いいですか？
ii desu ka?
The English phrase "can we?" can be expressed in Japanese as いいですか？ (ii desu ka?)
The phrase いいですか？ is used to ask for permission or to check if a certain state or action is acceptable to the listener.
Which one should you use?
While いいですか？ is a standard polite way to ask permission, you can use いい？ for a very informal approach by dropping the desu ka and using only the adjective with rising intonation. For much more formal or business settings, the phrase よろしいでしょうか？ is significantly more polite. Additionally, the informal expressions 〜ていい？ and 〜てもいい？ can be used in casual conversations to ask for permission or suggest something.
How do you pronounce it?
ii desu ka?
When do people say it?
When someone asks for permission, a common way to grant it is to say はい、いいですよ (Yes, it is fine/okay). If a person needs to politely decline the request, they often avoid a direct "no" and instead say すみませんが、ちょっと… (I'm sorry, but it's a bit…).
Did you know?
- While いいですか？ asks if something is 'good', a common way to answer a request is いいです, which can paradoxically mean 'No thank you' depending on the tone.
- When declining a request with ちょっと…, the speaker often leaves the sentence unfinished. This forces the listener to mentally fill in the 'no', which is considered more polite than stating the refusal explicitly.
- The word いい is a spoken variant of よい. While they share the same meaning, よい is reserved for formal writing and traditional proverbs.
Examples in context
- 明日、一緒にランチ行っていい？Can we go for lunch together tomorrow?
- デパートに行ってもいい？Can we go to the department store?
- 明日の午後、公園でピクニックしませんか？Can we have a picnic at the park tomorrow afternoon?
- 窓を閉めてもいいですか？Mado o shimete mo ii desu ka?Can we close the window?
- 少し休んでもいいですか？Sukoshi yasunde mo ii desu ka?Can we rest for a bit?
Example conversation
At a museum, Hiroto asks Yui for permission to use a camera.
- 大翔 Hirotoここで写真を撮ってもいいですか？Koko de shashin o totte mo ii desu ka?Can we take photos here?
- 結衣 Yuiはい、大丈夫ですよ。Hai, daijobu desu yo.Yes, that's fine.
- 大翔 Hirotoありがとうございます。Arigatou gozaimasu.Thank you very much.
- 結衣 Yuiいえいえ。Iie iie.No problem.
