How to Say ‘What should I start with?’ in Japanese
何から始めましょうか。
nani kara hajime mashou ka
[na-ni kara hah-jee-MEH mah-show kah]
💬 Usage Tip: 〜ましょうか offers or asks for direction politely: 手伝いましょうか "shall I help?". The から here means "from", so this literally asks "from what shall I start?"
Phrase Breakdown
何から
nani kara
from what
何 (nani, what) + から (kara, from). Asks what the starting point is.
何から話しますか。
What will you talk about first?
Words in this phrase
何
nani
[na-ni]
what
Used to ask for information about something.
何が欲しい？
What do you want?
から
kara
[kara]
from
Shows the starting point in a range, such as from row 1.
一列目から五列目まで売り切れです。
From the first row to the fifth row is sold out.
始めましょうか。
hajime mashou ka
shall we start?
Polite suggestion form of 始める (hajimeru, to start) + か (question). Lengthen 'shou'.
そろそろ始めましょうか。
Shall we start soon?
Words in this phrase
始め
hajime
[hah-jee-MEH]
start; begin (stem)
Stem of the transitive verb 'to start', used to begin an activity.
試合を始めます。
We will start the match.
ましょう
mashou
[mah-show]
let’s; shall we (polite volitional)
ましょう attaches to a verb stem to make a polite suggestion: “Let’s … / Shall we …?”
面接のために練習しましょう。がんばりましょう。
Let’s practice for the interview. Let’s do our best.
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
Placed at the end of a sentence to make it a question.
A席はありますか。
Are there A seats available?
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