How to Say ‘What's that big thing?’ in Japanese
あの大きいのは何ですか。
ano ookii no wa nan desu ka
[ah-noh oh-KEE noh wah nan dess kah]
Phrase Breakdown
あの大きいのは
ano ookii no wa
that big one (topic)
あの大きいの means "that big one". The particle は (pronounced "wa") marks it as the topic.
あの大きいのは車です。
That big one is a car.
Words in this phrase
あの
ano
[ah-noh]
that
Used to refer to something distant from both the speaker and listener.
あの空はきれいだ。
That sky is beautiful.
大きい
ookii
[oh-KEE]
big; large
An i-adjective meaning large in size.
大きいカップをください。
A large cup, please.
の
no
[noh]
one; thing
Pronoun replacing a noun after an adjective, like 'the ... one'.
赤いのをください。
The red one, please.
は
wa
[wah]
topic marker
は marks the topic of the sentence.
空席はありますか。
Are there any seats available?
何ですか。
nan desu ka
what is it?
This is a polite question meaning "what is it?" Read 何 as "nan".
これは何ですか。
What is this?
Words in this phrase
何
nan
[nan]
what
何 means what; in 何時 it helps ask 'what time'.
何時に始まりますか。
What time does it start?
です
desu
[dess]
is; polite copula
A polite sentence ending used in formal conversation.
少し伺いたいです。
I would like to ask a little.
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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