Javanese Question Sentence (Interrogative)

Today, we will learn about Javanese interrogative sentence.

Types of Interrogative Sentences:

1) Detailed-answer question

2) Yes-no Question

3) Question-Tag

4) Choice Question

5) 7W+1H Question

1) Detailed-Answer Question

This question sentence will let the other person to answer in details or give some reasons.

General Formula:

Subject + apa + Verb / The Rest

Examples:

a. Kowe apa wis amangan?

(Have you eaten, or what?)

b. Kowe apa abubar saka pawiyatan?

(Have you just been from the school, or what?)

c. Kowe apa ameh aturu?

(Are you about to sleep, or what?)

2. Yes-No Question Sentence

This question sentence will let the other person to answer the question with a yes or no (to affirm the statement as true or not).

General Formula:

Subject + Verb / The Rest + apa ora?

Note:

The negation of Wis is Durung. The negation of Yaiku/Iku is Dudu.

Examples:

a. Kowe wis amangan, apa durung?

(Have you eaten or not?)

b. Kowe abubar saka pawiyatan, apa ora?

(Have you just been from the school or not?)

c. Kowe ameh aturu, apa ora?

(Are you about to sleep or not?)

3) Question-Tag

This question sentence will let the other person to confirm our suspicion, guess, or conviction with a yes or no (to affirm the statement as true or not).

General Formula:

Subject + apa ora + Verb / The Rest + (ta)

Note:

You can add Ta in your sentence final to give a strong or empathetic tone. It is like an emphasis to your whole question.

Examples:

a. Kowe apa ora wis amangan?

(You have eaten, haven't you / right?)

b. Kowe apa ora abubar saka pawiyatan?

(You have just been from the school, haven't you / right?)

c. Kowe apa ora ameh aturu?

(You are about to sleep, aren't you / right?)

4) Choice Question

This question sentence will let the other person to answer based on the options there.

General Formula:

Subject + Verb / The Rest + apa + Verb / The Rest.

Examples:

a. Kowe wis amangan apa angombe?

(Have you eaten or drunk?)

b. Kowe abubar saka pawiyatan apa pajêmbaran?

(Have you just been from the school or tue field?)

c. Kowe ameh aturu apa amaca?

(Are you about to sleep or to read?)

5) 7W+1H Question

This question sentence uses question words.

The Choices are:

a. Apa = What/which

b. Sapa = Who/whom 

c. Kapan = When

d. Ing êndi = Where

e. Kênangapa = Why

f. Duweking sapa = Whose

g. Kapriye = How, what do you do

h. Dening sapa = By whom

i. Dening apa = By which

j. Kanthi sapa = By (using) whom

k. Kanthi apa = By (using) which

l. Lumantar sapa = Through whom

m. Lumantar apa = Through which

n. Marang sapa = To whom

o. Marang apa = To which

q. Mênyang sapa To(wards) whom

r. Mênyang apa = To(wards) which

s. Pira = how much, how many

etc. (all prepositioned question words)

General Formula:

Question word + The Rest

Examples:

a. Apa iki?

(What is this?

b. Apa warnaning omah iku?

(What is the color of that house?)

c. Barang apa iki?

(What thing/kind of thing is this?)

d. Sapa iki?

(Who is this?)

e. Sapa wong iku?

(Who is that person?)

f. Sapa jênêngmu?

(What is your name?)

g. Kapan iki?

(When is it?)

h. Kapan omahe bakal arampung?

(When will the house be done?)

i. Ing êndi iki?

(Where is it?)

j. Ing êndi aku?

(Where am I?)

k. Ing êndi omahmu?

(Where is your house?)

l. Kênangapa kok kaya mangkene?

(Why is it like this?)

m. Kênangapa kok kudu ditulis?

(Why does it have to be written?)

n. Kênangapa kowe?

(What happens to you?)

o. Duweking sapa iki?

(Whose is this?)

p. Duweking sapa omah iki?

(Whose house is this?)

q. Kapriye anggone anulis?

(How do you/What do you do to write?)

r. Kapriye?

(How is it?)

s. Kapriye kahananing omahmu?

(How is the condition of your house?)

t. Pira omahmu?

(How many are your houses?)

u. Pira rêganing omahmu?

(How much is your house / does your house cost?)

v. Dening sapa pralayang iki?

(By whom is this book written?)

End note:

1) Sometimes, word orders can be changed in casual or daily settings. It depends on what you want to emphasize.

2) People may find themselves use casual construction that chops some grammatical words around. In this case, the Standard construction vs the Casual construction may differ in components.

3) Every question sentence can be added with Ta at the final to put emphasis or empathetic tone toward your whole question. But, Ta has to be located right after the question word in a 7W+1H question.