の
Meaning
Casual sentence-final question particle: "...?", "Is it that...?", "Are you ...?"
Conjugation
(A)V plain form + の？ (A)い-adj plain form + の？ (A)な-adj stem + な + の？ (A)N + な + の？ (past: (A)V plain past + の？; (A)い-adj past (〜かった) + の？; (A)な-adj/N + だった + の？)
Examples
Show translation
どうして泣いているの？
明日も学校に行くの？
元気がないね。どこか痛いの？
あの人はあなたの先生なの？
この町はいつも静かなの？
もう宿題は終わったの？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.title
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.wrong: あの人は先生だの？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.correct: あの人は先生なの？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.why: Before question の, a noun or na-adjective takes な, not だ.
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.wrong: 先生、明日学校に来るの？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.correct: 先生、明日学校にいらっしゃいますか。
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.why: Question の is casual. To a teacher or other superior, use polite ですか/ますか (with honorific verbs), or at least のですか.
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.wrong: この辞書は新しいなの？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.correct: この辞書は新しいの？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.why: An い-adjective attaches directly to の with no な. Only nouns and na-adjectives need な.
Key points
Attach の to the plain form of a sentence and say it with rising intonation to ask a question in casual speech, usually when you want an explanation or something has prompted your question. Before の, a noun or na-adjective takes な instead of だ (学生なの？), but the past form is だった (学生だったの？). It sounds soft and friendly among friends, family and children; to superiors or strangers use ですか or the polite のですか instead.
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