All Questions
Tagged with particle-ka or particle-か
109 questions
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 ...
- 3,139
21
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Usage of か after a clause?
Here's a sentence I found:
デパートはどこにあるか、知っていますか？
Do you know where the department store is?
What's the purpose of the か particle in 「どこにあるか」? Under what circumstances do I use it?
I'm fairly ...
- 511
17
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Use of ～のか (～んですか) in questions not seeking a yes/no answer
I would like to know if there is a shift in nuance in questions such as these:
誰が参加したんですか。 vs. 誰が参加しましたか。
いつ着いたんですか。 vs. いつ着きましたか。
I wish to limit discussion to only non-yes/no questions (so ...
- 24.5k
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 ...
- 44.8k
14
votes
2
answers
11k
views
のか - Particle "lamenting reflections on the preceding statement". What?
I've come across this sentence in my manga.
そ そうか そういう疑いを持っているのか
It's actually fairly easy, but the particle at the end has confused me. I thought it was the two particles の and か, but then I saw ...
- 1,153
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 ...
- 1,490
10
votes
1
answer
231
views
How to express “X (and parenthetically Y)”?
When writing in English, quite often I'll want to express a connection between two noun phrases as “X (or Y)” or “X (and Y)”, where the punctuation adds a notion of “Y is a little beside the point, ...
- 667
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Difference between か and のか
I am going through 'All About Particles', and came across the following two sentences:
なぜ彼がそんなことをやったか、わかりません。
どうして彼女がそんなつまらない本を読んでいるのか、不思議です。
What is the difference between using か in the first one ...
- 331
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What does the ~たものか mean in どうやって彼らを誤魔化したものか?
I stumbled upon this sentence:
どうやって彼らを誤魔化したものか──と思案するように、ヒューイは愛想笑いを浮かべた。
and I was told that I should understand it as
どうやって彼らを誤魔化せばいいだろうか──と思案するように、ヒューイは愛想笑いを浮かべた。
However I can't find in any ...
- 7,073
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is the meaning of か in といったところか
I have two examples:
噂に違{たが}わぬと言ったところか. -- Then, he really lives up to the rumor!
この建物の建設にかかる費用はおおよそ100億円といったところか -- That would mean that we need 10 million to build this building!
I would bet ...
- 7,073
8
votes
1
answer
703
views
In informal speech is か used or omitted?
I've heard different things - on the one hand saying things like 高いか, きれいか, or 飲むか is too aggressive, but in my grammar book it says that か is used with informal forms. Furthermore I'm told that ...
- 1,463
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 ...
- 694
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。...
user1478
6
votes
1
answer
313
views
What is the meaning of "超か" in this news headline?
I saw this in a news article saying that Toshiba had losses of \1T:
東芝、赤字１兆円超か
http://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S12867082.html
What is the purpose of adding か at the end?
- 2,422
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 ...
- 1,238
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. ...
- 1,096
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
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'...
- 1,195
5
votes
1
answer
641
views
Use of question particles in plain speech
I'm becoming increasingly confused about the correct way to form questions in informal speech. I originally learned that I should replace か with の. Then I learned that that was a bit girly. Then I ...
- 30.8k
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
- 595
5
votes
1
answer
579
views
What is the difference between ないんですか and んじゃないですか?
Do they both mean "is it not/isn't it"?
e.g. Do この車は新しくないんですか and この車は新しいんじゃないですか both mean ”Isn’t this car new?”？
- 63
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 ...
- 30.8k
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
when no ka question mark is used instead of ka?
when should I use ka as question marker and when should I use no ka?
- 4,457
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
3
answers
971
views
かな ending in a sentence where the speaker is not uncertain of something
I've been going through a Japanese script of the popular anime "Fairy Tail" and trying to make sense of the translations in the English subtitles to become familiar with the language.
I came across ...
- 391
4
votes
1
answer
835
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
...
- 2,062
4
votes
1
answer
336
views
を after particle (であるかを)
This is probably an easy question, but I can't find a clear satisfying answer to it after looking it up so I figured I'd ask here.
自分がどんな人であるかを知ってもらいたい
１) Why can を act on a particle? I understand ...
- 562
4
votes
1
answer
371
views
やっぱり <Noun> か - why is it ok to have both?
Example:
やっぱり初心者か
I'm confused how a sentence can have both:
やっぱり, which IIUC suggests that in the end, the speaker found that the things are just as expected
か which indicates that the speaker isn't ...
- 1,089
4
votes
2
answers
653
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。...
- 30.8k
4
votes
1
answer
617
views
Word choose between か and のか
I have a question about the following sentence:
お母さんが、八百屋で長いこと、何を買うか決まらず迷っています。
Is it possible to replace "か" with "のか" without misunderstanding in this sentence? Namely,
お母さんが、八百屋で長いこと、...
- 849
4
votes
1
answer
207
views
Common origin of uses of the か particle
The particle か pops up in various places (among others):
Turning interrogative pronouns into indefinite ones: なに -> なにか, だれ -> だれか, etc.;
Listing alternatives (like the English conjunction 'or');
...
- 177
4
votes
2
answers
157
views
What is 素か when used by itself
先輩のこと好きすぎて死にそう
The girl tells her boyfriend/senpai this after they kiss, etc
He hugs her and replies this to her:
これが素か...こっわ... (可愛すぎてびっくりした!)
What does 素 here exactly mean?
- 2,151
3
votes
1
answer
769
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 ...
- 3,701
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 ...
- 4,483
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。。。
- 155
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 ...
- 2,696
3
votes
2
answers
462
views
What does か do in a rhetorical question?
From 『スーツ』
A: ど…どうしたの？(Seeing B is unhappy: "What's going on with you?")
B: どうしたのかって？人が死んだ。("You know what's wrong! Someone died!")
What I usually hear is that the part before a ...
- 11.6k
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 &...
- 30.8k
3
votes
1
answer
452
views
difference between のか/か in question clause
i want to settle this once and for all since i cant find any legitimate source about this grammar pattern and i see very different answers online.
some say they are interchangable, some say the nuance ...
- 53
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 ...
- 3,113
3
votes
1
answer
294
views
か at the end of a news story title. Is it a question?
The title of a story on NHK News Web Easy is
バスの事故{じこ} スピードを上{あ}げながら走{はし}り続{つづ}けたか
Which, with my abilities, translates as
Bus accident. As speed increased it kept running?
I don't understand ...
- 399
3
votes
1
answer
102
views
Omitting か in polite questions
I have been wondering about how frequent and in what situations people use rising intonation to signal a question without か in polite speech.
Specifically, I’ve heard these kind of sentences:
そう思いません？...
- 1,605
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 ...
- 219
3
votes
1
answer
817
views
is there any reason why "waratteru ka naiteru noka" uses first the ka particle for the first part and no ka for the second?
Dragon Ball Super ending 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRjWkjHKDg
in a part of the song says
"waratteru ka naiteru noka"
which is translated as
were you laughing or were you crying?
Is ...
- 4,457
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 ...
- 1,466
2
votes
3
answers
131
views
Questions about phrase 「てもよいか」 and prefix 「うえ」
The sentence came from Nintendo 3DS instruction manual explaining about transfer data from the earlier version, Nintendo DSi, to the newer one, Nintendo 3DS.
New 3DS本体にはDSiウェアのみ引っ越しされ、...
- 4,307
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Usage of か I keep encountering
Maybe I'm an idiot, but no matter how much I Google I can't seem to grasp the concept of か being used mid-sentence. I've already run into it a number of times. Like here:
アメリカやヨーロッパなど６つの国は、...
- 612
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 (...
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: ...
- 11.6k
2
votes
1
answer
332
views
is this そうなんだか a valid sentence?
If そうなんですか (sounandesuka) is formal, how come it's not often that I hear of そうなんだか (sounandaka) as casual version or maybe that I just don't hear enough? thanks.
- 91