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If I need to ask something's name, like `how is this called?` or `what's the
name of this?`, would it be okay to ask これはなまえをなにか?

I also would like to know if I should use です in this type of questions?
Actually my first thought was about saying これはなまえをなんですか instead of これはなまえをなにか.
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translation
Is これはなまえをなにか correct?
Remember that the thing that you are asking is the "name" so that is going to
be the topic of the sentence so that should have the は particle instead of これ,
when これ is not the topic you should use この instead. So for me It would be
like.

>   * この物の名前は何ですか: "What is the name of this thing?"
>

If you are asking "How is this called?" I think it would be something like
this

>   * これは何と呼ばれていますか？
>

よびます: to call ► よばれます: to be called. The you add the ている form because is an
state
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> これはなんと言いますか （kore wa nan to iimasu ka) - What is this called?
>
> これの名前はなんですか (kore no namae wa nan desu ka) - What's the name of this?

**I also would like to know if I should use です in this type of questions?**

Well, that depends a lot on how polite/casual do you wanna be, you can drop it
if you're talking to a friend or someone who you can be casual with!

The basic rule is that you should just use です after a noun or a na-
adjective... but you can use after the explanatory particle の as well, eg:

> (あなたは)どこに行くのですか (anata wa doko ni iku no desu ka) Where are you going?
> (Ended with the explanatory particle so we could use です)
>
> (あなたは)何を食べました？(anata wa nani wo tabemashita) What did you eat? (we ended
> with a verb, therefore no need for です)
>
> 彼は静かな人ですか (kare ha shizuka na hito desu ka) Is he a quiet person? (We ended
> with a noun 人 so we need desu, since we wanna be a bit more polite)

I put the "anata wa" in parentheses because in japanese we usually omit it if
it is obvious by the context...

You'll be able to find tons of questions here about the usage of です, also you
can just google it too, it's not that complicated to be honest ^^

for instance: [How do you know when to useですor います？and when to use the
particles はor の？](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/23050/how-do-
you-know-when-to-use%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99or-%e3%81%84%e3%81%be%e3%81%99-and-when-
to-use-the-particles-%e3%81%afor-%e3%81%ae)
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