The question marker 「か」

The question marker 「か」 is usually not used with casual speech to make actual questions. It is often used to consider whether something is true or not. Depending on the context and intonation, it can also be used to make rhetorical questions or to express sarcasm. It can sound quite rough so you might want to be careful about using 「か」 for questions in the plain casual form.

1. こんな(this type of) のを本当に食べるか？
   Do you think [he/she] will really eat this type of thing?
2. そんな(that sort of) のは、あるかよ！
   Do I look like I would have something like that?!

Instead of 「か」, real questions in casual speech are usually asked with the explanatory  の particle or nothing at all except for a rise in intonation.

1. こんなのを本当に食べる？
   Are you really going to eat something like this?
2. そんなのは、あるの？
   Do you have something like that?

Another use of the question marker is simply grammatical and has nothing to do with the politeness. A question marker attached to the end of a relative clause makes a mini-question inside a larger sentence. This allows the speaker to talk about the question. For example, you can talk about the question, “What did I eat today?”

1. 昨日何を食べたか忘れた。
   Forgot what I ate yesterday.
2. 彼は何を言ったか分からない。
   Don’t understand what he said.
3. 先生が学校に行ったか教えない？
   Won’t you inform me whether teacher went to school?

In sentences like example 3 where the question being considered has a yes/no answer, it is common (but not necessary) to attach 「どうか」. This is roughly equivalent to saying, “whether or not” in English. You can also include the alternative as well to mean the same thing.

1. 先生が学校に行ったかどうか知らない。
   Don’t know whether or not teacher went to school.
2. 先生が学校に行ったか行かなかったか知らない。
   Don’t know whether teacher went to school or didn’t.

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Question Words

Word+Question Marker	Meaning
誰か	Someone
何か	Something
いつか	Sometime
どこか	Somewhere
どれか	A certain one from many

The question words can be combined with 「も」 in a negative sentence to mean “nobody” （誰も）, “nothing” （何も）, “nowhere” （どこも）, etc.

「誰も」 and 「何も」 are primarily used only for negative sentences.

There is no way to say “everything” with question words. Instead, it is conventional to use other words like 「全部」.

And although 「誰も」 can sometimes be used to mean “everybody”, it is customary to use 「皆」 or 「皆さん」.

「いつも」 (meaning “always”) and 「どれも」 (meaning “any and all”), and 「どこも」 (meaning everywhere) can be used in both negative and positive sentences.

Inclusive Words

Word+も	Meaning
誰も	Everybody/Nobody
何も	Nothing (negative only)
いつも	Always
どこも	Everywhere
どれも	Any and all

1. この質問の答えは、誰も知らない。
   Nobody knows the answer of this question.
2. 友達はいつも遅れる【おく・れる】 。
   Friend is always late.
3. ここにあるレストランはどれもおいしくない 。
   Any and all restaurants that are here are not tasty.
4. 今週末は、どこにも行かなかった。
   Went nowhere this weekend.

(Grammatically, this 「も」 is the same as the topic particle 「も」 so the target particle 「に」 must go before the topic particle 「も」 in ordering.)

Question words to mean “any”

Word+でも	Meaning
誰でも	Anybody
何でも 「なんでも」	Anything
いつでも	Anytime
どこでも	Anywhere
どれでも	Whichever

1. この質問の答えは、誰でも分かる。
   Anybody understands the answer of this question.
2. 昼ご飯は、どこでもいいです。
   About lunch, anywhere is good.
3. あの人は、本当に何でも食べる。
   That person really eats anything.