か～か means A or B. You put か after each option to show that only one of them will be chosen: コーヒーかお茶か (coffee or tea), 行くか行かないか (whether to go or not).
The か you already know from questions does double duty: after one word it asks, after two options it means "or."
What does か～か mean?
か～か presents alternatives. The listener or the speaker has to pick one. It translates as:
- A or B — 月曜日か火曜日か (Monday or Tuesday)
- whether A or B — 行くか行かないか分かりません (I don’t know whether I’ll go or not)
The first use is for choosing between things. The second use is for undecided situations: you don’t know yet, you haven’t decided, or you are asking someone to decide. In both cases the idea is “one of these, not both.”
You will also see a single か between two nouns: コーヒーかお茶を飲みます (I’ll drink coffee or tea). That is the same “or” meaning. The second か is added when you want to present the options as a clear pair, usually before a comma, どちら, or a verb like 決める (decide) or 分かる (know).
How to form か～か
What you can put in the A and B slots:
- Nouns: 今日か明日か, 電車かバスか
- Plain-form verbs: 買うか借りるか (buy or borrow)
- A verb and its negative: 行くか行かないか (go or not go)
- Plain-form adjectives: 高いか安いか (expensive or cheap)
Two rules matter. First, verbs and adjectives inside か～か stay in the plain form, even in a polite sentence: 行くか行かないか決めてください, not 行きますか行きませんか決めてください. The politeness goes at the end of the whole sentence. Second, when the pair is followed by a normal particle like を or に, the second か is usually dropped: 月曜日か火曜日に来てください.
When is か～か used?
- Offering a choice. コーヒーかお茶か、どちらがいいですか。 The pair is set out first, then どちら asks which one.
- Saying you are undecided. 買うか借りるか迷っています (I can’t decide whether to buy or borrow).
- Saying you don’t know. 雨が降るか降らないか分かりません (I don’t know whether it will rain or not).
- Asking someone to decide. 行くか行かないか、早く決めて (Decide quickly whether you’re going or not).
Register: neutral. It works in casual talk, polite speech, and writing. What changes the politeness is the verb at the end, not か～か itself.
か～か example sentences
In examples 2 to 4, notice that the English needs “whether,” but Japanese needs nothing extra: the two か do all the work.
Nuance of か～か
か～か treats the options as mutually exclusive. You pick one, or you don’t know which one is true. That is the key difference from listing particles like や and と, which add things together.
The pattern also sounds neutral and organized. It lays the choices side by side before the verb. In conversation, Japanese speakers sometimes ask the same thing with two separate questions joined by それとも: コーヒーにしますか。それとも、お茶にしますか。 That version sounds more like a live, polite offer, while コーヒーかお茶か、どちらがいいですか is more compact.
か～か vs や
Both か and や can sit between two nouns, so learners mix them up. The meanings are opposite: か offers alternatives, や lists examples that go together.
If you could add “and so on” to your English sentence, you want や. If you could add “which one?”, you want か.
Common mistakes with か～か
When the pair comes before a verb like 決める or 分かる, both options need か. Dropping the second one leaves the sentence broken.
Inside the pair, use plain forms. The polite ending belongs only on the final verb.
や lists things together, so it can't set up a "which one?" choice. Use か.
Is か～か on the JLPT?
Yes. か～か is JLPT N5 grammar, and the single "A か B" form appears constantly in N5 reading and listening.
- Choose か, not や or と, when the sentence asks you to pick one option
- Recognize 行くか行かないか as "whether or not"
- In listening, note that "AかB" means the speaker hasn't decided yet
A typical grammar question gives you 「駅まではバス（ ）タクシーで行きます」 and asks you to choose か from options like や, と, and も.
Practice questions for か～か
Show answer
コーヒーかお茶か、どちらがいいですか。 — Which would you like, coffee or tea?
Show answer
パーティーに行くか行かないか分かりません。 — I don't know whether I'll go to the party or not.
Show answer
電車かバスで行きます。 — I'll go by train or bus.
Show answer
パーティーは土曜日か日曜日か、まだ決めていません。 — I haven't decided yet whether the party is on Saturday or Sunday.
Learning path for か～か
Related grammar to review next
- や — lists examples (“A, B, and so on”), the opposite of か’s “one or the other.”
- と — joins nouns with “and”; also used in AとBとどちら questions.
- か — the question particle that か～か is built from.
- より～ほうが — how to answer once someone has offered you a choice.
- かどうか — N4 shortcut for the 行くか行かないか pattern.
Learn か～か with Hane
Hane gives you quick choice drills that put か, や, and と side by side, so “or” and “and” stop blurring together. Practice with Hane.
FAQ about か～か
What does か～か (ka ka) mean in Japanese?
か～か (ka ka) means “or”. It is JLPT N5 grammar. か～か presents alternatives. The listener or the speaker has to pick one.
How do you form か～か (ka ka)?
A か B か + どちら / 分かりません / 決めます What you can put in the A and B slots: - Nouns: 今日か明日か, 電車かバスか - Plain-form verbs: 買うか借りるか (buy or borrow) - A verb and its negative: 行くか行かないか (go or not go) - Plain-form adjectives: 高いか安いか (expensive or cheap) Two rules matter.
What is the difference between か～か and や?
か～か: A or B (one of them). や: A and B (among others).
What is an example sentence with か～か (ka ka)?
コーヒーかお茶か、どちらがいいですか。 — Which would you like, coffee or tea?