かい
Meaning
A casual, friendly sentence-final particle that makes a question, like "...?". It is most often used for yes/no questions. With のかい the speaker often asks to confirm something or shows concern.
Conjugation
(A)V(plain) + かい / のかい: (A)Adjい + かい / のかい
Examples
Show translation
本当にできるのかい？
君はうれしくないのかい？
トミー、私の声が聞こえるかい？
その荷物、重くないかい？
おばあちゃん、最近元気かい？
お母さんは元気なのかい？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.title
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.wrong: 先生、明日来ますかい？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.correct: 先生、明日いらっしゃいますか。
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.why: かい is casual and does not attach to ます-form. Use ですか or ますか (or honorific forms) with teachers and other superiors.
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.wrong: あの人は先生のかい？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.correct: あの人は先生なのかい？ / あの人は先生かい？
grammarDetailPage.commonMistakes.why: Before のかい, a noun needs な (the nominal-predicate form); あの人は先生のかい？ would mean something different. Alternatively, drop の and use the noun + かい.
Key points
Use it with friends, family or younger people in a soft, kind tone. It sounds masculine or old-fashioned, but older women also use it, and it is common in fiction. Do not use it with superiors or after ます-form; use ですか or ますか instead. かい is most commonly used for yes/no questions, while だい is commonly used with question words (何, どこ, だれ). However, かい can also be used with question words, especially in casual or old-fashioned speech (何が食べたいかい？). Compared with plain か, かい is softer and more familiar.
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