How do you ask what grade a friend is in Japanese?

There are a few ways to ask what grade your friend is in Japanese, depending on the level of formality you want to use:

Formal:

* [Friend's name] さんは、何年生ですか？ ([Friend's name] san wa, nan nen sei desu ka?) - This is the most polite way to ask. It literally translates to "[Friend's name], what year student are you?"

* [Friend's name] さんは、何学年にいますか？ ([Friend's name] san wa, nan gakunen ni imasu ka?) - This is another polite option, meaning "[Friend's name], what grade are you in?"

Informal:

* [Friend's name] は、何年生？ ([Friend's name] wa, nan nen sei?) - This is a more casual way to ask, appropriate for friends or people you know well.

* [Friend's name] 、何年生？ ([Friend's name] 、nan nen sei?) - This is even more informal, using just the friend's name.

Note:

* In Japanese, the school year starts in April. So, if your friend is in their first year of high school, you would say they are in "1-nen sei" (first year student) even if it's still January.

* The word for grade is "gakunen" (学年). It's used in the formal phrase above.

* The word for year is "nen" (年). This is used in all the examples and is followed by "sei" (生) which means "student."

Here's an example of how to ask someone what grade they're in, using the formal way:

You: 田中さん、何年生ですか？ (Tanaka san, nan nen sei desu ka?)

Friend: 私は、2年生です。 (Watashi wa, ni nen sei desu.)

This translates to:

You: Tanaka, what year student are you?

Friend: I am a second year student.