JLPT N5InterrogativeUpdated 2026-09-25

何（なに） nani meaning

Q: What is the difference between 何か and 何が?

何か is something and does not ask a question: 何か食べた means I ate something. 何が is what as a grammatical subject and does ask one: 何が起きた, what happened. One letter, and the sentence changes from a report to a question.

何 means “what”; its common readings are なに (nani) and なん (nan). The reading depends on the expression: 何を is なにを, while 何ですか is なんですか. With counters, 何 often asks how many or what time; 何で can mean “why” or “by what means.”

read nani / nan / なん

what · how many · which

Sentences

6 sentences, word by word

何＋です · always なん

polite

。

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これ

これ［1］

this one

pronoun · the thing near the speaker; stands alone, needs no noun

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は

as for — the topic

particle · written は, read わ

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何

なん［1］

what

interrogative · read なん because です follows

何N5なん before です

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です

is — polite

copula · the polite equivalent of だ

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か

turns it into a question

particle · the spoken question mark

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What is this?

何＋を · なに before a particle

polite

。

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何

なに［1］

what

interrogative · read なに because を is not a た/だ/な sound

何N5なに before を

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を

marks the direct object

particle · pronounced お

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食べます

たべます［3］

will eat — polite

polite form of 食べる · present tense also covers the future

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か

question marker

particle · asks rather than tells

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What are you going to eat?

何＋ counter · how many, not what

polite

。

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何人

なんにん［1］

how many people

counter question · 何＋人, and counting expressions commonly take なん

何N5＋ counter = how many

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来ます

きます［2］

are coming — polite

polite form of 来る · irregular, き in this form and こ in the negative

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か

question marker

particle · closes the question

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How many people are coming?

何か · something, not what

polite

。

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何か

なにか［1］

something; anything

何＋か · the か stops it being a question and makes it indefinite

何かN5something — not 'what'

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飲みます

のみます［3］

will drink — polite

polite form of 飲む · covers any liquid, including medicine

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か

question marker

particle · the second か, and this one really is asking

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Would you like something to drink?

何も＋ negative · nothing

plain past

。

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彼

かれ［1］

he; him

pronoun · also means boyfriend when it stands with は or が

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は

as for — the topic

particle · written は, read わ

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何も

なにも［0,1］

nothing at all

何＋も · demands a negative verb; without one it is ungrammatical

何もN5nothing — needs a negative

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言わなかった

いわなかった

didn't say

plain past negative of 言う · the negative 何も is leaning on

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He didn't say anything.

何で · なんで, and it means why

plain

？

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何で

なんで［1］

why

何＋で read なんで · casual; read なにで it would mean 'by what means'

何でN5なんで = why

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怒ってる

おこってる

are angry

contracted 怒っている · the ている state, not the moment of getting angry

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の

softens it into asking for an explanation

particle · the explanatory の, standard in spoken questions

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Why are you angry?

Forms

What forms does 何 take?

なん＋です / だ

何ですか, 何だ, 何だろう — always なん. The copula begins with a d-sound, and that is exactly the environment that forces the なん reading.

なに＋particle

何を, 何が, 何に, 何より — なに in front of ordinary particles. The one everyday exception is 何で, which is なんで when it means why.

なん＋counter

何人 how many people, 何時 what time, 何回 how many times, 何歳 how old. Counting expressions commonly take なん, and this is where 何 stops meaning what and starts meaning how many.

なに＋か / も / でも

何か something, 何も nothing (with a negative), 何でも anything at all. The question word stops asking and starts pointing at an unnamed thing.

Meaning

なに or なん — the rule nobody writes down

The split is phonetic, not semantic. なん appears before the た, だ and な rows — the sounds you make with your tongue against the ridge behind your top teeth — and before every counter. なに covers everything else. That is the whole rule, and it explains 何ですか against 何を without any appeal to politeness or formality.

Counters are the half that changes the meaning. 何時 is not what time in the sense of which hour is your favourite — it asks you to supply a number. Same with 何人, 何回, 何歳. When 何 is glued to a counter, translate it as how many and the sentence falls into place.

何で is two different words. Read なんで it means why, and it is casual — the neutral word is どうして or 　なぜ. Read なにで it means by what means: 何で行きますか, what are you going by. Same two characters, and only the reading tells them apart.

Adding か, も or でも switches it out of question mode. 何か is something, 何も is nothing and demands a negative verb, 何でも is anything at all. This is a pattern, not a set of three words — 誰, どこ and いつ all do the same thing with the same three particles.

Inside the word

何 — the character, and why it splits in two

何 — なに・なん · what

The character pairs the person radical with 可, and in its oldest use it drew a man carrying something on his shoulder — the sense that survives in 荷, luggage. The question word is a borrowing of the sound, which is why nothing about the shape hints at what.

Why a reading splits at all

なに is the original. なん is what happens when a speaker in a hurry lets the に collapse into the consonant that follows — and the sounds it collapses before are the ones made in the same place in the mouth as ん: た, だ, な. The rule you memorise is a description of an eight-hundred-year-old shortcut.

なに — accent ［1］

High on な, down on に. なん keeps the same shape, and so do the compounds: 何人［1］, 何時［1］. A bare 何？ with a rising tail is a request to repeat something, and can sound blunt if you are not close.

Watch out

Where 何 goes wrong

Saying なにですか

It is the single most common 何 mistake and the reading rule fixes it permanently: です starts with a d-sound, so the word is なんですか. The same goes for 何だ, 何だろう and 何と.

Using 何も without a negative

何も is only half a construction. 何も食べない eats nothing; 何も食べる is not a sentence. If the verb is positive, the word you want is 何か — or 何でも if you mean anything at all.

A bare 何？ to someone senior

Answering a manager with 何？ lands roughly where English what? does — fine with friends, abrupt upstairs. 何でしょうか or すみません、もう一度お願いします is the safe move when you did not catch something.

Also asked

Questions people ask about 何

Is it nani or nan?

Both, and the sound after it decides. なん before です, before だ, and before any counter or any word starting with a た, だ or な sound; なに everywhere else. So 何ですか is nan desu ka but 何を is nani o.

What does 何 mean on its own?

What. A bare 何？ is the everyday way to ask someone to repeat themselves or to ask what they want — close to English what?, including in how blunt it can sound. With a counter attached it stops meaning what and starts meaning how many.

What is the difference between 何か and 何が?

何か is something and does not ask a question: 何か食べた means I ate something. 何が is what as a grammatical subject and does ask one: 何が起きた, what happened. One letter, and the sentence changes from a report to a question.

Why is 何で sometimes “why” and sometimes “by what”?

The reading splits them. なんで is why, and it is casual. なにで is by what means — 何で来ましたか, how did you get here. Written they are identical, so in text the surrounding sentence is the only clue.

How do I say “how many” in Japanese?

何 plus many common counters, usually read なん: 何人 people, 何回 times, 何歳 years old, 何時 o'clock. For a general how many of a thing with no special counter, いくつ covers it.