かOr

Structure

Verb (A) + か + Verb (B) + か

［い］Adjective (A) + か + ［い］Adjective (B) + か

［な］Adjective (A) + か + ［な］Adjective (B) + か

Noun (A) + か + Noun (B) + か

Details

Part of Speech
Particle
Word Type
Adverbial Particle
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Standard

About か

One of the common uses of the particle か is often translated to 'or' in English. While this translation is accurate, it is not actually any different from か's regular usage as a question marker.

From these examples, we can see that, in Japanese, か is performing the same role that a question mark would, or that a change in tone of voice would in spoken language.

'Would you like tea? coffee?' (said with a rising tone).

This nuance of か can be used after the dictionary form of almost any word in Japanese. However, using です or ます will change the nuance from 'presenting possibilities', to 'asking a formal question', so should be avoided.

Examples

--:--

ここかそこ。

Here or there?

赤(あか)か青(あお)。

Red or blue.

寝(ね)るか遊(あそ)ぶ。

To sleep or to play.

今日(きょう)か明日(あした)。

Today or tomorrow.

これは私(わたし)のペンかあなたのペンですか。

Is this my pen or your pen?

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Online
- All about 「か」: See #5
  JapaneseAmmo
- Parallel Markers
  Wasabi

Offline
- [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
  Page 164
- Tobira
  Page 45
- みんなの日本語 I
  Page 20 [CH 2]
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か – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (10 in total)

Jake
or
Structure
- Verb + か
- Noun + か
- いAdjective + か
- なAdjective + か
[choice between two objects・particle]

View on Bunpro
mattbacon
これは私のペンかあなたのペンですか。

In this sentence, the “my pen or your pen” part seems redundant. Could I say, “これは私のかあなたのペンですか。”?
seanblue
I think that would be like saying “is this mine or your pen?”.
mrnoone
@mattbacon
It is understandable, but it would be more natural if you split it into two sentences:
これは私のか？あなたのペンですか？
Imo:
これは私のペンですか？あなたのですか？

Other alternatives:

このペンは私のですか？それともあなたのですか？
このペンは私のか、あなたのか、だれですか。

Less polite:
これは私のか、あなたのか？
このペンは私のか、あなたのか？
John_Doe
Is this second か the same as this grammar point? And if you don’t mind me asking, what about that third か?

今年の79歳になる主人の加藤さんはいま、各県に1人か2人いるかいないかという和傘職人の1人です。
mrnoone
Hey

Yes, it is

Mr. Kato, turning 79 this year is one of few rare (one or two people (or none at all) per prefecture) Japanese umbrella makers.
John_Doe
thanks!!!
lungmao3
Hiya, please can anyone explain if the second か is left implied in some of the examples on the page? E.g. “ここかそこ。” do you only need one か?
StaceySuteishi
こんいちは！

I have 2 questions regarding the “structure” section of the grammar explanation.
Structure
- Verb (A) + か + Verb (B) + か
- ［い］Adjective (A) + か + ［い］Adjective (B) + か
- ［な］Adjective (A) + か + ［な］Adjective (B) + か
- Noun (A) + か + Noun (B) + か
First question is, does it always have to be a noun with a noun, an い adj with an い adj, etc?

Second question is, what is the second か after the Noun (B), Verb (B), etc? I don’t see that coming up in any of the examples.

ありがとう！
Kirumi
The か review question 寝る …か… 遊ぶ。 asks for “Non-exhaustive, Particle”, while a と review question asked for an “Exhaustive” particle. What exactly does exhaustive and non-exhaustive mean?
Pablunpro
Hi!

‘Exhaustive’ means that you are stating all of the items whilst ‘Non-exhaustive’ means that you are just stating some of the items while implying that there are more left unsaid.

HTH!