Learn Hardcore Japanese: watasi no seki ha doko desu ka?

The particle の marks possession or a genitive relationship between two nouns. Here, 私の links 私 (I/me) with 席 (seat), making 私の席 literally my seat.

Why is は placed after 席, and what role does it play?

は is the topic marker. By attaching は to 私の席, you set my seat as the topic of your sentence. Everything that follows—どこですか—provides information about that topic.

Why is です used in this question?

です is the polite copula (roughly “is”). It keeps the sentence polite and formal. Without です, the question would sound more casual or even abrupt, which might be inappropriate if you’re speaking to strangers or in a formal setting.

What is the purpose of the particle か at the end?

か is the question particle. It turns a statement into a question. In English we rely on word order and a question mark; in Japanese か does that job.

The word order seems different from English. How is this sentence structured?

Japanese typically follows a topic-comment or subject-object-verb pattern, using particles to show grammatical roles. In 私の席はどこですか:
1) 私の席 – Topic (“my seat”)
2) は – Topic marker
3) どこ – Question word (“where”)
4) ですか – Polite copula + question particle (“is?”)
This yields “As for my seat, where is it?”

Can I use a different pronoun instead of 私?

Yes. Common alternatives (which change tone) include:

僕の席はどこですか (boku) – polite yet masculine/informal
俺の席はどこですか (ore) – very casual, used among close friends
However, 私 is gender-neutral and the safest choice in most situations.

Do I have to include 私の, or can I omit it?

If it’s already clear whose seat you mean, you can drop 私の and simply ask 席はどこですか (“Where is the seat?”). Japanese often omits context-clear information.

How might someone answer 私の席はどこですか in Japanese?

Here are a few polite responses:

そこです。 – It’s there.
あちらです。 – It’s over there.
この列の前から3番目です。 – It’s the third one from the front in this row.