Is there any differences between あるの and ありますか

7 comments

1. (Beginner learner so someone more experienced can complement)

   Just politeness. First one is in plain/casual japanese, and second one is in formal/polite japanese.

2. の at the end of statements is an explanatory particle, kind of gives the nuance that you are curious about the answer. like if you asked, 何を食べましたか。(What did you eat?) it can sound maybe robotic, or stiff like there is a right or wrong answer lol! but if you ask 何を食べたの？it sounds more like “what did you eat? im curious and really want to know what you ate, or even how it was” in terms of communication it gets the same point across but there’s definitely a use for の if you wanna sound more human and less robotic 🙂

3. I can see myself using ペンはありますか but I can’t think of the situation where I use ペンがありますか。 Also, for some reasons, I can only imagine me saying ペンがあるの as question when I’m talking to toddlers, and maybe some limited contexts rather than the general asking situations. I think I use that to confirm someone’s statement, but I doubt it has much to do with grammar.

   And I can’t explain why for none of these 😛

4. Formality. The latter is “safer” with people you don’t know well.

5. [deleted]

6. One you wouldask to your friend ペンがあるの？ and the other you would ask of your teacher and or fellow employee. あー、すみません。ぺんがありますか。however it would be better if you asked ペンを貸してもいいですか/いいの?

7. Casual vs formal