(なんかい)

なんかい
noun
what floor; which floor
placequestion
1. what floor; which floor; how many floors
An interrogative used to ask which story of a building something is on, or how many stories a building has.
()()何階(なんかい)です
What floor is the sales area on?
このビル何階(なんかい)()てです
How many stories is this building?
At the reception I asked what floor the meeting room was on.

(なん) (what, how many) + (かい) (floor, story). Distinct from the homophone 何回(なんかい) ('how many times'), which uses (かい) (occasions).

Common collocations

  • 何階(なんかい)です: What floor is it?
  • 何階(なんかい)ある: on what floor is it?
  • 何階(なんかい)()て: how many stories (tall)
  • 何階(なんかい)まで: up to what floor

Disambiguation

In speech, 何階(なんかい) (what floor) and 何回(なんかい) (how many times) sound identical. Context usually resolves the ambiguity, but speakers sometimes clarify by saying 何階目(なんかいめ) ('which floor') vs. 何回目(なんかいめ) ('which time').

Related words