〜んです ／ 〜んですけど……
Explaining, and asking without asking

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〜ますか, or 〜んですか?

Two ways of asking the very same thing. Let's look at what makes a Japanese speaker reach for one rather than the other.

A teacher at a blackboard reading 夏休み 8/1〜8/31 asks the class a question. なつ やす

In class

旅りょ行こうに 行いきますか。

Are you going on a trip?

Out in the street, a neighbour spots a passer-by pulling a suitcase.

Out in the street

旅りょ行こうに 行いくいきますんですか。

Oh — you're off on a trip?

Same question, two endings. The left one is the form you have used since your first lesson. The right one swaps it for the plain form ＋ んです. Something has changed — and it is not politeness.

What this page asks of you

The first half is about getting a feel for that difference — noticing what Japanese speakers are doing when they choose one over the other. You do not have to be able to produce it yet. Recognising it is plenty for now.

The second half is , and that one is different: it is worth starting to use straight away.

How to read the Japanese. Every example is written like this: — the red is the plain form that goes before , and the grey word underneath is the form you already know.
The tabs above are colour-coded. Blue ＝ Part A · Red ＝ Part B. If your teacher asks you to prepare one half before class, that is the half they mean.

Every kanji carries furigana, with an English line underneath.

Printable summary (PDF, 2 pages) — Part A on page 1, Part B on page 2. Handy for revision, or to keep beside you while you practise.

Part A · 1

What makes the difference

Look at the two pictures again. The words are almost identical. The situations are not.

In the classroom, is written on the board, so travel is already on everyone's mind. But nothing tells the teacher that this student in particular is going anywhere. She is opening a topic, not responding to anything.

旅りょ行こうに 行いきますか。

Out in the street there is no topic at all — until the suitcase appears. She has noticed something, and her question is a response to it.

旅りょ行こうに 行いくいきますんですか。

opens a subject.
responds to something you have just noticed.

A shared topic is not enough

Everyone in that classroom knows the holidays are coming, and the teacher still uses 〜ますか. Knowing the topic is not the same as having noticed something.

What 〜んですか sounds like

It sounds curious. You have noticed something about the person, and you would like to know more. This is an extremely common, perfectly friendly question:

どうして 日に本ほんに 来きたきましたんですか。

What brought you to Japan? — asking out of curiosity.

Said very cold — as an opening line to someone you have only just met, with nothing at all leading up to it — it may sound like it is bordering on an interrogation. But that is about timing, not about the grammar.

Part A · 2

What goes inside the 【　】

Plain form ＋ んです. There is exactly one thing that trips people up.

The one trap: after a noun or a な-adjective, the plain-form だ becomes — never . ／

んです itself never changes. It does not go negative and it does not go past — the verb or adjective in front of it does all of that. In writing you will meet 〜のです; casually, 〜んだ.

Part A · 3

Question word ＋ んですか

You have noticed something, and you want to know more about it. The question takes because it is a response to what you can see. The answer does not need it.

One friend notices the design on the other's T-shirt and asks about it.
どこ

その Tシャツ、どこで 買かったかいましたんですか。

That T-shirt — where did you get it?

…… 100円えんショップです。

A woman cooking at the stove while a friend looks into the pot.
なに

なにを 作つくるつくりますんですか。

What are you making?

…… カレーライスです。

A room full of cardboard boxes; someone is packing.
いつ

引ひっ越こしですか。いつ 行いくいきますんですか。

Moving house? When do you go?

…… 来らい週しゅうです。

A short noun ＋ です answers all three of these comfortably. A fuller answer works too — — but you do not have to build one.

Part A · 4

どうして ＋ んですか → reason ＋ んです

Ask with , answer with . The ending gives the answer an explanatory tone — it says this is the reason. English has no ending for that, so the glosses below add [that's why] to show what the Japanese is doing.

Two men at a soba counter; one has not touched his food.

どうして 食たべないたべませんんですか。

Why aren't you eating?

Reason ・ 理り由ゆう

…… 食たべたくないたべたくないですんです。

I don't feel like eating today… [that's why.]

A man hurries into a meeting room that has already started.

どうして 遅おくれたおくれましたんですか。

Why were you late?

Reason ・ 理り由ゆう

…… 事じ故こが あったありましたんです。

There was an accident… [that's why.]

A level crossing with a stopped train and a damaged car.

A reason in one word

A student cheerfully invites a classmate, who declines apologetically.

今こん晩ばん、いっしょに 行いきませんか。

Want to come along this evening?

…… すみません、あしたは 試し験けんなんです。

Sorry — I have an exam tomorrow.

Short for . A bare noun ＋ なんです is the quickest way to give a reason, and it sounds softer than a flat refusal.

Adding the background to your own words

よく カラオケに 行いきますか。

Do you go to karaoke much?

…… いいえ、あまり 行いきません。歌うたは 好すきじゃないんです。

No, not really. I don't like singing, you see.

The first sentence reports. The second supplies the reason behind it — which is exactly what んです is for.

One place it does not belong

Everything above was offered as a reason for something. That is the one job 〜んです does — so when a sentence is not a reason, it must not take it.

✕ わたしは 佐さ藤とうなんです。

○ わたしは 佐さ藤とうです。

A self-introduction explains nothing — it simply states a fact. Same for the time, your job, or a price. （『みんなの日に本ほん語ご』文ぶん法ぽう解かい説せつ書しょ L26)

Part A · 5

Answering 「どうしたんですか。」

One question, and the answers people actually give. Press the button to add them one at a time.

どう したしましたんですか。

What's happened? / Are you all right?

A woman holding her forehead; a colleague looks on, concerned.

1

I've got a headache… [that's why.]

頭あたまが 【痛いたい】んです。

A woman searching her bag in front of a closed door.

2

I haven't got my key… [that's why.]

鍵かぎが 【ない】んです。

A woman slumped at her desk; a colleague leans in.

3

I feel unwell… [that's why.]

気き分ぶんが 【悪わるい】んです。

A woman at a ticket machine, looking puzzled.

4

The ticket won't come out… [that's why.]

切きっ符ぷが 出でないでませんんです。

Look at the picture and the English, then try the Japanese yourself.

どうして and どうした almost always take んですか — you are asking for an explanation, so you use the explaining ending.

Part A · 6

Quick check

Six items. Choose one; the answer explains itself.

Part B · 1

Say the situation. Then stop.

You are in class and there is one line you cannot follow. Compare two ways of dealing with it.

＝ meaning. So both sentences below are about not understanding what something means.

A man alone at his desk, frowning at a handout.

On your own — nobody is listening

意い味みが わかりません。

I don't understand the meaning.

Just states a fact
The same man goes over to the teacher's desk and speaks to her.

You go to someone — and they are listening

すみません。意い味みが わからないわかりませんんですけど……

Sorry, I don't quite follow the meaning here…

Aimed at someone, and waits
The difference is whether there is anyone on the other end. The first sentence is true whether or not anybody hears it. The second one is built for a listener — it hands them your situation and waits for them to react.
〜んですけど…… is a 前まえ置おき — a cushion. You put your situation on the table and give the other person a moment to get ready, before anything is asked of them.

And then you stop

You do not finish the sentence. You let it trail off, and you wait. In Japanese, picking it up from there is the listener's job — and they will.

This is not laziness or broken Japanese. An unfinished 〜んですけど…… is the polite form. Finishing it puts the demand into words, and words are heavier.

Part B · 2

Stop, and watch what happens

Five real exchanges. In every one of them the speaker never finishes the sentence — and in every one of them they get what they needed.

延えん長ちょうコードが 欲ほしいんですけど……
→
ご案あん内ないします。I'll take you there.
They act. You said what you wanted and stopped; the assistant simply takes you to it.
お金かねを おろしたいんですけど……
→
あそこに ATMが ありますよ。There's an ATM over there.
They act. To a friend. You never asked where — they told you anyway.
マルイチデパートに 行いきたいんですけど……
→
あの信しん号ごうを 右みぎに 曲まがって……Turn right at those lights…
They act. To a stranger in the street. Directions, unasked.
図と書しょ館かんを 使つかいたいんですけど……
→
はじめてですか？Is this your first time?
They ask you something back. Not a problem — a procedure has started and they need details. Just answer it.
料りょう理り教きょう室しつに 参さん加かしたいんですけど…… I'd like to join the cooking class…
→
少しょう々 お待まちください。One moment, please.
They act. You saw a notice about a cooking class at a community centre and asked at the desk; they have gone to deal with it.
A shop assistant points the way while a customer asks.

In a shop

すみません。延えん長ちょうコードが 欲ほしいんですけど……

Excuse me — I'm after an extension cord…

Someone points across a shopping centre towards an ATM.

To a friend

食しょく事じの 前まえに、お金かねを おろしたいんですけど……

Before we eat, I want to get some cash out…

An older man points along the street, giving directions.

In the street

マルイチデパートに 行いきたいんですけど……

I'm trying to get to the Maruichi department store…

A library staff member tilts her head, asking a question back.

At a counter

図と書しょ館かんを 使つかいたいんですけど……

I'd like to use the library…

You never asked for anything. Not once. You stated your situation and stopped — and every single time, the other person supplied the rest.

Two more replies you should recognise

（何なにか 言いったあと）after you have said your bit
→
どうしましたか。What's the matter? / Go on.
They invite you to go on. Your opening worked. Now say the rest, plainly.
（何なにか 言いったあと）after you have said your bit
→
（沈ちん黙もく）／ はい？silence, or a puzzled "Sorry?"
It didn't land. This is the one case where you go on and finish the sentence yourself. See Part B · 4.

These examples follow 『いろどり』 (The Japan Foundation), whose own explanation says it plainly: “The following clause is often omitted to show hesitation.”

Part B · 3

Why 〜んですけど…… instead of 〜んですが…… ?

Your textbook prints が. This page tells you to say けど. Here is the reason.

Both are correct. 『みんなの日に本ほん語ご』 prints . 『いろどり』 prints . If you have seen が in a textbook, the textbook is not wrong.

This page still recommends for speaking. Here is why.

A customer on the phone; the staff member understands at once.

It lands

7時じに 予よ約やくしたいんですけど……

Two clear syllables. Nothing else it could be.

The same call, but the staff member looks lost for a moment.

It costs him a beat

7時じに 予よ約やくしたいんですが……

A soft, trailing が is easily heard as — and 〜んですか is a question. For a moment he hears and cannot tell whose wish it is.

Nothing rude has happened. が is perfectly polite — it just costs the listener a moment. On a phone, with no face to read, that moment is where bookings go wrong.

belongs to writing, announcements and set formal phrases. is what people say out loud. Casually it becomes .

Part B · 4

The rest of the sentence, and how to open one

Two small things that live around the core habit.

If the hint doesn't land

Only two situations call for finishing the sentence: ① nothing came back, or ② you must be unmistakable — a time, a number, something they could never guess.

Kept out of sight on purpose — that is where it lives in real speech.

Request

依い頼らい

…… もう一いち度ど 説せつ明めいして もらえませんか。

Advice

アドバイス

…… どうしたら いいですか。

Permission

許きょ可か

…… 帰かえっても いいですか。

There are politer and blunter versions of each of these, and a whole ladder of them — but that is a later lesson. For now, the front half is the thing to practise.

Bonus: four ready-made openers Optional

For when you're ready to go a step further — not part of the core habit above. Learn each line whole, as one fixed phrase. Say it, stop, and the other person lets you keep going — you don't explain what it's about until they do.

A favour

ちょっと お願ねがいしたいことが あるんですけど……

There's something I'd like to ask you to do…

A question

ちょっと お聞ききしたいことが あるんですけど……

There's something I'd like to ask you…

Advice

ちょっと ご相そう談だんしたいことが あるんですけど……

There's something I'd like your advice on…
相そう談だんする ＝ to consult someone, to talk something over

Something to report

ちょっと ご報ほう告こくしたいことが あるんですけど……

There's something I need to let you know…
報ほう告こくする ＝ to report, to update someone

How it plays out

You

ちょっと ご相そう談だんしたいことが あるんですけど……

There's something I'd like your advice on…

Them

はい、何なんでしょう。

Of course — what is it?

You

JLPTの レベルのことなんですけど、N3と N2と、どちらを 受うけたら いいですか。

It's about which JLPT level — should I take N3 or N2?

You stopped after the first line, they handed you the floor, and only then did you say what it was about.

Part B · 5

Say it yourself

Eight situations. Build the front half out loud first — then check, and see whether this is one where you stop or one where you continue.

Made for learners at みんなの日に本ほん語ご lesson 26 / GENKI lesson 12 and above. Grammar points drawn from 『みんなの日に本ほん語ご』 文ぶん法ぽう解かい説せつ書しょ L26 and GENKI L12. The five exchanges in Part B·2 follow 『いろどり』 入にゅう門もん L15 and 初しょ級きゅう L13 (The Japan Foundation).