The Meaning of Nani in Japanese

The word nani  Ã¤ ½â€¢ (㠁 ªÃ£  «) in Japanese means what. And depending on the situation, you might, instead, use  nan (㠁 ªÃ£â€šâ€œ). Which term you use depends on the context, in particular, whether you are speaking or writing formally or informally. The sentences below are listed first in a transliteration of the Japanese phrase or sentence, followed by the spelling in Japanese characters—using  kanji,  hiragana, or  katakana  as appropriate—followed by the translation in English. Where indicated, click on the link to bring up a sound file and hear how to correctly pronounce the word or sentence in Japanese. Using Nani or Nan in a Sentence Nani is the more formal and polite term to use when asking a question, as in: Nani  wo  suru  tsumori  desu ka? (㠁 ªÃ£  « ã‚’ 㠁™ã‚‹ 㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£â€šÅ  㠁 §Ã£ â„¢ 㠁‹)   What do you intend to do? or What are you planning to do? In more casual situations it would  be  fine to use nan. As a general rule,  if the word following what begins with a syllable from the t, n, and d groups, use nan, as in: Nandeshou? (㠁 ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  §Ã£ â€"ょ㠁†) What do you want? More on Using Nan vs. Nani Nan is used before  particles.  A particle is a word that shows the relationship of a word, phrase, or clause  to the rest of the sentence.  Particles are added to the end of sentences to  express the speaker  or writers  emotions, such as doubt, emphasis, caution, hesitation, wonder, or admiration. You might use  nan   with a phrase such as /㠁 ®, /㠁 § (which means of the and is pronounced no de)  and verb da/desu (打㠁 §Ã£ â„¢ ), meaning it is hitting or it is striking. Nani is used before: /㠁‹ (meaning or and pronounced as ka)  and /㠁 « (meaning into a and pronounced as ni). Be careful when you use nan because, for example, if you use  nan  before ka  (/㠁‹), which means or, it would sound like the word nanka  (㠁 ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£ â€¹), which means things like. Another example would be if you were to use  nan with  ni (/㠁 «), it would be nanni  (㠁 ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  «), meaning why, but this sounds very much like nannimo  (㠁 ªÃ£â€šâ€œÃ£  «Ã£â€šâ€š), which translates as nothing at all. Using Nani or Nan in Context You might use  nani  or  nan  in a restaurant. Depending on whether you are at a formal business luncheon or a casual eatery, you might use either of these terms. For example, at fast food eatery you might say: Osusume wa nan desu ka.  (㠁Šå‹ §Ã£â€š Ã£  ¯Ã¤ ½â€¢Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹) What do you recommend?Are wa nan desu ka. (㠁‚ã‚Å'㠁 ¯Ã¤ ½â€¢Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š) What is that?   If you are at a more formal eatery, but you dont know what to order, you might ask a fellow diner: Nani ga oishii desu ka. (ä ½â€¢Ã£ Å'㠁Šã â€žÃ£ â€"㠁„㠁 §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š) What is good? If you are traveling on a train and need to ask for help from a stranger or train conductor, that would be considered a more formal situation in Japan. Thus, you would use  nani  and might say: Tsugi  wa  nani  eki  desu ka.  (æ ¬ ¡Ã£  ¯Ã¤ ½â€¢Ã© §â€¦Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š) What is the next station? However, if you are traveling with a friend, you might use   the informal  nan, as in: Nan-ji  ni  demasu  ka.  (ä ½â€¢Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ£  «Ã¥â€¡ ºÃ£  ¾Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š)   What time does it leave?