N4 · Linking clauses
Questions inside a sentence: か and かどうか
embedded questions
A question in the plain form plus か can sit inside a larger sentence; かどうか is "whether or not".
A question can become part of a bigger sentence — "I don't know where he lives", "please tell me what time it starts". Japanese puts the question in the plain form, adds か, and follows it with the main verb: 会議が何時に始まるか知っていますか, "do you know what time the meeting starts?". Verbs that typically follow are 知る, 分かる, 覚える, 聞く, 教える, 調べる and 考える.
When the question has a question word — 何, 誰, どこ, いつ, どうして — か alone is used. When it is a yes-or-no question, the full form is かどうか, "whether or not": 明日雨が降るかどうか分かりません. かどうか and a question word never appear together.
The question inside stays in the plain form. After a noun or na-adjective, the だ of a plain sentence is dropped before か: 本当かどうか, 犯人が誰か. Putting ですか or ますか inside — as if quoting a polite question — is a common mistake.
English uses "if" for these questions ("I don't know if he is coming"), and learners sometimes reach for もし, the "if" of conditions. That is a different word altogether; the embedded "if" is かどうか.
The form
| I don't know where he lives. (question word) | 彼がどこに住んでいるか分かりません。 |
| Please tell me what time it starts. | 何時に始まるか教えてください。 |
| I don't know whether it will rain. (yes or no) | 雨が降るかどうか分かりません。 |
| whether it is true (noun or na-adjective, no だ) | 本当かどうか |
| who it is (no だ) | 誰か |
| I will look up whether it is open. | 開いているかどうか調べます。 |
The rules one by one
A question with a question word takes か and goes in front of the main verb.
駅がどこにあるか教えてください。Please tell me where the station is.
A yes-or-no question takes かどうか, "whether or not".
彼が来るかどうか、まだ分かりません。I don't know yet whether he is coming.
The question inside is in the plain form, and だ after a noun or na-adjective is dropped.
その話が本当かどうか確かめます。I'll check whether that story is true.
A question word and かどうか never go together.
誰が来るか知っていますか。Do you know who is coming?
A closer look
か alone for yes or no
In conversation, か alone often stands for かどうか: 彼が来るか分からない is perfectly natural for "I don't know if he is coming". The full かどうか is clearer and more careful, and it is the form to use in writing.
The reverse does not hold. With a question word, only か is possible, because a question such as "who is coming?" cannot be answered with yes or no, and どうか literally adds "or not". 誰が来るかどうか asks "who is coming or not", which means nothing.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the embedded question is the subject or object of the sentence and is followed by a particle
the particle can follow か directly: かが, かを, かは.
何を選ぶかが大切です。What you choose is what matters.
The whole question behaves like a noun. In everyday speech が and を are usually dropped; in careful writing they are kept, and は is kept to set the question up as a topic.
How to spot it
- 〜か分かりません
- 〜か知っていますか
- 〜かどうか
- 〜か教えてください
Example sentences
試験がいつあるか知っていますか。Do you know when the exam is?
この言葉がどういう意味か、辞書で調べます。I'll look up what this word means in the dictionary.
明日晴れるかどうか分かりません。I don't know whether it will be sunny tomorrow.
店が日曜日も開いているかどうか聞いてみます。I'll ask whether the shop is open on Sundays too.
どの電車に乗ればいいか教えてください。Please tell me which train I should take.
鍵をどこに置いたか忘れてしまいました。I have forgotten where I put the key.
7 more example sentences
彼女が何歳か知りません。I don't know how old she is.
何を買えばいいか迷っています。I can't decide what to buy.
間違いがないかどうか、もう一度見てください。Please look at it once more to check there are no mistakes.
次の電車が何時に来るか調べましょう。Let's find out what time the next train comes.
パーティーに行くかどうか、明日決めます。I'll decide tomorrow whether to go to the party.
先生に宿題があるかどうか聞きました。I asked the teacher whether there was any homework.
どうして彼が怒っているのか、全然分かりません。I have no idea why he is angry.
Worth knowing (1)
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のか in spoken questions
In speech, のか (or んだか) often replaces か when the speaker is looking for an explanation rather than a simple fact: どうして遅れたのか, "why he was late — what lay behind it". It is the same explaining の as in のです, carried inside the embedded question.
彼が何を言いたいのか、よく分かりませんでした。I didn't really understand what he was trying to say.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The embedded question is not a question being asked of anyone, so it does not take the polite form. Politeness goes on the main verb at the end, 分かりません, and the inside stays plain: 始まるか.
Plain form plus か inside, the main verb outside — and かどうか when the answer is yes or no.
Your turn
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