か
Meanings
- question particle
- end-of-sentence question marker
- used to form yes-no questions or to express wondering
About this pattern
Explanation
The particle か is used to turn a statement into a question. At its most common, it appears at the end of a sentence to ask a yes/no question (for example, 今日は忙しいですか。“Are you busy today?”). It can follow verbs, adjectives, and nouns (例: 行くか、来るか, 本ですか, 忙しいですか). It is also used to express an internal question or doubt, and in spoken language it often invites confirmation or a guess about the speaker’s knowledge. In more complex sentences, か appears in embedded questions or in a choice structure like AかBか, meaning “whether A or B,” or “A or B.” Keep in mind that politeness affects form (です/ます styles) and intonation, but the basic function remains to mark a question or uncertainty.
Learn in context
Example sentences
Is this a book?
Will you come tomorrow?
Is he a student?
I don’t know yet whether it will rain today or not.
Please decide whether to go or not.
Other Readings
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More N5 patterns
to be; is; equals; identifies as
View detailsto be; is; am; used to state something politely
View detailsAs for... (highlights sentence topic); Topic marker used to indicate what the sentence is about; Marks the topic of the sentence, sometimes with contrast
View detailsalso; too; as well; even; either; neither
View detailsthis (near the speaker); this thing; this one
View detailsthat; that thing (near the listener); the thing referred to earlier
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