kore wa nani desu ka?

What is this?

Breakdown of kore wa nani desu ka?

• これ: this
• は: topic particle
• です: to be
• か: question particle
• 何なに: what

Questions & Answers about kore wa nani desu ka?

What are the parts of これは何ですか？ and what does each one do?

• これ – this (a thing near the speaker; a pronoun).
• は – topic particle: marks これ as the topic, like saying “as for this…”.
• 何 – what.
• です – polite form of “to be” (copula), like “is”.
• か – question particle that turns the sentence into a question.

So the structure is literally: “As for this, what is (it)?” → “What is this?”

What does the particle は do here?

は marks the topic of the sentence: what you are talking about.
In これは何ですか？, it tells the listener “we’re talking about this thing”.
English often uses word order and stress for this, but Japanese uses particles.
You can think of it like adding “As for this…” before the rest of the sentence.

Why is は pronounced “wa” instead of “ha” here?

The character は is usually read “ha” inside words (e.g. はな = hana).
But when は is used as the topic particle, its pronunciation changes to “wa”.
This is just an irregular reading that must be memorized: topic は = wa.

What is the role of です in this sentence?

です is the polite copula, roughly like “is / am / are” in English.
In これは何ですか？, it links これ (this) and 何 (what) in a polite way.
Without です, the sentence becomes more casual or incomplete:

• これ何？ – very casual “What’s this?”
• これは何？ – casual, but still a full sentence in conversation.

What does か do at the end?

か is the question particle for neutral/polite Japanese.
Putting か at the end tells the listener “this is a question.”
So これは何ですか (no か) is a polite statement structure, and
これは何ですか？ (with か) is: “What is this?”.
In writing, the か is the main marker of a question; the question mark ？ is optional.

Why is the word order so different from English?

English: What is this? → question word (What) + verb (is) + subject (this).
Japanese: これは何ですか？ → topic (this) + what + is + ?.

Japanese often follows a topic–comment structure:

• これは – topic: “as for this”
• 何ですか – comment: “(it) is what?”

So the natural order in Japanese is something like “As for this, it is what?”, which corresponds to “What is this?” in English.

How do I read 何 here: なに or なん?

In isolation, 何 is read なに (nani).
But before certain sounds (like です / だ / で / の), it often becomes なん (nan).

So:

• 何ですか is usually pronounced なんですか (nan desu ka).
• Written: 何ですか, spoken: なんですか.

If you say なにですか (nani desu ka), people will still understand you, but なんですか is more natural.

Could I say これ何ですか？ without は?

Yes. これ何ですか？ is very common and natural in speech.
Dropping は makes it a bit more direct and conversational, but still polite.

• これは何ですか？ – a little more structured, textbook-like.
• これ何ですか？ – what many people say in everyday conversation.

Both are fine; for a beginner, learn これは何ですか？, then you’ll naturally hear これ何ですか？ a lot.

Can I leave out これ and just say 何ですか？?

Yes, if it’s clear from context what you are talking about.
何ですか？ by itself means something like “What is it?” / “What is that?”.
You’d use it when:

• Someone calls you or says something unclear.
• Something happens and you react with “What?”

But if you physically point to an object and want to ask what that specific thing is, これは何ですか？ is clearer.

Is これは何ですか？ polite? In what situations can I use it?

Yes, this is polite standard Japanese.
You can safely use it with:

• strangers
• shop staff, restaurant staff
• teachers, coworkers, people you don’t know well

It’s a good default phrase for beginners.
More polite versions exist, but これは何ですか？ is already appropriate in almost all ordinary situations.

What is the casual way to say “What is this?”?

Common casual versions include:

• これ何？ – very common, friendly, informal.
• これは何？ – also casual; a bit more complete grammatically.
• これ何なの？ – “What is this, exactly?”, can sound a bit stronger/emphatic.

Use these with friends, family, or people you’re on casual terms with, not in formal situations.

What is the difference between これ, それ, and あれ?

They all mean “this/that (thing)”, but differ by distance and who it is near:

• これ – this (thing near me, the speaker).
• それ – that (thing near you, the listener).
• あれ – that (thing far from both of us).

So:

• これは何ですか？ – “What is this (near me)?”
• それは何ですか？ – “What is that (near you)?”
• あれは何ですか？ – “What is that (over there)?”

What is the difference between これ and この?

• これ is a pronoun: “this (thing)”. It stands alone.
  • これは本です。 – “This is a book.”
• この is a determiner: “this …”
  • noun.
    • この本は何ですか？ – “What is this book?”

In これは何ですか？, you must use これ (not この) because there is no noun after it.

Why are there spaces between the words (これ　は　何　です　か) when Japanese usually has no spaces?

In real Japanese writing, you would normally see これは何ですか？ with no spaces.
Textbooks and beginner materials often add spaces to show word boundaries and help learners see each part.
Once you get used to the pieces (これ / は / 何 / です / か), you should also practice reading and writing it without spaces.

Can I put これは at the end, like 何ですかこれは？?

Yes. 何ですか、これは？ is also natural.
This word order often has a slightly surprised or emotional feel, like:

• “What is this (thing)?” (with some reaction, e.g. shock, annoyance, amazement).

For a neutral learner sentence, これは何ですか？ is better as your basic pattern.

Can I use this pattern with other words, like “What is that?” or “What is sushi?”?

Yes, this structure is very reusable: X は 何ですか？ → “What is X?”

Examples:

• それは何ですか？ – “What is that (near you)?”
• あれは何ですか？ – “What is that (over there)?”
• すしは何ですか？ – “What is sushi?”
• これは何の音ですか？ – “What sound is this?” / “What is this sound?”

So X は 何ですか？ is a key pattern for asking “What is X?” in polite Japanese.