How to Say ‘(polite question ending) is it okay?’ in Japanese
ですか
desu ka
[dess kah]
💬 Usage Tip: [ですか] turns a polite statement into a question: [いいです]→[いいですか]. Intonation still rises at the end.
🇯🇵 In Japan: Japanese questions often rely on the ending rather than word order. Keeping [ですか] ready makes you sound instantly more natural/polite.
Phrase Breakdown
です
desu
[dess]
to be (polite copula); is/are (polite)
Polite sentence ending that links a topic to a description or noun (like “is/are”). Also used to make polite statements: これは本です (“This is a book”).
これはペンです。
This is a pen.
か
ka
[kah]
question particle; indicates a question
Placed at the end of a sentence to turn it into a question in polite speech. Equivalent to adding a question mark (and often “do/does/is/are” in English).
行きますか。
Are you going?
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