Yesterday you stated a fact. Today you ask — and in Japanese that’s almost too easy: add か to the end. No flipping the sentence around like English. You’ll also learn to point near, far, and “which?”
Understand this — tap “Hear it”
kore wa sushi desu か
Is this sushi?
これ kore — thisは wa — (topic)すし sushi — sushiです desu — isか ka — ?
hai 、 sou desu
Yes, that’s right.
はい hai — yesそう sou — soです desu — is
sore wa neko desu か
Is that a cat?
それ sore — thatは wa — (topic)ねこ neko — catです desu — isか ka — ?
The pattern you can now use
これ / それ / あれ は ___ ですか
kore / sore / are wa ___ desu ka
Is this / that / that-over-there ___?
これ・それ・あれ track distance: これ = this (by me), それ = that (by you), あれ = that (over there, away from us both), どれ = which. Drop any of them into yesterday’s pattern. To answer yes/no: はい (yes) / いいえ (no).
Words to use today — tap a row to hear
korekore
this (by me)
soresore
that (by you)
areare
that (over there)
doredore
which
haihai
yes
いいえiie
no
sousou
so / right
Your turn — say it, then check
Say: “Is this a book?”
kore wa hon desu かkore wa hon desu ka
Say: “Is that (over there) a car?”
are wa kuruma desu かare wa kuruma desu ka
Quick check
How do you turn a statement into a question?
add か to the end
Difference between それ and あれ?
それ = near the listener; あれ = far from both of you
⤷ Kana side-quest — ~2 min · tap to hear, watch the strokes
👀 Today’s input · ~5 min — where fluency actually comes from
Train your ears
You can’t read much yet — so listen. Put on one “Complete Beginner” video from Comprehensible Japanese: all visual, all Japanese, zero English. You’ll understand more than you’d expect, and this is where real fluency actually comes from — a little every day.