Ka vs Wa

Konnichiwa Otis-san,

Great to have you with us again.

The particle 'wa' can be used as the end-particle denoting a question only in colloquial speech, and with a rising intonation. It is similar to English where you raise the tone at the end of words like "And this?" (Kore wa?) or "And you?" (Anata wa?) to ask questions.

The question particle 'ka' on the other hand is the 'official' question particle - meaning that whenever there is a 'ka' at the end of a sentence, you can assume it is a question. For example, the question "And this?" which in colloquial Japanese speech can be asked only by saying "Kore wa?" - but in a more formal manner, we use "Kore wa do desu ka?"

- Hope that helps!

Sayaka

Hi Glinda.

DE:

1)Location of an action, eg. tosho-kan de hon o yonde imasu>(I'm) reading a book in the library.

2)Manner or means, eg. Fune de ikimashou ka?>Shall we go by boat?

3)Materials used, eg. Kono Keiki wa, satou to tamago to gyuuniyuu de tsukurimasu> this cake is made of sugar, egg and milk.

4)Indicates superlatives within something>Sekai de ichiban shiawase ni suru kara, kekkon shiyou!> I'll make you the happiest in the world so let's marry!(thats taken directly from the course.....sorry)

5)Indicates condition> eg. Hitori dake de sunde imasu (I live just by myself)

Those are the main uses

NI:

1)Indicates a location and times, eg. Ginkou no mae ni imasu.> I'm in front of the bank

2)Indicates location of an action(ni indicates long-term action, de indicates short term action) eg. Resutoran ni tsutomete imasu> I'm working in a restaurant.

3)Indicates intervals, eg. Issshukan ni ichido tenisu o shimasu (I play tennis once a week)

4)Indicates movement, eg. Tokyo eki no mae de basu ni notte kudasai (Pease board the bus in front Tokyo station)

5)To go and do something---stem+ni+masu-base of verb, eg. Shokuji o tabe ni ikimasu ka? (Shall we go and eat lunch)

Using these concepts, you can understand other uses of ni, for example in change
eg. Taro-san isha ni natta> Taro became a doctor, even here, the concept of movement applies.

Hope that helped.

Marcy-san

where=doko
what=nani
who=dare
whose=dare no
why=naze, douchte
im living inplace name) ni sunde imasu
im from england=Igirisu kara kimashita
hope this is okey

Hi!

Here it is in Japanese characters:

where　どこ　何処
what　なに　何
who　だれ　誰
whose　だれの　誰の
why 　なんで　何で　・　なぜ　何故
im living 　すんでいる・すんでいます　住んでいる・住んでいます
England　イギリス
im from 　わたしは＿＿＿からです。