How to Say ‘How many people?’ in Japanese
何名様でしょうか。
nan mei sama deshou ka
[nan mei sama deshou ka]
Phrase Breakdown
何名様
nan mei sama
how many people (polite)
A very polite way to ask for the number of guests.
何名様ですか。
How many people are you?
Words in this phrase
何
nan
[nan]
what; how many
Asks for a number in a polite question.
何名様でしょうか。
How many people will there be?
名
mei
[mei]
counter for people
A formal counter used when asking about the number of people.
何名様でしょうか。
How many people will there be?
様
sama
[sama]
honorific suffix
Shows politeness toward the customer or guest.
何名様でしょうか。
How many people will there be?
でしょうか
deshou ka
would it be; may I ask; I wonder if
Softens the question and makes it polite and indirect.
こちらでよろしいでしょうか。
Would this be okay?
Words in this phrase
でしょう
deshou
[deshou]
would it be; might it be
Softens the question and makes it more polite.
何名様でしょうか。
How many people will there be?
か
ka
[ka]
question marker
Marks the sentence as a polite question.
何名様でしょうか。
How many people will there be?
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