We have already learned two types of interrogatives;
1. Yes-No questions
A : Koukousei desuka. (Are you a high school student?)
B : Iie, watashi wa koukousei dewa arimasen. (No, I am not a high school student.)
A : Ja, Daigakusei desuka. (Then, are you a university student?)
B : Hai, Watashi wa Daigakusei desu. (Yes, I am a university student.)
2. Wh-questions
A : Ano hito wa dare desuka. (Who is that person?)
B : Ano hito wa Sato-san desu. (That person is Ms. Sato.)
Today we are going to learn another type of interrogative sentence. It is one of multiple choice questions, but with the least number of choices.
3. Multiple choice questions
A : Sore wa Hon desuka, Jisho desuka. (Is it a book or a dictionary?)
B : Kore wa Hon desu. (This is a book.)
The sentence A is a “Two-choice question”. When you are asked by the A, you cannot answer with “Hai (yes)” or “Iie (no)”. You need to choose one of the two, and to answer by saying the nouns that was used in the question. Perhaps there may be a situation in which you would say like the follows;
B’ : Iie, Hon demo Jisho demo arimasen. Nohto desu.
(No, this is neither book nor dictionary, but a notebook.)
But I want you to learn one at a time. Don’t care much about the answer B’. What you need to learn today is the question A and the answer B.
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 