Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
いいんですか。
いいですか。
Both sentences translate to "Is is OK?" (context: It is OK if I take this umbrella?)
According to my textbook, んです is used for explanations. But in this context someone is asking for permission, as far as I understand. Does ん make the question sound more polite?
の/ん in a question sentence is for asking for a clarification. See: Question Markers: か and の
The connotation that the の has is to seek clarification based on background contexts, while the か doesn’t require any context.
The plain question marker か allows you to just ask yes or no while the connotative question marker の allows you to clarify something that you doubt about. You may sometimes be rude if you suddenly try to clarify something without contexts.
When you have a previous context and are asking "is it (really) okay?" referring to it, いいんですか is the natural choice. For example, when someone said to you "Hey, you can take that umbrella!", then your response should be いいんですか. But you have to say この傘を持って行っていいですか without の/ん if this is the first time you mention 傘 in a conversation.
