If you’ve read even a single blog post on this website before, you probably know that a lot of language comes down to context.<\/p>\n
One great example is the difference between questions and statements.<\/p>\n
Even in English, there are clues like the inversion of word order in a statement like “You are eating.” and a question like “Are you eating?”<\/p>\n
And then, of course, there’s the question mark.<\/p>\n
It should surprise absolutely nobody that Japanese doesn’t follow the same rules<\/a><\/strong> as English when it comes to questions. All the same, there is a very easy way to tell if a sentence in Japanese<\/a> is a question.<\/p>\n What might be more surprising to new learners of Japanese is that written Japanese<\/a><\/strong> also makes use of question marks. The short answer to this is: Sometimes. While question marks are a normal part of Japanese punctuation, in more formal writing they are not as common, with the question particle か or の and a full stop being used instead.<\/p>\n Conversely, a question mark by itself is not usually enough to turn a statement into a question. In most cases you will also need to use some kind of question particle at the end of the sentence.<\/p>\n In fact, this is technically all that’s required to make a sentence into a question in Japanese. That said, question marks are used regularly and are a completely normal thing to see in written Japanese.<\/p>\n As long as you don’t forget they aren’t the only important part of asking questions in Japanese, you’ll be just fine. Although question marks absolutely appear in Japanese, they are not a native part of Japanese writing.<\/p>\n Of course, Japanese is a language with a long history and almost as long a history of changes.<\/p>\n Although it’s not entirely clear when this form of punctuation was first used, users of q.hatena.ne.jp<\/a><\/strong>, a popular Japanese-language question and answer site, have found examples of it as far back as 1906.<\/p>\n It may seem surprising to think of Japanese as adopting Western punctuation so long ago, but in fact turn-of-the-century Japan was quite cosmopolitan.<\/p>\n Especially among the literati, some adopted Western approaches to writing or mixed them with traditional Japanese approaches to achieve modern styles.<\/p>\n No matter its exact origins, however, the question mark today is firmly entrenched in Japanese and should be familiar to any Japanese person.<\/p>\n That said, you can’t just stick a question mark on the end of any sentence you like and change it into a question.<\/p>\n To understand how to use question marks correctly in Japanese, you need to use a specific type of particle<\/a><\/strong> called a question particle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In English, questions are often made apparent by the inversion of word order in the sentence.<\/p>\n For example, instead of “You can eat” you might say “Can you eat?”<\/p>\n Japanese uses no such trick for questions. In fact, the only way you can tell that a Japanese sentence is a question is to look at the end of it.<\/p>\n That’s because in Japanese<\/a><\/strong>, questions are indicated primarily by the use of the question particle か (ka) which appears at the end of a sentence.<\/p>\n Although the meaning of か elsewhere in the sentence can vary, whenever you see it at the very end of a sentence it almost always means that what comes before it is a question.<\/p>\n In formal types of writing, the question particle is followed by a standard Japanese full stop. However, in manga, light novels and other more popular forms of writing, a question mark is often used.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 「それは本当ですか？」<\/p>\n “Is that true?”<\/p>\n 「ハンバーグはどうですか。」<\/p>\n “How about a hamburger?”<\/p>\n In both these sentences, it’s the か at the end that indicates a question. Even though the first has a written ? as well, one isn’t required.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you’re in a less formal<\/a><\/strong> situation, an alternative to か is the use of the question particle の (no).<\/p>\n No, this isn’t the の that indicates possession. This の, like its more formal counterpart か appears at the end of a sentence and indicates a question.<\/p>\n In some textbooks or blogs, you might see this described as a “feminine” or “childish” way to ask a question, but the reality is that it’s used by people of all genders.<\/p>\n One potential difference, other than formality, is that の can sometimes imply a rhetorical question, a type of question where you aren’t really expecting an answer.<\/p>\n の also frequently appears before か, with the combined のか<\/a><\/strong> implying doubt or mistrust at what someone is saying or doing or simply to question someone while stating your own preference.<\/p>\n Because の and のか are casual speech, you’re more likely to see a question mark after these when they’re written down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 「お前、何言ってるの？」<\/p>\n “What the heck are you saying?”<\/p>\n 「本当にそれ言ったのか？」<\/p>\n “Did you really<\/em> say that?”<\/p>\n Note the casual speech in these examples indicated in part by the dropping of the を (wo) particle in both.<\/p>\n In formal Japanese, a を would be required before the verb in each sentence.<\/p>\n In keeping with the casual nature of the sentences, a question mark is used in addition to the question particle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In most, if not all, cases, the question particle is absolutely required to form a question.<\/p>\n However, in colloquial or casual settings, you may hear things which are obviously questions but which do not end in か or の.<\/p>\n This is because spoken Japanese, like any other language, tends to follow slightly different, more relaxed rules than its written form.<\/p>\n As in English, a rising intonation, where the end of the sentence is spoken in a higher pitch than its beginning, is often used to suggest that a spoken sentence is a question.<\/p>\n When looking at written Japanese, you will almost always see the question particle. However, if you are reading a manga, light novel or other form of popular fiction<\/a><\/strong> where characters speak casually it is possible you will see sentences with a question mark and no question particle.<\/p>\n In your own writing, you should always use both the question particle and<\/em> a question mark to avoid confusion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 「宇宙人だって！」 “He says he’s an alien!” The lack of a subject in the first sentence here is a good indication that we’re dealing with casual speech.<\/p>\n Likewise, notice that the second sentence lacks a question particle. In fact, it even lacks a copula<\/a><\/strong> like です or だ, which would be present in formal Japanese.<\/p>\n The question mark makes it clear that this is a sentence and not someone saying “It’s true!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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\n[toc]\n <\/p>\nAre question marks used in Japanese?<\/h2>\n
\n <\/p>\nQuestion marks in Japanese: an uncertain history<\/h2>\n
The question particle か<\/h2>\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
The question particle の<\/h2>\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
Using the question mark without a question particle<\/h2>\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
\n「本当？」<\/p>\n
\n“Really?”<\/p>\nA note on typed question marks<\/h2>\n