Something, nothing, or what exactly?
You know 何を from lesson 30. Now say 週末、何かしますか and answer 何もしません. Point to か, も, and the negative ending; that is your small first action.
1. 何か leaves the possibility open
何か means ‘something’ or, in a question, ‘anything’. In 何か買いますか, the speaker first asks whether anything will be bought. The item's identity remains open. In the active course pattern, 何か comes directly before an affirmative verb form.
A fitting answer can be はい、買います, or a specific answer such as はい、本を買います. The question does not require you to name the item. Do not add を after 何か in this lesson; 何かを is possible Japanese, but it is outside the active model.
週末、何かしますか。
はい、日本語を勉強します。
2. 何も needs negation at the end
In this pattern, 何も combines with a negative verb to mean ‘nothing’ or ‘not anything’. 何も alone does not make the sentence negative. Therefore, 何も takes ません in the non-past or ませんでした in the past.
Compare 何もしません, ‘I do nothing’, with 昨日、何も買いませんでした, ‘I bought nothing yesterday’. The time determines the negative ending. 何もします lacks negation and does not express this lesson's target meaning.
何もしません。
昨日、何も買いませんでした。
3. 何を asks what exactly
何を買いますか asks which specific thing someone buys. The answer must therefore name content, for example 本を買います. 何か買いますか first asks whether anything will be bought and can be answered with はい or いいえ.
Use a fixed decision step: if you want to hear ‘what?’, choose 何を; if you want to ask ‘anything?’, choose 何か; if you want to say ‘nothing’, choose 何も and a negative ending. Look at the expected answer before choosing the small particle.
4. Check intention and ending together
Read the sentence from the end backwards. With します or 買いました, 何か can express an open possibility. With しません or 買いませんでした, 何も can negate all possibilities. Then check whether the tense of the ending fits the context.
Notice 何かしませんか: in another conversational setting it can suggest ‘shall we do something?’. For the neutral statement ‘I do nothing’, this lesson clearly uses 何もしません. This keeps an invitation distinct from negation.
5. Track possibility, negation, and a specific plan
Read the existing dialogue about the station, buying something, and a plan for this evening. Mark the 何か questions and find the past negative ending with 何も. The final answer then states specifically what will happen.
Use the same three steps in your own application: one open question, one specific affirmative answer, and one negative answer. The final check always states the time and intended answer type.