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Conversation pattern

Questions at an izakaya

Use question words to establish time, place, people, quantities, and preferences during a restaurant exchange.

Keep these three
  • Question words stay in the normal sentence slot.
  • どちら compares two choices; どの must modify a noun.
  • Counters change shape, so learn them as answer patterns rather than isolated vocabulary.

Noun は Question word ですか

Leave the unknown in place

Japanese does not move the question word to the front. Put いつ, どこ, だれ, or 何時なんじ where the missing information belongs.

When is the reservation?
Where is the izakaya?
Where are you from?Here, どちら politely asks about origin; it is not a two-choice question.
I’m from Taiwan.

Noun は どうですか

Ask how something is

どう is an interrogative adverb, not a particle. Use どうですか to ask about a thing’s condition or quality, or to ask what someone thinks of it.

How is this dish? / What do you think of this dish?
How about this one too?

A と B と どちらが …

Compare two choices

Use どちら for a polite choice between two things. The chosen thing is commonly marked by が with preference adjectives.

Which do you like, sushi or tempura?
I like both.
Which would you prefer, table seating or tatami seating?
Tatami seating would be good.

どの + Noun

Choose one item from a category

Use どの before a noun when you are choosing one item from a known category. It means “which + noun,” as in どの色 (which color) or どの席 (which seat).

Which color would you like?
Which seat would you like?

Noun を いくつ お持ちしましょうか

Offer a quantity

Use いくつ to ask for an unspecified number of countable items. In service language, お持ちしましょうか politely offers to bring them.

How many beers shall I bring you?A server can use this to confirm the quantity before bringing the order.

Close the notes

Can you bring it back?

01Which word asks “which of two”?

どちら (casual: どっち)

02Can どの stand by itself?

No. It must modify a noun.

03Where does a Japanese question word go?

In the same sentence position as the missing answer.