Which floor? Finding places in a building
You know school locations and どこですか from lesson 09. Now read only 1階・3階・6階 aloud with the support below: いっかい・さんがい・ろっかい. Listen for what changes, then try the three forms once more without support.
1. Place + は + floor + です
階（かい）means ‘floor’ or ‘storey’ and comes directly after a number. In 食堂は1階です, 食堂 is the topic, は marks it, and 1階 gives the floor. です closes the noun sentence politely. Dutch and English add ‘op/on’; this Japanese structure does not need a separate particle here.
Read a floor number as one counting unit. 1階 is いっかい, not いちかい. Small っ creates a brief closure before the K sound. In 3階, かい changes to がい: さんがい. Here we practise the reading さんがい; さんかい is also a valid reading. Always learn 1階 as いっかい.
Japan counts the ground level as 1階. One storey above it is 2階. This matches US first-floor numbering and differs from British ground-floor numbering. We use Japanese level numbers here; follow the signs by the elevator.
食堂は1階です。
事務所は4階です。
2. Ten floors in manageable groups
Start with 1階（いっかい）, 2階（にかい）, and 3階（さんがい）. Then add 4階（よんかい）, 5階（ごかい）, and 6階（ろっかい）. Finish with 7階（ななかい）, 8階（はっかい）, 9階（きゅうかい）, and 10階（じゅっかい）. Small groups keep the irregular forms from disappearing into one long counting sequence.
Mark five anchors: いっかい, さんがい, ろっかい, はっかい, and じゅっかい. With 1, 6, 8, and 10, you hear a doubled K after small っ; with 3, you hear GAI. The table shows the forms practised here. さんかい for 3階, はちかい for 8階, and なんかい for 何階 are also valid. They do not change the number.
Writing can support listening: copy いっかい and はっかい once and circle small っ. Then write さんがい and underline が. Next, read only the kanji forms 1階, 3階, 6階, 8階, and 10階. Open reading support only when you get stuck.
3. Ask specifically with 何階ですか
何階（なんがい）means ‘which floor’. Use it when the location is already known and only its floor number is missing. 食堂は何階ですか does not ask what kind of place the cafeteria is; it asks which numbered level it is on. The answer can be brief: 1階です.
In this combination, 何 is read なん. We practise なんがい; the variant なんかい is also correct. Learn the question word as one unit. Do not write なにかい or confuse it with なんですか, ‘what is it?’. The head word 階 makes the question specifically about a floor.
食堂は何階ですか。
1階です。
4. Ask broadly with どこ or specifically with 何階
どこですか asks broadly where something is. The answer can be a direction, a landmark, or, in this lesson, a floor. 何階ですか is narrower: only the floor number is missing. If someone asks 教室はどこですか, 3階です can be a useful answer. If they ask 教室は何階ですか, a floor is exactly the requested type of information.
Choose the question based on what you still need to know. If all you know is that you are looking for the cafeteria, 食堂はどこですか is broad and useful. If you already know the cafeteria is in this building and need the right elevator button, 食堂は何階ですか is more precise.
5. A conversation by the elevator
A visitor first politely gets someone's attention with すみません. They then name the place and ask for its floor. The staff member answers with one floor expression. ありがとうございます closes the exchange. You do not need direction words such as left or right to complete this practical task.
Read the four lines once. Then cover the answer and choose a floor for 事務所 yourself. In a third round, ask broadly where the elevator is using エレベーターはどこですか; this reviews the broad location question and does not require a floor number if the other person gives another useful location description.
すみません。食堂は何階ですか。
1階です。
ありがとうございます。
エレベーターはどこですか。
6. Recall independently using clear criteria
Draw a building with three boxes and put a school location in each box. Choose three floors, including at least one irregular reading. Ask 何階ですか for each place and answer without looking at the reading table. Then check small っ, 3階 as さんがい, and the positions of は and です.
The final check assesses recognition of the question function and two irregular readings, followed by two bounded production tasks. In the writing tasks, the shown kanji, kana, and romaji are accepted routes. A close but incorrect answer such as いちかい remains wrong because the fixed floor reading is the target.