Question words and the Japanese particle ka

The Japanese particle ka (か) is also a useful little syllable. You can think of ka as being the English question mark, or ?. Adding the syllable ka (か)changes the meaning of the question words,  "Who", "What", "Where" ,"When", and "How many".

The following constructions use a Japanese question word + ka (か):

dare + ka, dareka -
who + ?, someone

nani + ka, nanika -
what + ?, something

doko + ka, dokoka -
where + ?, somewhere

itsu + ka, itsuka -
when + ?, sometime

nannin + ka, nanninka -
how many people + ?, some amount of people

Again, the particle ka (か), can be thought of as the English equivalent of the question mark or, ?, and it turns question words into some other things.

Negative uses of the Japanese particle mo

Nai is a word used often in Japan. It is equivalent to the English word "not". Using our question words + mo construction, let us now add nai to them to see what kind of new words we can create.

We'll use the question words,"Who", "What",and "Where",

daremo + nai = daremo nai
who + also + not = nobody

nanimo + nai = nanimo nai
what + also + not = nothing

dokomo + nai = dokomo nai
where + also + not = nowhere

Positive uses of the Japanese particle mo

The Japanese particle mo is a useful little syllable. You can think of mo as being the English word too, or also. Adding the syllable mo (the inclusive particle) changes the meaning of question words either positively, or negatively. Today we will look at the positive. By adding mo to words we already know we can make new words. First, memorize the question words, "Who", "What", "Where" ,"When", and "How many", then we will add mo to make new words we can add to our Japanese vocabulary arsenal.

The following constructions use a Japanese question word + mo:

dare + mo, daremo - 
who + also,  anyone

nani + mo, nanimo -
what + also, anything

doko + mo, dokomo -
where + also, anywhere

itsu + mo, itsumo -
when + also, all the time

nannin + mo, nanninmo -
how many people + also, many people

Again, the particle mo, represents inclusiveness or the English equivalent of the words also, or too.