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I understand fine how to use 〜(の)よう{に・な・だ}, but I'm not sure when or how you
can add in the か. Here's an example from my book:

> ４月になって雪が降るなんて、まるで冬が戻って来た **か** のようです。

How is this different than if it had just said `戻って来た(の)ようです`? Is it purely
adding more emphasis? Are there any restrictions on when you can (or can't)
add the か?
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2011-11-28T20:19:52.263
3846
2017-02-27T12:58:40.217
2011-12-30T01:38:35.987
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question
grammar nuances formal-nouns particle-か
How to use 〜かのよう{に・な・だ}
かのよう（だ） translates as ‘(seems) as if...’ or ‘(seems) as if perhaps...’ while
(depending on the sentence) ようだ can be less conjectural.

> …なにもなかったかのように… ‘as if nothing had happened’[1]  
>  …なにもなかったように… ‘it looked like nothing had happened’

However, in counter-factual statements, ようだ can lend this meaning all by
itself. Often (as in the sentence of the question) まるで is added for emphasis,
and まるで…ようだ and …かのようだ would seem equally conjectural. [2] [3]

> 木村さんはまるで酒を飲んだようだ Mr. Kimuro looks as if he had just drunk sake. [2]

That means that the sentence 「４月になって雪が降るなんて、まるで冬が戻って来たかのようです。」 (considering
that April is well past the winter season) taken as a whole would not really
change its meaning when you replace かのようです with simply ようです (it _would_ be
different in only the fragment 戻って来たようです/戻って来たかのようです, depending on the
context). Removing まるで as well might make the sentence less emphatic, but
since it is still an ‘as if’ scenario the meaning would basically remain. A
real difference would only appear in sentences that are more statement of
fact.

As for the second question (are there restrictions regarding active use of
かのようだ instead of ようだ[4]), not being a native speaker I wouldn't know how to
answer that for sure. [3] seems to be from a native speaker and he or she does
seem to be unable to answer this very same question right away (see at the
bottom of the page) but does suggest that かのようだ is much less common in set
phrases like 水を打ったよう ("水を打ったかのよう" 19,400 results versus "水を打ったよう" 4,590,000
results in Google).

  1. Samual E. Martin _A reference grammar of Japanese_ (p. 929). 
  2. Makino and Tsutsui _A Dictionary of basic Japanese grammar_ (p. 549)/ 
  3. [「～かのようだ」と「まるで～ようだ」](http://nihon5ch.net/contents/bbs-study/old/mie-bbs.cgi?s=131)
  4. It's not simply the か in かのようだ, you can not leave the の in between verb+ようだ either.
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2011-11-29T10:34:35.077
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2011-11-29T10:34:35.077
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answer
It seems to me that "かのように" adds a touch of surprise and personal comment in
the meaning, while "ように" is simply narrating a phenomenon, which is more
objective, and with less personal feelings or judgment.
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