Breakdown of hon ha takai desu ka?
はha
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
本hon
book
高いtakai
expensive
かka
question particle
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Questions & Answers about hon ha takai desu ka?
What does the particle は do in 本は高いですか？
は is the topic‐marking particle. It tells us that “本” (book) is the thing we’re talking about. By saying 本は, you’re essentially saying “As for the book…,” and then asking whether it’s expensive.
Why is 高い directly followed by です without any extra word?
高い is an い-adjective. In polite Japanese, you can attach です directly to an い-adjective to make it a polite predicate. So 高いです simply means “is expensive” in a polite style.
What exactly is です doing here?
です is the polite copula (roughly “is/am/are”). It turns the adjective 高い (“expensive”) into a polite statement. Without です, you’d be using a more casual style: 本は高いか？ or 本は高い？
Why is the question marker か placed at the very end?
In Japanese, the particle か at the end of a sentence turns it into a yes-no question. Polite questions usually end with ですか. You can think of か as equivalent to a rising tone plus “…?” in English.
Why isn’t there a pronoun like “it” or “that” in 本は高いですか？
Japanese often omits subjects or pronouns when context makes them clear. Here, 本 is explicitly marked as the topic, so you don’t need an extra “it.” The sentence directly addresses “the book.”
What’s the difference between 本は高いですか？ and 高い本ですか？
• 本は高いですか？ means “Is the book expensive?” (we already know we’re talking about a specific book).
• 高い本ですか？ means “Is it an expensive book?” (“it” might refer to something just mentioned). The focus shifts from “the book” as topic to describing something as “an expensive book.”
Can I drop です and just ask 本は高いか？
You can, but it sounds rough, casual, or literary. In everyday polite conversation, you should keep です—本は高いですか？ Dropping です is fine only among close friends or in writing (e.g., manga, novels).
How would I answer “Yes, it is” or “No, it isn’t” to 本は高いですか？
• “Yes, it is.” → はい、高いです。
• “No, it isn’t.” → いいえ、高くないです。
You can also soften a negative: いいえ、あまり高くないです。 (“No, it’s not very expensive.”)
Why are there spaces between each word in the example sentence? Japanese usually has no spaces.
For learner materials, spaces help highlight individual words and particles. Native texts don’t use spaces, but segmenting makes the grammar clearer: 本 / は / 高い / です / か.