Lesson 27
Base 3 + ka dou ka
Ka dou ka is the Japanese equivalent of the English "whether or not." It's straightforward enough and easy to use:
- Kare wa dekiru ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he can do it.)
- Watashitachi wa iku ka dou ka mada wakarimasen. (I don't know if we are going yet.)
- Hideki wa ashita yasumu ka dou ka wakarimasu ka. (Do you know if Hideki has tomorrow off?)
As you can see in the examples above, ka dou ka does not end a sentence, but connects two phrases which contain verbs. It's like using "whether or not" in English, only the component order is opposite in Japanese.
Word Check
dekiru: can; to be able to
kiku: to ask
mada: not yet (used with negative forms)
wakaru: to know; to understand
ashita: tomorrow
yasumu: to rest; to take a break; to take time off from work
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
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