How to Use いくら (Ikura): Asking About Price in Japanese

Meaning & Usage

いくら (ikura) is a Japanese question word meaning "how much" in the context of price and cost. Walk into any shop in Japan and this is the word you reach for. Whenever you want to ask what something costs, いくら is what you need.

English splits "how much" and "how many" depending on whether something is countable. Japanese works the same way. いくら covers monetary value and price, while いくつ (ikutsu) handles the count of items. Mix them up at the shop counter and you will get a puzzled look.

いくら turns up in shops, restaurants, taxis — anywhere money changes hands. The sentence ending shifts with formality. For polite speech, add ですか (desu ka) at the end. Among friends or in casual settings, いくら? on its own is perfectly natural.

One thing that trips up English speakers: いくら is a question word (疑問詞ぎもんし, gimonshi), so it stands in for the unknown information — the price you are asking about. Unlike English, Japanese does not shuffle the question word to the front. Word order stays identical to a regular statement, and いくら simply sits where the answer belongs.

いくら pairs with the topic particle は (wa) to flag what you are asking about, and with ですか to mark the sentence as a question. Get these two right and shopping Japanese starts to click into place.

Structure & Formation

The structure stays the same for almost any item you want to ask about. The noun or topic is followed by は, then いくら, then ですか for polite speech.

The particle は (wa) marks the topic — the thing you are asking about. You can replace [Noun] with demonstrative pronouns like これ (kore = this), それ (sore = that), or あれ (are = that over there) to point at specific items. You can also use the name of a product, food item, or service directly.

To answer a question with いくら, the response uses the price followed by です:

• [Price] + 円えん + です — for example: 五ご百ひゃく円えんです (gohyaku en desu) = It is 500 yen.
• 全部ぜんぶで + [Price] + 円えん + です — 全部ぜんぶで means "in total."

Example Sentences

Basic Shopping Questions

At a Restaurant or Café

Giving a Price (Answers)

Casual Speech

Past Tense Questions

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Confusing いくら (price) with いくつ (quantity)

❌ りんごはいくらありますか。(when asking how many apples there are)

✅ りんごはいくつありますか。

いくら asks about price or monetary value; いくつ asks about the number or count of items. To ask the price of an apple, use いくら. To ask how many apples there are, use いくつ. In a real shop, getting this wrong creates immediate confusion.

Mistake 2: Forgetting ですか in formal speech

❌ これはいくら。(in a formal or polite context)

✅ これはいくらですか。

Dropping ですか is natural between close friends, but it sounds blunt — even rude — when speaking to a shopkeeper or someone you have just met. Always use the polite form with ですか in shops, restaurants, or any public setting.

Mistake 3: Using どのくらい instead of いくら for prices

❌ このかばんはどのくらいですか。(when asking about price)

✅ このかばんはいくらですか。

どのくらい (dono kurai) means "about how much" or "to what extent" and is used for degree, distance, time, or approximate quantity — not monetary price. いくら is the correct and natural word in shopping contexts. Reach for いくら the moment price comes up.

Mistake 4: Moving いくら to the front of the sentence

❌ いくらこれはですか。

✅ これはいくらですか。

English speakers often feel the urge to move the question word to the beginning of the sentence, as we do in English ("How much is this?"). In Japanese, the question word stays in the same position as the answer would be — after the topic, before ですか. The sentence structure does not change just because it is a question.

Mistake 5: Omitting the topic particle は

❌ このかばんいくらですか。

✅ このかばんはいくらですか。

Native speakers do drop particles in very casual speech, but omitting は in standard polite speech is grammatically incorrect. は clearly marks what you are asking about. Include it consistently while you are learning — dropping it is a shortcut for later, not a habit to build now.

Cultural Notes

In Japan, prices are clearly displayed on tags or boards in most shops, so you may not need いくらですか in large retail stores or supermarkets. At street markets, second-hand shops, and smaller family-run stores, though, it comes up all the time.

Staff at Japanese shops respond to いくらですか without hesitation. Many will point to the price on a register screen or hold up a small calculator — a quick, wordless way to bridge any language gap.

Bargaining is not part of shopping culture in Japan. Department stores, convenience stores, and chain restaurants all have fixed prices. At flea markets or antique fairs, light negotiation can occasionally work — and いくらですか is still how every such conversation starts.

When prices are stated verbally, Japanese uses three key units: 百ひゃく (100), 千せん (1,000), and 万まん (10,000). So 3,500 yen is 三さん千せん五ご百ひゃく円えん (sanzen gohyaku en). Pair your study of いくら with number practice — the two reinforce each other.

Related Grammar Points

• どこ — Where (Location Question Word) (Grammar N5)
• いくつ — How Many / How Old (Grammar N5)
• だれ — Who (Interrogative Pronoun for People) (Grammar N5)
• なぜ／どうして — How to Ask 'Why' in Japanese (Grammar N5)
• いつ — When: Complete Guide to Asking About Time in Japanese (Grammar N5)
• まだ — Still, Not Yet (Grammar N5)

JLPT Tips

いくら is a core N5 vocabulary item and appears frequently in both the JLPT N5 listening and reading sections. In the listening section, you may hear a shop or market conversation where one person asks いくらですか and the other gives a price. Focus on the numbers — you will often need to pick the correct figure from several answer choices.

In the vocabulary and grammar section, you may be asked to fill in a blank with the correct question word. If the blank appears in a question about price or cost, the answer is いくら. If the question is about the number or count of items, the answer is いくつ. This distinction is a reliable test point at N5.

A common exam trap uses a sentence about counting objects and asks whether いくら or いくつ fits. Always ask yourself: "Am I asking about money, or about the number of things?" Money → いくら. Count → いくつ.

Numbers drill matters here. The N5 exam tests figures up to the thousands and tens of thousands, so practice until 千せん円えん (sen en = 1,000 yen), 三さん百ひゃく円えん (sanbyaku en = 300 yen), and 一いち万まん円えん (ichiman en = 10,000 yen) feel automatic in the listening section.

Finally, note that いくら itself never changes form — it is not conjugated like a verb or adjective. What changes is the politeness level of the surrounding sentence (ですか vs. だ vs. no ending at all). Focus on recognizing いくら across different sentence patterns; the word itself never needs adjustment.