か (どうか) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: Whether or not (i.e. embedded yes-no question marker)
Construction:
- (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + か (どうか)
- E.g. 食べるかどうか [Whether or not X eats]
- E.g. 話すかどうか [Whether or not X speaks]
- E.g. 高いかどうか [Whether or not X is expensive]
- (な-Adjective stem / Noun) + [X / だった] + か (どうか)
- E.g. 静かかどうか [Whether or not X is quiet]
- E.g. 先生かどうか [Whether or not X is a teacher]
Notes:
- か (どうか) is a special usage of the か particle that is used to mark embedded yes-no questions. か (どうか) is equivalent to the English expression “Whether or not“. An embedded yes-no question is a yes-no question that is used as a subordinate clause within a more complex sentence. The どうか in か (どうか) can optionally be dropped in informal speech.
- E.g. 行くかどうかを今考えています。[Right now I’m wondering whether or not I will go.]
- E.g. 行くか考えている。[Right now I’m wondering whether or not I will go.]
- かどうか cannot be used with WH-Question words (e.g. “Who“, “What“, “When“, “Where“, “Why“, etc.). か must be used instead.
- E.g. *レストランで何を食べたかどうか覚えていますか。[Do you remember what you ate at the restaurant?] かどうか can not be paired with a “What” question.
- E.g. レストランで何を食べたか覚えていますか。[Do you remember what you ate at the restaurant?]
- E.g. *その時だれと一緒にいたかどうか覚えていますか。[Do you remember who you went with that one time?] かどうか can not be paired with a “Who” question.
- E.g. その時だれと一緒にいたか覚えていますか。[Do you remember who you went with that one time?]
- There is a tendency for か (どうか) to be used with main verbs that involve knowing, understanding, asking, inquiring, or remembering (e.g. 知る [To know]、分かる [To understand]、聞く [To ask]、たずねる [To inquire]、覚える [To memorize]).
- E.g. フォークナーの小説が面白いかどうか知らない。[I don’t know whether or not Faulkner’s novels are interesting.]
- E.g. 大学院に行くかどうかを今考えています。[Right now I’m wondering whether or not I should go to graduate school.]
- Phrases that are marked by か (どうか) are noun phrases and can thus take noun particles such as を, が, and は.
- E.g. 仕事をやめるかどうかが問題だった。[The question was whether or not I should quit my job.]
- E.g. 大学院に行くかどうかを今考えています。[Right now I’m wondering whether or not I should go to graduate school.]
- E.g. 鈴木さんが大学に入ったかどうかはしらない。[As for whether or not Suzuki-san entered university, I don’t know.]
Example Sentences:
鈴木さんが大学に入ったかどうかはしらない。[As for whether or not Suzuki-san entered university, I don’t know.]
大川さんが結婚しているかどうか知っていますか。[Do you know whether or not Ogawa-san is married?]
フォークナーの小説が面白いかどうか知らない。[I don’t know whether or not Faulkner’s novels are interesting.]
山口先生がお元気かどうか存じません。[I don’t know whether or not Yamaguchi-sensei is healthy.]
WILD Examples:
***YouTube videos may be region-locked depending on your country of origin. If you experience issues, please try using a VPN set to a United States IP address.***