かい Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: Yes-No question marker in informal male speech
Construction:
- (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + かい
- E.g. 話すかい [Does X speak?]
- E.g. 食べるかい [Does X eat?]
- E.g. 高いかい [Is X expensive?]
- (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + のかい
- E.g 話すのかい [Does X speak?]
- E.g. 食べるのかい [Does X eat?]
- E.g. 高いのかい [Is X expensive?]
- (な-Adjective Stem / Noun) + [X / だった] + かい
- E.g. 静かかい [Is X quiet?]
- E.g. 先生かい [Is X a teacher?]
- (な-Adjective Stem / Noun) + [な / だった] + のかい
- E.g. 静かなのかい [Is X quiet?]
- E.g. 先生なのかい [Is X a teacher?]
Notes:
- かい is a sentence-ending particle that marks yes-no questions in informal male speech. だい is the equivalent particle for WH-Questions (e.g. “Who?“, “What?“, “When?“, etc.) in informal male speech. Due to the informal nature of かい, the sentence that it follows must be in an informal form.
- E.g. *日本語は面白いですかい。[Is Japanese interesting?] This sentence is self-contradictory due to the formal copula ending and the informal particle かい。
- E.g. 日本語は面白いかい。[Is Japanese interesting?] This sentence is OK because the adjective is informal.
- E.g. *上野さんはアメリカへ行きますのかい。[Is Ueno-san going to America?] This sentence is improper for the same reason as above.
- E.g. 上野さんはアメリカへ行くのかい。[Is Ueno-san going to America?] This sentence is OK because the verb is informal.
- E.g. *どこへ行くかい。[Where are you going?] This sentence is improper because かい cannot be paired with a ”Where” question.
- E.g. どこへ行くだい。[Where are you going?] だい is appropriate with WH-Questions.
- E.g. *あの人はだれなのかい。[Who is that person?] This sentence is improper because かい cannot be paired with a ”Who” question.
- E.g. あの人はだれなのだい。[Who is that person?] だい is appropriate with WH-Questions.
- Informal questions that end with かい and のかい / なのかい correspond to formal questions that end with ですか and のですか, respectively.
- E.g. Formal: 日本語は面白いですか。[Is Japanese interesting?]
- E.g. Informal: 日本語は面白いかい。[Is Japanese interesting?]
- E.g. Formal: 日本語は面白いのですか。[Is Japanese interesting?]
- E.g. Informal: 日本語は面白いのかい。[Is Japanese interesting?]
- Feminine informal questions can be created simply by dropping かい and and using rising inflection to indicate that the sentence is a question.
- E.g. 日本語は面白い? [Is Japanese interesting?]
- E.g. 上野さんはアメリカへ行くの? [Is Ueno-san going to America?]
- E.g. あの人は先生なの? [Is that person a teacher?]
Example Sentences:
日本語は面白いかい。[Is Japanese interesting?]
上野さんはアメリカへ行くのかい。[Is Ueno-san going to America?]
日本語を勉強するかい。[Do you study Japanese?]
このアパートは静かかい。[Is this apartment quiet?]
君たちは学生かい。[Are you all students?]
その本は難しいのかい。[Is that book difficult?]
あの人は先生なのかい。[Is that person a teacher?]
WILD Examples:
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