How to Ask How Much Something Is

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask how much something is in Japanese.

For example, "How much is this?"" is

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka?)

Haruto Sasaki is at a small grocery store.

He sees a snack with no visible price tag, and asks for the price.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

これ (kore)

"this"

これ

にひゃく (ni-hyaku)

"two-hundred"

にひゃく

Listen to the conversation.

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka?)

かとうこういち: にひゃくえんです。(Ni-hyaku en desu.)

Once more with the English translation.

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka?)

"How much is this?"

にひゃくえんです。(Ni-hyaku en desu.)

"It's two-hundred yen."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Haruto asks,

"How much is this?"

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka?)

This standard way of asking how much something costs follows a simple pattern.

First is これ (kore), "This" これ. これ。

Next is は (wa), the topic-marking particle. は. は。

It marks "This" as the topic of the sentence. Think of it like "As for..." in the expression, "As for this."

Together, これは (kore wa) "As for this, ..." これは。

Next is いくら (ikura), meaning "How much?" いくら. いくら。

After this is です (desu), in this case, it's like the "is" in "How much is." It's a linking verb. で-す. です。

Last is か (ka), the question-marking particle. か. か. This particle turns the sentence into a question.

All together, it's これはいくらですか。 (Kore wa ikura desu ka.) This literally means, "As for this, how much [it] is?" but translates as, "How much is this?"

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka?)

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the shop clerk says, "It's two hundred yen."

にひゃくえんです。(Ni-hyaku en desu.)

First is the number, にひゃく (ni-hyaku), "two hundred" にひゃく. にひゃく。

After this is えん (en), "yen" えん. えん。

Together, it's にひゃくえん (ni-hyaku en), "two-hundred yen." にひゃくえん.

And last is です (desu), in this case, it’s like the "is" in "[it] is." で-す. です.

All together, it's にひゃくえんです。(Ni-hyaku en desu.) This literally means, "two hundred yen [it] is," but translates as "It's two-hundred yen."

にひゃくえんです。(Ni-hyaku en desu.)

Note the "it" is inferred through the context as the speaker is responding to a question about the price of the small snack.

Note, at the time of this lesson, 100 yen buys a bottle of water.

The pattern is

ITEM はいくらですか。(wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is ITEM"

ITEM はいくらですか。(wa ikura desu ka.)

To use this pattern, simply replace {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you'd like to know the price of.

Imagine you'd like to know the price of a coffee. コーヒー (kōhī). コーヒー. コーヒー.

Ask, "How much is a coffee?"

コーヒーはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is a coffee?"

コーヒーはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

If you don’t know the name of something in Japanese, you can use the following three words refer to a thing depending on the distance from the speaker and listener:

For things located nearby the speaker, これ (kore), "this." こ-れ. これ.

For things located farther away from the speaker and closer to the listener, それ (sore), "that." それ.

And finally, for things far from both the speaker and listener, あれ (are), "that (over there)." あ-れ. あれ.

Again, the pattern is

ITEM はいくらですか。(wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is ITEM"

ITEM はいくらですか。(wa ikura desu ka.)

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is this?"

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka.)

コーヒーはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is a coffee?"

コーヒーはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

スイカはいくらですか。(Suika wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is watermelon?"

スイカはいくらですか。(Suika wa ikura desu ka.)

それはいくらですか。(Sore wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is that?"

それはいくらですか。(Sore wa ikura desu ka.)

いくらですか。(Ikura desu ka.)

"How much is it?"

いくらですか。(Ikura desu ka.)

Did you notice how the last speaker omitted これは (kore wa)?

いくらですか。(Ikura desu ka.)

When you’re asking how much something is, and it’s understood what you’re speaking about, for example, when asking the waiter about the final amount owed at a restaurant, you can omit the topic and the topic-marking particle in this way.

This pattern is

いくらですか。(Ikura desu ka.)

"How much is it?"

You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we’ll use the sentence pattern,

ITEM はいくらですか。(wa ikura desu ka.)

"How much is ITEM"

ITEM はいくらですか。(wa ikura desu ka.)

Let's review the new words.

コーヒー (kōhī)

"coffee"

コーヒー

スイカ (suika)

"watermelon"

スイカ

それ (sore)

"that"

それ

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember the question-marking particle?

か (ka)

And how to say “How much?"

いくら (ikura)

Do you remember how to say the topic-marking particle?

は (wa)

And how to say "this"?

これ (kore)

Do you remember how Haruto Sasaki asks, “How much is this?”

これはいくらですか。(Kore wa ikura desu ka.)

Do you remember how to say "yen?"

えん (en)

And how to say "two hundred?"

にひゃく (ni-hyaku)

Do you remember how the clerk says, "It's two-hundred yen"?

にひゃくえんです。(Ni-hyaku en desu.)

Do you remember how to say "coffee?"

コーヒー (kōhī)

And how to say "watermelon?"

スイカ (suika)

Do you remember how to say "that?"

それ (sore)

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Haruto, and you're at a farmers' market, where many items have no price tag.

You'd like to try a snack close to the listener. Ask the price using the word for “that," or これ (kore).

Ready?

それはいくらですか。(Sore wa ikura desu ka.)

ごひゃくえんです。(Go-hyaku-en desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

それはいくらですか。(Sore wa ikura desu ka.)

Let's try one more.

They are also selling artisan coffee. Ask for the price of a coffee, or コーヒー (kōhī).

Ready?

コーヒーはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

Yoshimi Yamaguchi (@foodstand-clerk): せんえんです。(Sen-en desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

コーヒーはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

Let’s try one more.

They're also selling watermelons, or スイカ.

Ready?

(8 seconds)

Haruto Sasaki (@international-son): スイカはいくらですか。(Suika wa ikura desu ka.)

はっぴゃくえんです。(Happyaku en desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

スイカはいくらですか。(Suika wa ikura desu ka.)

In most cases, Japanese doesn't make a distinction between singular and plural nouns. You'll use the same pattern when you're looking for a coffee, a watermelon, or two or more watermelons.

For example, スイカはいくらですか。(Suika wa ikura desu ka.) can translate as “How much are the watermelons?” Or “How much is a watermelon?” depending on the number of watermelons.

The English translation may alternate between singular and plural, but the Japanese pattern remains the same.

In this lesson, you learned how to ask how much something costs. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of shopping at a grocery store. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "please?"

ください (kudasai)

And how to say "that?"

それ (sore)

Do you remember how to say, "That, please?"

それをください。(Sore o kudasai.)

Do you remember how to say the question-marking particle?

か (ka)

Do you remember the polite way to say "there is?"

あります (arimasu)

And how to say “salt?”

しお (shio)

Do you remember how to ask

"Excuse me, is there any salt?"

すみません、しおはありますか。(Sumimasen, shio wa arimasuka.)

Imagine you're Jack Jones, and you're at a grocery store, and you'd like to buy water.

Do you remember how to say "water" in Japanese?

みず (mizu)

Ask the clerk for water.

みずをください。(Mizu o kudasai)

はい、どうぞ。(Hai, dōzo.)

Listen again and repeat.

みずをください。(Mizu o kudasai)

You remember that you also wanted to buy milk

Do you remember how to say "milk" in Japanese?

ぎゅうにゅう (gyūnyū)

Now ask the clerk if the store has milk.

Ready?

すみません、ぎゅうにゅうありますか。(Sumimasen, gyūnyū wa arimasu ka.)

はい、こちらです。 (Hai, kochira desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

すみません、ぎゅうにゅうありますか。(Sumimasen, gyūnyū wa arimasu ka.)

You'd also like to know the price of coffee.

Do you remember how to say "coffee" in Japanese?

コーヒー (kōhī)

Now ask for the price of a coffee.

コーヒはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

せんえんです。(Sen-en desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

コーヒはいくらですか。(Kōhī wa ikura desu ka.)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Shop at a Grocery Store unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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