How to Say ‘Is this seat free?’ in Japanese
空いていますか
ai te i masu ka
[ah-ee teh ee mahss kah]
💬 Usage Tip: [〜んですか] makes a question sound more like "so... is that the case?" than a blunt plain question. You can reuse it with other verbs too: [飲むんですか] "Do you drink?" or [よく来るんですか] "Do you come often?".
Phrase Breakdown
空い
ai
[ah-ee]
empty; available
From 空く, meaning a seat or space is open or not occupied.
この席は空いていますかと聞きました。
I asked, "Is this seat available?"
て
te
[teh]
and; -te form connector
The て form links parts of a verb phrase. Here it connects 空い to います.
空いている席を探しました。
I looked for an open seat.
い
i
[ee]
to be
Part of います, which makes the expression polite and progressive/state-like.
席が空いています。
The seat is open.
ます
masu
[mahss]
polite verb ending
A polite ending used in formal or courteous speech.
今、席が空いています。
The seat is available now.
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
Placed at the end to make the sentence a question.
ここで待ちますか。
Will you wait here?
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