugated with か to mean something (何か要る : I need something) with も to mean everything/nothing (何も知らない : know nothing) and with でも to mean anything ( 何でもいい : anything is fine). Now what if I conjugate どれ(means which) in the…
Dekiru
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Is nominalization necessary in 「彼が戻るのか知らないんです。」？

Do we need to nominalize 彼が戻る with の to create an interrogative clause? Is B not enough? A: 彼が戻るのか知らないんです。 B: 彼が戻るか知らないんです。
Second Person Shooter
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What does this sentence with いつ mean?

I can't understand the last sentence in this video: 世にも奇妙な物語 《戦争はなかった》. I think this is what he's saying, starting at 17:41: しかし歴史というのはもともと活字と映像の中しか残らない、実に頼りないものです。奇妙な力によってそれが歪められた時、あなたの身にもいつこのような恐怖が降りかからないとも限りません。 Maybe I misheard, but if this is…
Axe
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What does "gentle interrogative" mean?

While browsing Jishio.org, I come across this definition of こと. I tried googling "gentle interrogative Japanese", and found not much that explains what differentiates a "gentle interrogative" from another interrogative. I then tried searching…
Toyu_Frey
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Combining なに　with a noun

Our teacher has given as an example question: なに　いろ　が すきですか？ But has told us that we cannot use the same construction for asking a question about food, instead we have: 食べ物　は なに　が すき　ですか What is going on here? Elsewhere I've read things that…
Francis Davey
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