Interrogatives III: With Particles
In this lesson, we will investigate how the meaning of the basic interrogatives of Japanese change when used in conjunction with certain particles, most notably with か, も, and でも.
Interrogative + か/も
The chart below illustrates how the basic interrogatives in Japanese are interpreted when the adverbial particles か・も are attached. Note that, for も, the English translation will differ depending on whether the sentence is in the affirmative or negative.
| + か | + も | |
| 誰・どなた | Someone | Affirmative: Either/Everyone Negative: Neither/Nobody |
| なに | Something | Affirmative: Everything Negative: Nothing1 |
| なぜ | Somehow | X |
| どうして | X | By any means |
| いつ | Sometime | Always |
| どこ・どちら | Somewhere | Affirmative: Everywhere Negative: Nowhere |
| どれ | Every (one/thing) | Affirmative: Anything Negative: None |
| どう | Somehow or another | Much |
These expressions, just like their base interrogatives, behave grammatically as adverbial nouns. Meaning, depending on the surrounding grammatical context they may either behave as a noun or as an adverb.
1. 仕事も何もかも忘れて、休暇を楽しんだ。
I forgot about work and everything, and I enjoyed a vacation.
2. 誰かがおいしいクッキーを全部食べた。
Somebody ate all of the delicious cookies!
3. いつも何を考えているのですか。
What are you always thinking about?
4. 彼は本当にいつも親切です。
He is really always kind.
5. あいつはいつも愚痴を零してる。
That guy is always complaining.
6. 犯人をどこかで見たか。
Did you see the criminal somewhere?
7. いつか日本の大学に留学したいと思っています。
I want to some day study abroad at a Japanese university.
8. 誰もが彼の商才を認めている。
Everyone recognizes his business ability.
9. 私の英語の講座はどれも文法を扱った。
Every one of my English courses dealt with grammar.
10. あなたのコンピューターはどこも悪くありません。
There’s nothing wrong anywhere with your computer.
11. 食べ物が何もない。
I have nothing to eat.
12. 彼女は何も答えませんでした。
She answered nothing.
13. アクセルに何かおかしいところがあります。
There’s something wrong with the accelerator.
14. 今日の彼はどうかしている。
He’s not himself today.
15. 色々どうもありがとうございます。
Thank you very much for everything.
16. 昨日はどうも。
Thanks for yesterday.
17. 今日は魚がどうも食わない。
The fish won’t bite for some reason today.
18. 何かの拍子でケイタイを落としたんです。
By some chance, I dropped my cellphone.
19. 何か趣味はありますか。
Do you have any hobbies?
20. 彼らはワープロにいつも手を焼いている。
They’re always having trouble with their processor.
While particles such as が・の・で・に clearly follow after [interrogative + か], the relationship between particles and [interrogative + も] appears somewhat more complicated. Consider the following:
21. 誰の車でもない。
That isn’t even anybody’s car.
22. 誰の車も盗んでいません。
I have not stolen anyone’s car.
23. 現時点では何の証拠もない。
At this point in time, there is no proof of (it) whatsoever.
24. 誰にも車を使わせていません。
I have not been letting anyone use my car.
25. 健康に日常生活を送るということは誰もの願いです。
It’s everyone’s desire to live out every day life in good health.
Interrogative + でも
When an interrogative is followed by でも, it creates an “any” indefinite pronoun. These phrases are only used as adverbs. So, you cannot follow them with particles like が.
| なん | + でも | Anything |
| 誰・どなた | + でも | Anybody/anyone |
| いつ | + でも | Anytime |
| どこ・どちら | + でも | Anywhere |
| どれ | + でも | Anything (out of many) |
26. いつでもいい。
Anytime is OK.
27. この棚の商品はどれでも千円です。
Whichever item on this shelf is 1,000 yen.
28. どこでも好きなところへ行く。
I will go anywhere I like.
29. 論評の結果はいつでも悪いことだ。
The effect of criticism is always a bad thing.
30. 彼は何でも高価な物を好む。
He favors anything expensive.
Interrogative + V1 ～ても
When an interrogative is used in conjugation with ～ても, you get “no matter…”
31. 阿蘇山はいつ見てもきれいですね。
Mt. Aso is beautiful no matter when you see it, huh.
32. 僕は何を食べても、太らない。
No matter what I eat, I don’t get fat.
33. どこに行っても僕は君の側にいるよ。
No matter where you go, I will be by your side.
34. 誰の鍵がドアを開けても、僕がいるから君はこの部屋に安全だよ。
No matter whose key opens the door, you are safe in this room because I’m here.
35. 何度見ても面白いです。
No matter how many times I see it, it’s funny.
- 何も may be used in the affirmative to mean “anything and everything” in the phrases 何もかも and 何も全て. The か in かも is written in Kanji as 彼, which means it is, in fact, etymologically related to the word 彼 with a literal meaning of “that.” ↩︎