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Grammar detail: ことか

ことか  exclamation or indirect question
102 words
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The combination こと and か occurs in a couple of different situations.
The most common is an exclamation. The ことか appears at the end of the sentence, and is a plain form of ことですか. If this was addressed to a third party it would be somewhat abrupt, but used as an exclamation (i.e. addressed rhetorically), it is perfectly acceptable.
かれ
なんと
とし
とったこと
How old he is!
The other common situation is to express an indirect question. Indirect questions typically use a plain form sentence, but in the case of ことですか, it is more common to drop the です entirely rather than replace it with だ etc.
かれ
こと
わたし
なに
ことさっぱりわからない
His words convey nothing at all to me.
とき
たつ
なん
はや
こと
かれ
つくづく
かんが
えた

He reflected on how quickly time passes.
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Kanji used in this grammar

ヒ   かれ he   
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ネン   とし year   
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ゲン   ゴン   say; word   こと word, saying   い to say   
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シ   わたくし    わたし I, myself   
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カ   なに    なん what?   
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ジ   とき time, occasion   
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ソウ   サッ   early; fast   はや early   はやまる be hasty   はやめる to expedite, to hasten   
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コウ   かんがえる to think about, consider   
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