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You can include a question as a part of a longer sentence and express ideas
such as
"I don't know when the test is" and "I don't remember
whether Mary came to the party."
When constructing questions within sentences,
use the affirmative short forms in the question part of the sentence (present
or past) |
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Quoted question clauses are shown in the boxes
in the examples below.
Quoted questions are in short forms.
Note (1) that the clause ends with the question particle ka when it contains a question word like
dare and
nani,
as in the first two examples,
and (2) that it ends with
ka doo ka when it does not
contain such a question word, as in the third example. (* 4) |
山下先生はきのう何を食べたか
覚えていません。 |
Professor Yamashita does not remember what
he ate yesterday. |
|
yamashita sensei-wa kinoo nani-o tabeta ka,
oboete imasen. |
|
メアリーさんがどこに住んでいるか
わかりません。 |
Do you know where Mary lives? |
mearii san-ga doko-ni sunde iru ka,
wakarimasen. |
|
私はあした学校に行くかどうか
わかりません。 |
I do not know whether I will go to school tomorrow. |
watashi-wa, ashita gakko-ni iku ka doo ka,
wakarimasen. |
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Question-word + question ka?:
Sentence～question-word (e.g. なに、だれ) question か、～わかりません
(... , I do not know)
... か、覚えていません (... , I do not
remember)
etc... |
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Yes/no question ... ka, doo ka?
Sentence～yes/no question かどうか、～わかりません etc... |
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The present tense short form da which is
used with a na-adjective or a noun at the end of the
clause is usually dropped. (* 5) |
| 誰が一番上手か、分かりません。 |
I do not know who is the best. |
|
dare-ga ichiban joozu-ka, wakarimasen. |
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あの人が学生だかどうか、分かりません。 |
I do not know if that person is a student. |
|
ano hito-ga gakusei (da) ka doo ka, wakarimasen. |
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We often use the particle ga on the subject within a
quoted sentence where ha [wa] is expected.
Thus corresponding to the direct question:
|
| たけしさは何を食べましたか。 |
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| takeshi-san-wa nani-o tabemashita ka? |
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we say: |
私はたけしさんが何を食べたか
知りません。 |
I do not know what Takeshi ate. |
|
watashi-wa, takeshi-san-ga nani-o tabeta ka ,
shirimasen. |
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*4
Many people use ka instead of ka doo ka in
their speech for questions of this second type as well. |
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*5
Explanatory n desu sentences can also be quoted.
When a n desu ka question is quoted, da (the
short form counterpart of desu) is dropped,
and
n is changed to no. |
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Direct question: |
どうしてメアリーさんは来なかった
んですか。 |
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doo-shite mearii-san-wa ko-nakatta
n desu ka? |
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Quoted question: |
どうしてメアリーさんは来なかった
のかわかりません。 |
|
doo-shite mearii-san-wa ko-nakatta
no ka, wakarimasen. |
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