Nani desu ka meaning and why it sounds weird to the Japanese, explained

How to say “what?” in Japanese

Japanese learners would perhaps say “nani desu ka”. It can be understood as a polite way to say “what?” in Japanese. But, in reality, it sounds weird to Japanese native speakers. In this blog post, I will explain the expression, “nani desu ka”, in detail based on its components. And also, I will explain why it sounds weird. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “nani desu ka”
• Components of “nani desu ka”
• Why does “nani desu ka” sound weird?
• Does “nani” always become “nan”?
• Difference between “nan de” and “nande”
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “nani desu ka”

First of all, let me start with the definition and meaning of “nani desu ka”.

• nani desu ka – 何ですか (なにですか) : a polite expression meaning ‘what?’ in Japanese.

Its definition and meaning are quite simple and clear, I think. To understand it a bit more, however, let me explain its components in detail.

Components of “nani desu ka”

As its appearance suggests, it can be broken down into the following three parts:

• nani – 何 (なに) : an indefinite pronoun meaning ‘what’ in Japanese. It can be used alone with the pitch raised to say “what?” in Japanese. Actually, Japanese native speakers quite often use this word to say “what?” in Japanese especially in speaking.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the expression, it is put after the indefinite pronoun, “nani”, to make it sound polite.
• ka – か : a sentence ending particle put at the end of a sentence to make a question. In the expression, it is put at the end of the sentence to make a question.

From these three components, we can understand that “nani desu ka” is literally a Japanese polite expression meaning ‘what?’ But, again, it sounds weird to Japanese native speakers. I will explain the reason below.

Why does “nani desu ka” sound weird?

In the Japanese language, sometimes, word connections become much more important than individual words. This trait becomes conspicuous especially in speaking. Pronunciations of some words can vary depending on words used together with them. To tell the truth, “nani” is one of them. When it is followed by a particle or auxiliary verb, its pronunciation is changed to “nan” for a better connection. So, when it is followed by “desu”, its pronunciation should be “nan” instead of “nani”. This is the reason “nani desu ka” sounds weird to Japanese native speakers. Basically, they expect “nani” to be changed to “nan”. In short, when we want to say “what?” in a polite way in Japanese, we should say “nan desu ka”.

Does “nani” always become “nan”?

As I explained above, when “nani” is followed by a particle or auxiliary verb, its pronunciation needs to be changed to “nan” for a better connection. The question here is, does this always happen? My answer is, in many cases yes. But we need to be careful with, at least, one exception below.

• nani de – 何で (なにで) : a combination of the indefinite pronoun, “nani”, and a case particle, “de”. This particle is used after a noun to indicate a means or way to do something. In this regard, it is quite similar to English prepositions like “by” and “with”. So, “nani de” can literally be translated as “by what” or “with what”. It can be considered as a way to ask how to do something in Japanese.

“Nani” does not always become “nan” when it is followed by a particle or auxiliary verb. So, I said “in many cases yes”. But, this doesn’t mean that we cannot say “nan de” to ask how to do something in Japanese. Actually, Japanese native speakers quite often use “nan de” for this purpose. However, we need to be careful with the confusion between “nan de” and “nande”. Below is the difference.

Difference between “nan de” and “nande”

Honestly, the following two can be confusing even for Japanese native speakers.

• nan de – 何で (なんで) : a combination of “nani” and “de” which have a better connection of pronunciations. It is more or less the same as “nan de” explained above. So, it can be used to ask how to do something.
• nande – 何で (なんで) : an adverb meaning ‘why’ in Japanese. It can be used to make why questions in Japanese. It is one word.

Both have the same pronunciation and appearance. But, they have different meanings and roles. In addition, while “nan de” is grammatically a combination of two words, “nande” is one word. So, we need to differentiate one from the other. In reality, however, it is quite difficult. Or perhaps I should say, it is nearly impossible. So, depending on the situation, even Japanese native speakers cannot understand a meaning of “何で” correctly. Sometimes, they need to confirm its meaning and intention of the speaker.

Both are definitely confusing also for Japanese learners, I think. So, when we hear people saying “何で”, we need to be very careful with the context. Sometimes, we need to check its meaning and intention of the speaker.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the expression, “nani desu ka”, in detail based on its components. And also, I’ve explained why it sounds weird to Japanese native speakers. Furthermore, I’ve explained “nani de”, “nan de”, and “nande”. Let me summarize them as follows.

• nani desu ka – 何ですか (なにですか) : a polite expression meaning ‘what?’ in Japanese. But, it sounds weird to Japanese native speakers.
• nani de – 何で (なにで) : a combination of the indefinite pronoun, “nani”, and a case particle, “de”. This particle is used after a noun to indicate a means or way to do something. In this regard, it is quite similar to English prepositions like “by” and “with”. So, “nani de” can literally be translated as “by what” or “with what”. It can be considered as a way to ask how to do something in Japanese.
• nan de – 何で (なんで) : a combination of “nani” and “de” which have a better connection of pronunciations. It can be used to ask how to do something.
• nande – 何で (なんで) : an adverb meaning ‘why’ in Japanese. It can be used to make why questions in Japanese. It is one word.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.