Let’s dive into how to Use NANI “What”in Japanese?

“Omaewamou shindeiru” “NANI?”
Through the popularization of anime and memes, you might have been inclined to try using Nani in a conversation in Japanese. As a Japanese person, I can tell you that Nani is a useful word in daily conversation.

But do you know how to ask different questions using “nani” in Japanese? If you are asking yourself that question, take a look at this video on ways to say “what” in Japanese and how to use them for different purposes! Let’s learn how to use NANI in Japanese

Before you watch this video, have you…

• Ever thought of learning Japanese, but have no access to classes?
• Learned Japanese, but want to speak more?
• Given up on speaking Japanese before?
• Been tired of your classmates who are unmotivated?
• OR are you MOTIVATED to study Japanese and don’t know where to start?

Then you should check out Sayaka’s Beginners Japanese lessons! You will for sure fall in love with all the fun and warmth you will experience in Sayaka’s classes. Check here.

What you will learn after reading this article:

Video example: https://youtube.com/shorts/e0NaXGQywWc

1. How to use “NANI” by itself

“なに？” (Nani?) is a Japanese expression that translates to “What?” in English. It’s an informal way of asking someone to repeat what they just said or to seek clarification when you don’t fully understand. The tone and context in which it’s used can vary. It can express surprise, confusion, or simply a request for more information. How is it used in the viral meme? Let’s take a look here.

The scene involves the main character, Kenshiro, telling his enemy, “you are already dead”. Then Hikou, at the fate of his life, gasps in shock. In this situation, “nani?” is used to indicate surprise or shock. Just like that, you can use “nani?” when a news pops up that you never expected or are shocked about.

The reaction, “Nani?” is also used in daily conversation in various situations.

Mei calls out Rika’s name to get her attention and Rika responds as a way of showing that she is listening. なに？ in this case translates to the English phrase, “What’s up?”

In other times, you might hear it between close friends in a situation like this. Imagine two boys playing football on a windy day on a large field.

Translation:

Taki (from afar): Bring that ball!

Ryo: 2: Whaaaat? I can’t hear you!

Ryo didn’t catch what Taki said, so he shouts “なに？” to indicate that he has not heard what was said and show that he needs clarification.

Now, this can be quite rude when you use it when chatting with strangers or with seniors. In that case, a more polite phrase would be: すみません、もういちどおねがいします。(pardon, once more please) or もういちどいいですか？(may I hear it one more time?)

Now you have covered three uses of the casual reaction phrase なに？

Great. But let’s go beyond just なに like we have seen in the video above.

2. なに “NANI” vs なん “NAN”

Back to the main idea of the video – “what” in Japanese can be marked by either なに “nani” or なん “nan”. When do we use each form of the word “what”?

Check this chart out for a quick reference of patterns to look for:

Note that なん cannot be used alone. If you just say なん, people will think you are talking about naan, the common bread that comes with curry in South Asian cuisine. 

Now you have some insight on how this might work. Let’s take a look at more examples and explanations below to solidify that knowledge! So stick with us!

3. Basic Ways of Using ”NANi” with Particles

When we are going to use を, が, and に particles and a verb after, we always use なに and not なん. Now, let’s see what they mean in context.

First, we can take the situation given in the video.

何を飲みますか？ is a good phrase to know, for when you are at a restaurant or cafe, since your friend or colleague might order a drink for you and others once the server comes – or they just want to offer to help you decide on a drink on the menu.

Translations:

What will you eat?

What will you watch? (i.e. TV, drama, etc.)

What will you do?

What will you buy?

I will tell you this about these questions: A lot of Japanese people will skip the を particle, even when this question is asked using formal speech! So you might as well be more familiar with these questions without the を particle…

何にしますか？ (casual: 何にする？)

If you know how to use the に particle with motion verbs (like いく), this might throw you off. If you don’t know that, then consider this use of に a little unusual. します (shimasu) or its casual form, する (suru) means “to do something”. It doesn’t seem like the aforementioned motion verb. This actually means “to pick something” and is a useful phrase in a restaurant.

Translation:

Server: How may I help you?

Jacob: Umm, may I get one ramen, please? Lin san, what would you like (to pick)?

Lin: I will also get ramen, please.

Server: What would you like for drinks?

Jacob: Orange Juice, please.

Lin: Coke, please.

Adjective and verb sentences using “nani ga” 

 
At this point, you may have realized that we have not talked about using が after the question marker “nani”. Remember that が always comes after the subject. Using this idea, we can uncover what these questions mean.

何がすきですか？ (nani ga suki desuka?)

Hint: Sukidesu refers to something being likeable (this is an adjective).

You guessed it! They simply mean, “what is there?” and “what do you like?” In both these questions, the subject is unidentified, hence the reason we use “nani ga”

Therefore, you can use any other adjective to ask “what is (adjective)?”

Aside from adjective sentences, verb sentences also can use “nani ga”:

何かありますか？ (nani ga arimasu ka?)

= What is there? (arimasu is the verb describing the state of something existing)

何が食べれますか？ (nani ga taberemasu ka?)= What can you eat? (taberemasu is the potential form of the verb, taberu)

Now after all this, you might be thinking, what about this particle…?

Japanese don’t use 何は (nani wa). This is because the は particle is reserved for familiar items to the speaker. However, if we are using 何, the 何 part is an unspecified item. We may use は to point at a specific item and then use a 何 question, but we never say 何は.

Now we have covered all “nani” questions you need to know. Don’t leave yet though! We still need to talk about “nan” questions!

4. Asking what is: Xはなんですか? “X wa nandesuka?”

I will show you this common use of なん since you will be asking this question a lot in a world where you will find or hear many things you might not see in your home country.

Sayaka introduces the phrase, なんですか？(nandesuka = “what is it?”) when she explains a rule for using なん when the next sound is n, t, or d sounds.

The phrase is a common question used to ask about the identity, nature, or specific details of something. We can use it with a subject added to the question like this.

Xはなんですか？(X wa nandesuka)  “what is X”

If you want to ask about something you are holding or is right in front of you, you can say:

これはなんですか？ (kore wa nandesuka?)

“What is this?”

Translations: What is mugicha (barley tea)? / What is your job?

In these examples, the question seeks information about the identity or details of some specified subject. These will be quite useful, even in getting to know others. If you can use this phrase, you will be able to learn a lot from your surroundings and from others, making it a worthwhile phrase for not only travel, but for social and business contexts.

The reason why we cannot use なに in this case is because the next sound is です (desu), so we cannot use なに. We must use なん because the next sound starts with a ‘d’ sound. Also, we must add the question sentence particle at the end, か. (note that ‘?’ is not a necessary punctuation in Japanese, as it is not used in writing when a formal tone is used or when writing vertically)

5. Practice なに ( NANI in Japanese)

Check: How many did you get correct? 

Take a look at these other cases where なん will be used instead of なに:

6. You Can’t Use “Nani” in These Situations!

Do note that although Sayaka talks about how the ‘n” ‘t’ and ‘d’ sound determines the use of なん, it is simply better to remember the phrase なんですか？ without thinking too much about the connection between なん and the “d” sound.

The sound connection is only mentioned in the video as logical reasoning or rule as to why なに cannot be used in this situation. This does not mean that you should try to remember that rule to create questions – I suggest learning the whole phrase なんですか？ and the more phrases that use なん shown here:

8.Using なんの in a quesiton

Think about what comes after の in this question: 

1. 何の映画見た？
2. どんな映画見た？

Both can be translated as “what kind of movie did you watch?” The difference here is that a)何の映画見た？is asking for a specific movie so the answer should be “ホームアローン” (I watched Home Alone). Whereas your response to b) どんな映画見た？ can be more broad such as its genre, “コメディ映画見た” (I watched a comedy movie).

7. “What did you say?” in Japanese

なんと・なんて

These are used for refering to utterances or quotes said by other people. Used in a question, people would say: なんと言ってた？(nanto itteta?)

Literally, what did [he/she/they] say? (in casual speech)

A slightly altered version of that question is:

なんて言ってた？(nante itteta?)

In this case, the meaning is the same. However, by using て there is more nuance of colloquialism. (Although some may argue that people only use なんて these days instead of なんと)

The formal speech version is なんと言ってました？

9. Asking how many: なん “nan” + counter word

Another common phrase you will hear in Japan is this. When you enter a restaurant, a staff will approach you asking:

Although in English なに and なん would mostly translate to the question marker “what”, in this case, we will hear なん with a counter word for “how many”. In this sense, these questions in Japanese can be thought of as, or be literally translated to: “what quantity of (item)”.

Here are some examples when you will use なん. 

As you see these examples, think of how you would answer these questions. (hint: the answer will require the use of the same counter word).

When asking about time or day, we also use なん:

You can use these phrases alone in casual settings. To make the questions formal, simply add ですか？.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Japanese has a counter word for every category of item and for every single animal species. So I’m not going to get into more counter words since there are too many of them. Again for counting general items, the aforementioned 何個 (nanko) or いくつ (ikutsu = how many?) will be your best friend. So stick to them and you will enjoy every interaction with your izakaya server and friends. (I hope).

Kanji Keypoint

At this point, you may be thinking that when you have another kanji combined after the 何, you should use なん. However, if the kanji word after 何 is not a counter word or not used in a counting (quantitative) context, you still need to use なに. A common phrases I say are:

In the above example, I am asking for a name of the station. The only reason I ask that question a lot is because in Tokyo, there are multiple train stations that can be used in a certain area. Now take a look at the next example. Does this still read なにえき？

あと何駅で着きますか？
(Ato _____ de tsukimasuka?)
Translation: After how many stations do we arrive?

The translation gives it away, doesn’t it? This time we are counting how many stations are left. Therefore, we must say なんえき not なにえき. 

It might seem difficult, but the logic is there. Counting? なん. Not counting? なに.

10. Asking what kind of…

This will be the last example of “what” questions we will look at in this article. When we ask for the qualitative characteristics of things, we use “nani”. What does this mean exactly? Let’s look at examples.

何人ですか？ (nani jin desuka?) **note that the same kanji could be read nannin, for “how many people?”

カナダ人です。(kanada jin desu.)

何色が好きですか？(nani iro ga suki desuka?) 

青色が好きです。(aoiro ga sukidesu)

Translations:

What nationality are you?

(I’m) Canadian.

What color do you like?

I like blue.

All these questions can be roughly grouped as “what kind” or “which one” type questions. The answers specify the type of item in the topic such as a given nationality or color.

You might think that this could be similar to how we use なんの and in fact they are. However, all なんの is reserved for mainly nouns. Only specific words can be used with なに: on-yomi words and some nouns (mostly nouns of one or two moras).

何色が好きですか？ and 何(なん)の色が好きですか？ both work, as 色 is the noun, color.

However, 何人(なにじん)ですか？ works while 何(なん)の人(じん) do not work, since 人(じん) is not a word in Japanese. Using the kun-yomi with the same written characters: 何の人(ひと) is a different question all together, meaning “what person?” – asking about a person’s relation to them or others. 

Here’s a dialogue you might want to find yourself familiar with.

Translations:

Remember that these can easily be distinguished with the “how many” because we use なに and not なん. The question also involves a specific detailed to be asked, unlike なんですか. 

Now you know how to react or respond when you feel a certain way when you are around Japanese speakers. These emotion words and reactions will be very useful and are a great way to lighten up the mood or even start a conversation. 

Ready to learn more?

Now you know how to say Use NANI “What” in Japanese and more. Go comment on Sayaka’s flashy Instagram posts with the correct form of any adjective and impress us! Do it!

Have you…

• Ever thought of learning Japanese, but have no access to classes?
• Learned Japanese, but want to speak more?
• Given up on speaking Japanese before?
• Been tired of your classmates who are unmotivated?
• OR are you UNMOTIVATED to study Japanese?

Then you should check out Sayaka’s Beginners Japanese lessons! With engaging weekly lessons covering task-based conversation practice, and even more about how to use NANI in Japanese you will for sure fall in love with all the fun and warmth you will experience in Sayaka’s class.

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