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Particle
| A marker for an embedded yes-no question. | Whether or not; if (~ or not) |
(ks). 鈴木さんが大学に入ったか(どうか)(は)知らない・知りません。
I don't know whether or not Mr. Suzuki entered college.
| (i){V/Adjective い} informal | か(どうか) | |
| {話す /話した}か(どうか) | Whether or not someone talks/talked | |
| {高い /高かった}か(どうか) | Whether or not something is/was expensive | |
| (ii) {Adjective な stem/ N} | {Øだった}か(どうか) | |
| {静か /静かだった}か(どうか) | Whether or not something is/was quiet | |
| {先生 /先生だった}か(どうか) | Whether or not someone is/was a teacher |
(a). 小川さんが結婚しているかどうか知っていますか。
Do you know if Mr. Ogawa is married or not?
(b). フォークナーの小説が面白いかどうか知らない。
I don't know if Faulkner's novels are interesting.
1. When the optional どうか is used, the embedded question has to be a yes-no question. If it is not used，then the question can be either a yes-no question or an interrogative word question.
2. Typical final verbs include, among others, verbs of knowing, examining, understanding, asking, remembering, and deciding.
3. Sentence informal か(どうか) can be used as a noun phrase that takes particles such as が and を.