何(なに) + かSomething, Nothing, Anything, Not anything, Some kind of, Not any kind of

The meaning of these words will change, based on whether the sentence is positive, or negative

Structure

何(なに)か + Phrase
何(なに)も + Phrase［ない］

Details

Part of Speech
Noun
Word Type
Adverbial Particle
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Standard

About なにか・なにも

何(なに)か and 何(なに)も are constructions that are used in Japanese for expressing 'something', 'anything', or 'nothing'. The main difference between the two being that 何(なに)も is used with negative phrases (phrases that use ない or ありません), while 何(なに)か is used in other cases.

To use this expression, we simply need to put 何(なに)か or 何(なに)も before the desired phrase.

Caution

There are several casual forms of these expressions that are used in speech, or in certain dialects. These forms are なんにか, なんか, or なんにも, なんも.

Examples

--:--

なにか食(た)べる？

Do you want to eat something?

私(わたし)がなにか嫌(いや)なことをしましたか？

Did I do something you didn't like?

いいえ、なにもしていませんよ。

No, I didn't do anything (wrong).

日本(にほん)に行(い)って、なにか食(た)べたいものがありますか。

When you go to Japan, is there something that you want to eat?

頑張(がんば)って勉強(べんきょう)したけどなにもわからない。

I studied diligently, but I don't understand anything.

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Online
- Difference between 何も and 何でも
  Japanese StackExchange
- How to use なんか
  Maggie Sensei
- Using question words
  Tae Kim

Offline
- Genki I 2nd Edition
  Page 196
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 100
- みんなの日本語 I
  Page 87 [CH 13]
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なにか・なにも – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (17 in total)

Tensor
Why isn’t 「何かを食べる」 grammatical?

It seems to me that 何か is the direct object of 食べる but it seems that this isn’t accepted by the grammar checker.

I understand the idea that 「何もを食べない」definitely sounds and looks ungrammatical, but I’d rather have a more detailed explanation than through analogy with this form’s “negation.”
IcyIceBear
Both も and か are particles here attached to 何, so if one looks wrong, so does the other. 何か isn’t one word, it’s 何+か to equal the idea of “something”. The particle を is dropped when these other particles are in use.

You can probably find better explanations in the resource tab of the grammar point, or by doing an Internet search of why not to use を after 何か/何も. I don’t tend to get hung up on the why of these points, just that it isn’t really done and that’s enough for me, so I can’t tell you more. Welcome to the community
Stainy