Asking for the Price or Total Cost

いくら is the Japanese question word used to ask for the price or total cost of an item or service.

いくら is the Japanese question word used in everyday N5-level situations to ask about money, prices, and costs. Whether you are shopping for souvenirs, buying a train ticket, or paying the bill at a restaurant, this single word is one of the most practical tools you will need in Japan. It is the direct way to ask for the price of something.

The most standard and polite way to ask for a price is to use the pattern noun + は + いくら + ですか. Here, you state the item or service you want to buy, mark it as the topic with the particle は, and finish the sentence with いくらですか. For example, if you are pointing at an item, you can simply ask これはいくらですか. If you want to be specific, you can combine it with a demonstrative modifier, like この時計はいくらですか.

When speaking with friends, family, or in very informal market settings, you can ask for the price casually by dropping ですか. Simply say いくら with a rising intonation at the end. In these casual situations, native speakers also frequently drop the topic particle は entirely, resulting in short, quick questions like これ、いくら？.

Beyond single physical items, you can use いくら to ask about the cost of services, transportation, or total amounts. If you need a train ticket, you can make the destination ticket the topic, such as 東京までの切符はいくらですか. If you are paying a bill for a meal or multiple items, adding the word 全部で lets you ask 全部でいくらですか.

A common mistake for learners is confusing いくら with other Japanese question words. It is important to remember that いくら is used for monetary value in this price-question use. If you want to ask how many physical items there are, or ask for someone's age, you must use いくつ instead. Similarly, if you want to ask about time, distance, or physical measurements, you should use どのくらい. Use いくら when the situation involves money, and choose another question word for counts, age, time, distance, or measurements.