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Maybe I'm an idiot, but no matter how much I Google I can't seem to grasp the concept of か being used mid-sentence. I've already run into it a number of times. Like here:

アメリカやヨーロッパなど６つの国は、イランが核兵器をつくろうとしているのではないかと考えて、経済制裁を続けていました。

I believe this roughly means...

Six countries within the Americas and Europe, thinking that perhaps Iran shouldn't be trying to create nuclear weapons, continued with economic sanctions.

From what I understand, か here indicates an embedded question. Like in English, "I know what you mean." It can also indicate uncertainty with the speaker in conversation. This comes from a news article though (admittedly for kids, haha), so I'm thinking I'm incorrect in assuming that last part.

Also, I've seen it here in this sentence:

夏にちょうどいい名前だね、と何回言われたことか真夏はバレエの準備をしていた。

My attempt is roughly...

Manatsu, who was told her name was perfect for summer how many times, was practicing ballet.

I guess what I'm asking is whether or not I have this thinking right. If I don't, please correct me and try to put it in super simple terms because I feel like I'm not going to get it otherwise. I've been struggling with this for awhile, hah.

Miss Lavelle
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    related... http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/30560/can-someone-explain-how-this-massive-sentence-works – Chocolate Mar 08 '16 at 04:25
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    Your second Japanese sentence doesn't feel right. Could you make it sure that it's what the original source looks like? – broccoli facemask Mar 08 '16 at 09:57
  • Yes, that is what it says in the original. Here is where I found it: http://novelist.jp/78017_p1.html 5th sentence in the first paragraph. – Miss Lavelle Mar 09 '16 at 20:34
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    @choco Thanks a ton! I'm glad I was on the right track. Phew. – Miss Lavelle Mar 09 '16 at 20:37
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    「プロローグ」読んでみましたけど、「夏にちょうどいい名前だね、と何回言われたことか真夏はバレエの準備をしていた。」は、ちょっと変な文ですね・・・ – Chocolate Mar 10 '16 at 04:51
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    @choco Yeah, I thought the same, but then I realized I'm not a native speaker so I thought, "Hey, what do I know? This could be totally right!" 笑 – Miss Lavelle Mar 10 '16 at 20:00
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    The first sentence means "Six countries suspect that Iran is trying to create nuke". – user4092 Jun 08 '16 at 10:31

2 Answers2

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There are a few situations one would use か mid-sentence. For example:

1) 私は電車かバスで行く。(I will go either by train or bus)

2) ぼくがだれか知ってるか。(Do you know who I am?)

In the first example, you can use か if you are deciding between two things. In the second example, in answer to part of your question, yes, you can use it as an embedded question.

Retro Gamer
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アメリカやヨーロッパなど６つの国は、イランが核兵器をつくろうとしているのではないかと考えて、経済制裁を続けていました。

As already mentioned in a comment, the exact sentence has already got detailed explanation. One point is, か doesn't stand as "question word" but represents the intention of question or doubt itself. Japanese "indirect" quote always follows the grammar of direct quote, so the most faithful translation would be like "thinking 'Isn't Iran going to make nuclear weapons?'"

夏にちょうどいい名前だね、と何回言われたことか真夏はバレエの準備をしていた。

This sentence is on the borderline of ungrokkableness. If I were asked if it's grammatical, the answer is definitely no. Don't write such kind of Japanese! :)

The most reasonable interpretation I can think of is the part before か is a monologue of 真夏 turned into narration. It doesn't seem to clearly modify anything in the rest, an extreme case of dangling modifier.

Community
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broccoli facemask
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