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3 votes
1 answer
127 views

Parallel marker (か) "ka" – Repetition & particle elision

When the か particle serves as a parallel/disjunctive marker (A or B = AかBか), is there a strict requirement that it must follow each noun? Or when joining more than two items, should they be replaced ...
0 votes
1 answer
190 views

What is the meaning/ usage of か?

I'm a bit confused about the usage of か. I was taught that it means "or" or "whether", so why is this sentence (どの車にするか迷っています) translated as "I was undecided which car to ...
3 votes
1 answer
83 views

Meaning of XかXないうちに

ハリーは試してみた...しかし、振り上げるかあげないうちに、老人がひったくってしまった。 Harry gave it (the wand) a try, but no sooner had he raised it than the old man snatched it back. I read this post on XかXないかのうちに with a translation of &...
5 votes
1 answer
165 views

When can か振り and 振り be used?

I know V辞書形 + 振り means "pretending to do V", as in 僕を気付かなかった振りをして、僕をただ通り過ぎた。 However, I've recently come to know the expression [知]{し}ったか[振]{ぶ}り, but why is that か there? It seems to have ...
5 votes
1 answer
519 views

What does っか mean after the imperative form?

I was watching Chainsaw Man and found these sentences. 動けっか? Or the second sentence below: Person 1: 殺すのはもったいない顔だけど、死んでちょうだい Person 2: 胸を揉む前に死ねっかよ
1 vote
1 answer
99 views

How to Use a Relative Clause with か in this sentence?

I am currently writing an essay for JPN 401 and I am trying to say this: While my parents planned on how to take me to college, I was just doing things like watching YouTube videos, and just not ...
2 votes
1 answer
114 views

What is the meaning of か in phrases such as ~ばかりか and ~のみか?

I'm studying N2 grammar and I was surprised by the meaning of ばかりか and のみか when I first came across them. E.g: あの人は、学校の成績がいいばかりかスポーツもできる。 I can see these か forms are the same as ばかりでなく and のみならず (...
0 votes
1 answer
118 views

What does ~の為か mean in this sentence?

ちょうど昼過ぎの為か、よく空いていた車内。 According to Jisho.org, 為 means "sake; purpose", "consequence; result", "regarding, concerning", but I can't say what meaning is in this sentence, ...
7 votes
1 answer
4k views

「知るか」 and variant phrases

I didn't find any questions about this, except for this one, but it's not really the same thing. I've seen the phrase 「知るか」 a few times in anime and manga before and I've always interpreted it as "as ...
1 vote
1 answer
300 views

Difference between the patterns 何 + COUNTER + か and 何 + COUNTER + も

私は今年何度か海外に行きました。 [SOURCE] I have been abroad several times this year. 北海道へ何度も行った I have been to Hokkaido many times. 本を何冊も読む。[SOURCE] I read several books. 本を何冊か買いました。 I bought some books. ...
2 votes
1 answer
121 views

「ちょっといいだか」と言う表現は茨城弁?

ビーデルさん、ちょっといいだか?(source) 少将、ちょっといいだか?(source) と、ずっと横で聞いていたシャンロウが手を挙あげて、「ちょっといいだか?」と発言を求めた。(source) 「ちょっといいだか?」「なんです?」ウドリガが出ていこうとした職員を呼び止める。(source) This seems to contradict what we know about だか: ...
4 votes
2 answers
656 views

How to express alternative options where the options use different verbs

I was about to answer this question when I realised I had a problem. If I want to say "Please do A or B" where the actions involve different verbs then, hopefully: 本を買うのに店に行くかインターネットを使うかどちらかしてください。...
2 votes
1 answer
226 views

Meaning of か in ーだかわからない

I found this sentence: その晩、夢を見た。いつの事だかわからない。けれども覚えのある光景があった What is the meaning of that か in 「事だかわからない」? Is it there to add a "uncertainty" nuance? or is it something else?
1 vote
2 answers
182 views

Role of か in this sentence

I found this sentence in an article about japanese swords 日本刀と他の刀との違いは、どれだけ波紋と鉄が美しいかにこだわっているかです The translation is The difference between japanese swords and other swords is how much the ripples ...
0 votes
1 answer
649 views

What is the meaning? -- 誰かいないのか

I need your help. "誰かいないのか" As far as I understand it, this translates to something like, "I want to know, if there somebody, who is available now" The questions are: Is the translation ok? Could ...
4 votes
2 answers
656 views

Seemingly non-interrogative use of sentence-ending か

I keep on coming across the particle か at the end of sentences without it having a clear or necessary interrogative nuance. An example. The 1st Angel in Neon Genesis Evangelion is regenerating itself ...
4 votes
1 answer
837 views

Confusion between 誰でも and 誰か

I was practicing and tried to write the following sentence in Japanese: Anyone playing games on PS4 or Switch? 誰でもPS4でゲームをやっていますか。スイッチでゲームをやっていますか。 A few minutes later my sentence was corrected to ...
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is the correct question 何だろう or 何だろうか

How to ask a question with だろう in the correct way? Should I add か in the end? Like 何だろうか? I saw a lot of examples and almost always guys omit か in the end. And just say 何だろう;いつだろう。。。
0 votes
0 answers
62 views

What does のか mean in this sentence? [duplicate]

In this sentence: ドアの音に驚いたのか、軽く上体がかしいだ a door opens, and there is a character, whose upper body is slightly bent forward, startled by the door's sound. I think の just nominalize ドアの音に驚いた, but I'm ...
3 votes
1 answer
770 views

Is ためか the same as ために?

I think this sentence: あまり日がささまいためか、どれもひょろひょろとした貧弱な木だ means something like "Since they get too much sunlight, they are shabby trees", but while I know ために I can't find anything about ためか in my ...
5 votes
1 answer
297 views

〜か知らない or 〜か不安だ

I came across the following sentence in an exercise: インターネットで注文したセーターは、実際に着てみるまでサイズが_____が、ちょうどよかった。 Although only B and D make sense to me, here are the four propositions: A. 合わなかった B. ...
0 votes
1 answer
156 views

What is the purpose of the か in this sentence?

「僕達はあなたがどれほど頑張っているか心配です」 I know that 「か」in the middle of a sentence can be used for embedded questions or as "or," but I don't see any of that here.
2 votes
0 answers
141 views

Comparing nouns

Good day, I would like some clarification with regards to comparing nouns. In some references like Minna no Nihongo, the sentence formula would be something like A と B と + どちら のほうが/が + Adjectiveですか。 ...
10 votes
2 answers
4k views

What does からか mean?

I'm translating the following sentence from a book (exact sentence is directly after dialogue in the picture). 興奮からか銀髪の外国人の口調は、いつになく流暢だった。 I have absolutely zero clue what "からか" means in general ...
2 votes
1 answer
165 views

Question about the particular use of 'か'

今日かあした来てください。 (Please, come today or tomorrow) 行くか行かないか、わかりません。(Go or not, I don't know) I guess in these two cases 'か' means 'or', but why is there no 'か' after 'あした'. In example 2 there is a 'か' ...
6 votes
1 answer
503 views

か as a suffix to mean "a few": Why is 何__かがVERB not allowed

Here is yet another puzzling sentence for me from a dictionary I am using: 何ページ か 欠けている。 A few pages are missing. (研究社) My understanding is that while 何ページ ambiguously means "what/which/how many ...
1 vote
1 answer
661 views

What's the meaning of the particle のか in this context?

I think the sentence can be understood on its own, but I'm giving some context anyway. Editor and author talk about a character. Editor: 彼女は作中で優しい子だと言われています。実際そうだと思うんですけど、彼女の優しさって描くのむずかしいと思うんですよ。 ...
2 votes
2 answers
363 views

"correct" formation of questions

A comment in some vb.net code is as follows: 現在の時刻が設定時間と一致しているか確認する Meaning, (the following bit of code) checks if the current time matches the configured one. According to what I learnt from ...
5 votes
1 answer
141 views

When should an embedded question take と?

From this article: NHKは6月〜7月、18歳と19歳の人に平和についてどう考えているか(*)聞きました。 Between June and July NHK asked 18 and 19 year olds what they thought about peace. この日を知っているかと聞くと、... When they were asked if ...
1 vote
1 answer
288 views

Grammar question about [sentence]のに

I was asked by my teacher to read a kid friendly manga, something easy to start with. I am not having issue with the vocabulary and I understand the general gist of a sentence but I am having issue ...
16 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to use 〜かのよう{に・な・だ}

I understand fine how to use 〜(の)よう{に・な・だ}, but I'm not sure when or how you can add in the か. Here's an example from my book: 4月になって雪が降るなんて、まるで冬が戻って来たかのようです。 How is this different than if it had ...
3 votes
1 answer
110 views

Can the particle か have an exhortative value?

開戦といきますか! Judging from the exclamation mark and from the context (a battle immediately starts after the commander of an army says this), I think that in the sentence above か could have an exhortative ...
3 votes
2 answers
947 views

Indirect question marked with かが

My questions relate to the following two sentences taken from the website referenced below. The goal of the lesson was to explain the uses of ということ but I'm more concerned with the choice of particles ...
2 votes
1 answer
417 views

「か」 or 「と」 as a subordinate clause?

When making a statement like: I thought I had gone to the cinema. Do you say: 映画館{えいがかん}に行った{いった}と思いました{おもいました}。 or: 映画館{えいがかん}に行った{いった}か思いました{おもいました}。 And how does it work with other ...
1 vote
1 answer
187 views

Use of も after quote particle

電話のベルが聞こえたとき、無視しようかとも思った。 When I heard the phone's bell I wondered if I should ignore it. We have 無視する = "to ignore", 無視しようか = "will I ignore it?" 無視しようかと思った = "I thought 'will I ignore it'". I ...
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is んでしょう(か) grammatical, and what does it mean?

I've learned that んですか can be used to check an educated guess, as in: (upon seeing someone dragging a piece of luggage) ねえ、旅行するんですか。 Hey, you're going to travel, aren't you? I've also ...
5 votes
1 answer
220 views

Unsure about this usage of か

I recently encountered this sentence: 床には血痕が残っている。かなり時間が経つのか血が固まっている。 I believe I understand that the second part is saying the blood is dry (or has hardened) because quite some time has passed. I'...
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Confusion on usage of か marking alternatives with verbs

Most textbooks note that using か to mark two noun alternatives, the last one can be omitted. However, what about verbs? Would a textbook sentence such as 今晩の食事はステーキにするか、すしにするかまだ決めていません。 Stay ...
7 votes
1 answer
704 views

Is there something omitted after だか in this sentence?

The following paragraph is from page 20 of 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱:  ところで今教室に涼宮ハルヒはいない。いたらこんな話も出来ないだろうが、たとえいたとしてもまったく気にしないような気もする。その涼宮ハルヒだが、四時間目が終わるとすぐ教室を出て行って五時間目が始まる直前にならないと戻ってこないのが常だ。...
25 votes
4 answers
7k views

Questions with ~か or without: how to choose?

Studying Japanese on my own, I've learned that in order to make a question, you usually add the particle "~か", like this: 今何時ですか。 It's also true that a question can be asked without it, using the ...