13
votes
What does からか mean?
(I know what "から" and the sentence-ending "か" mean, but not this)
Yes, it's this から followed by this か. から here is a reason/cause marker. か is a question marker but is used like "presumably" or "...
11
votes
Accepted
Seemingly non-interrogative use of sentence-ending か
This function of this か is not purely phonetic, but rather serves to make the sentence less of a outward statement and more of a self-directed or self-reflecting one.
It makes the information value ...
10
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of "超か" in this news headline?
超【ちょう】 is "over/above ~", the antonym for 未満.
2m超のヘビ
100kg超の体重
This か is a question marker. か after a noun/suru-verb is a typical "headlinese" expression meaning "there is a possibility ...
9
votes
Accepted
Difference between か and のか
First of all, the meaning is the same. 'questioning the former.'
なぜ彼がそんなことをやったか、わかりません。
なぜ彼がそんなことをやったのか、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か、不思議です。
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。
are all natural.
のか
...
8
votes
Accepted
What does からか mean?
You should think of this like から+か. If there wasn't a か, the following would just be a statement of a fact. The から is used to give the reason for the unusual fluency of the foreigner (in this case it ...
7
votes
「知るか」 and variant phrases
知るか and 口が裂けても言うものか are both Japanese rhetorical questions. The actual meaning is 知らない ("I don't care", "None of my business") and 口が裂けても言わない ("I won't say it no matter what"), respectively.
楽しいことか ...
7
votes
Accepted
Confusion between 誰でも and 誰か
Be careful when translating to/from English because there is some overlap with certain words like these.
誰でも means "anyone" in the sense of "whoever".
マラソンに参加する人は誰でもTシャツをもらう → Anyone who/...
6
votes
Accepted
か as a suffix to mean "a few": Why is 何__かがVERB not allowed
This is simply because we don't usually use が to express the number of something. I think you already know (子供が)3人いる, (リンゴが)5個ある, (本を)3冊買う and so on are grammatical. Number + counter can work as a ...
6
votes
When can か振り and 振り be used?
It seems to me that 知った振り and 知ったか振り are basically interchangeable, but 知ったか振り is a little more frequently used in everyday conversation or daily situations than 知った振り. These are the examples found on ...
6
votes
Accepted
やっぱり <Noun> か - why is it ok to have both?
か is not just a question marker but also is a sentence-end particle used to confirm something with a bit of exclamatory feeling. This type of か is pronounced without a rising intonation. If your ...
5
votes
Word choose between か and のか
This の is called "explanatory-no". Its basic role is to provide an explanation for the current background context. When it's used with the question marker か, のか seeks clarification or explanation for ...
5
votes
Accepted
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 believe what you are looking for can be found in a grammar dictionary, not a standard dictionary. According to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar, this ものか is "a phrase indicating that ...
5
votes
Accepted
かも。 か。。。も? n5 lvl learner
Basically かも is treated like one word, and there should be no pause between か and も. If you stopped talking after か for whatever reason, you should repeat at least かも. As long as you treat かも as one ...
4
votes
Accepted
Unsure about this usage of か
Your explanation is right.
The speaker is not quite sure if that's the right explanation (something like, "The blood has hardened, perhaps because a lot of time has passed").
The grammar you are ...
4
votes
Accepted
Is んでしょう(か) grammatical, and what does it mean?
They're definitely part of standard Japanese, and I don't see why they wouldn't be. Their nuance is different, though, from でしょう(か) on its own: like のだ in general, they have an explanatory tone. ...
4
votes
Accepted
Can 何か be a question word?
Can 何か be a question word?
何か here is not a question word. (「何 + か」 can be a question word in different structures.)
[何]{なに}か here means "something".
「~か何か」 = "~~ or something similar" "~~ or ...
4
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between そうですね, そうですか, そうです
そうです is a way of saying 'yes, that is certain.'
For example, a discussion using the word might go like this:
4+3=7 ですか? (Is 4+3=7?)
はい、そうです。(Yes, that is certain.)
On the other hand,...
4
votes
Accepted
Understanding the use of か
The way to break this sentence down is like this:
僕は [山崎先生が昨日何を言ったか] 忘れてしまった。
I forgot [what Yamazaki-sensei said yesterday].
The か marks the clause as an embedded question that the main verb bears ...
4
votes
Accepted
Is ためか the same as ために?
No, ためか and ために don't mean the same thing -- just as か and に do not mean the same thing.
The か in ためか is the same か used as the verbal question mark. This indicates uncertainty and indefiniteness.
(...
4
votes
Accepted
What is the correct question 何だろう or 何だろうか
~だろう forms a question that is mainly addressed to yourself. It's like "I wonder". If you are clearly requesting an answer from someone else, don't use it.
Next, か after だろう in a yes/no type question ...
4
votes
Accepted
How to express “X (and parenthetically Y)”?
This kind of interrupting parentheses are a common practice in Japanese too. Beware that, however, the linguistic and cultural difference between these two languages might make literal translations ...
4
votes
Accepted
Role of か in this sentence
The basic structure of this sentence is:
日本刀と他の刀との違いはXです。
The difference between Japanese swords and other swords is (in) X.
The "is" in the translation simply corresponds to the copula です ...
4
votes
Accepted
Is か modifying all three clauses in this sentences?
No, it doesn't. か is the question tag in Japanese and of those three clauses, only the last one is a question.
If you want to be strict with the translation, it would be
In France, we are researching ...
4
votes
Accepted
What does ~の為か mean in this sentence?
If we remove か from the sentence we get 「ちょうど昼過ぎの為、よく空いていた車内。」'a car that was very empty, because it was just after noon'. The か here removes some amount of certainty, almost like saying 'perhaps ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
Related Tags
particle-か × 99grammar × 38
particles × 23
questions × 17
particle-の × 10
particle-と × 9
meaning × 7
translation × 7
nuances × 6
particle-も × 5
sentence-final-particles × 5
subordinate-clauses × 5
interrogatives × 5
embedded-question × 5
modality × 4
words × 3
verbs × 3
syntax × 3
negation × 3
volitional-form × 3
formal-nouns × 3
rhetorical-questions × 3
word-choice × 2
usage × 2
colloquial-language × 2