Embedded Questions

Level 2

Embedded questions allow you to include a question within a sentence, such as 'I don't know what he said' or 'I'll check whether it's open.' Use ~か for questions with question words and ~かどうか for yes/no questions.

How It Works

Embedded questions are essential for expressing uncertainty or reporting indirect inquiries. They are formed by attaching か or かどうか to the plain form of verbs, adjectives, and nouns.

1. With Question Words:
When the question contains a word like 何（なに） (what), 誰（だれ） (who), or どこ (where), simply add か to the end of the plain form clause.
Example: どこに行くか分かりません（どこにいくかわかりません） (I don't know where [he] is going).

2. Yes/No Questions:
When there is no question word, use かどうか to mean 'whether or not.' Alternatively, you can repeat the word in its negative form (this applies to verbs, adjectives, and nouns/na-adjectives): Plain form か Negative form か.
Example: おいしいかどうか食べてみます（おいしいかどうかたべてみます） (I will eat it to see whether it is delicious or not). You could also say おいしいかおいしくないか.

3. Subject Marker Shift:
In an embedded question, the topic marker は usually changes to the subject marker が.
Example: 田中さんが来るかどうか知っていますか（たなかさんがくるかどうか知っていますか） (Do you know if Mr. Tanaka is coming?)

4. Important Conjugation Rule:
For な-adjectives and nouns in the present tense, you generally drop the だ before adding か or かどうか. However, when using question words like 誰（だれ） or 何（なに）, the だ is frequently kept (e.g., 誰だか分かりません). The past tense copula だった must always be kept.

  • Correct (Present): 好きかどうか（すきかどうか）
  • Incorrect (Present): 好きだかどうか（すきだかどうか）
  • Correct (Past): 好きだったかどうか（すきだったかどうか）

5. Using Particles:
The embedded question functions as a noun clause, meaning it can take case particles like を, が, に, or について immediately after か or かどうか. Note that the particle を is very frequently dropped in casual conversation to avoid sounding overly stiff.
Example: 何を食べるか(を)決めていません（なにをたべるか(を)きめていません） (I haven't decided what to eat).

Examples (4)

  1. 誰が来るか知っていますか？

    Do you know who is coming?

    Word by Word: Who (subject) come [embedded question] know (polite) [question]?

    Since 'who' (誰) is a question word, we use only 'か' after the plain form verb '来る'.

  2. 明日雨が降るかどうか教えてください。

    Please tell me whether or not it will rain tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow rain (subject) fall whether or not please tell.

    This is a yes/no question (will it rain?), so 'かどうか' is used to express 'whether or not'.

  3. 彼が元気かどうかわかりません。

    I don't know if he is doing well.

    Word by Word: He (subject) healthy whether or not don't know.

    For the な-adjective '元気', the 'だ' is dropped before adding 'かどうか'.

  4. 何を買ったか忘れました。

    I forgot what I bought.

    Word by Word: What (object) bought [embedded question] forgot.

    The embedded question uses the past plain form '買った' followed by 'か' because of the question word '何'.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping 'だ' for nouns or な-adjectives.

    彼が学生だか知りません。
    彼が学生か知りません。

    In embedded questions, the copula 'だ' must be removed from nouns and な-adjectives before adding 'か' or 'かどうか'.

  • Using 'かどうか' with a question word.

    どこに行くかどうかわかりません。
    どこに行くかわかりません。

    If a question word like 'どこ' (where) is present, you should only use 'か'. 'かどうか' is reserved for yes/no choices.

How It Connects

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Embedded QuestionsLevel 2

Learn This First

To understand embedded questions, you first need to know how to form basic questions using the particle 'か' and interrogative words. Additionally, because embedded questions use the plain form of verbs and adjectives regardless of the sentence's overall politeness, familiarity with plain form usage (similar to noun modification) is necessary.

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Words in This Pattern

か如何か