94967
I'm an N5 learner trying to understand how to translate the super simple
sentence

> 時間があるか分かりません。

I understand an idiomatic-to-English way to translate it is:

> I don't know if there is time.

But how is this more literally translated?

**Attempt:** Breaking it into pieces, it looks like:

> (Time ga) (is ka) (doesn't comprehend).

The "time" is the subject (が) and "is" is being put into a state of
uncertainty (か). So is it fair to say that a more literal-to-Japanese
translation is

> "Time doesn't know if it exists."

?
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2022-06-16T00:58:38.657
94966
2022-06-16T01:45:04.837
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question
parsing embedded-question
Understanding 時間があるか分かりません
> 時間があるか分かりません。

You are parsing it incorrectly. Here the subject is omitted, but if restored
it should be the speaker themself. 時間があるか is what's known as an embedded
question. For more on embedded questions, please see [this canonical
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/13038/30454).

> (私は)[時間があるか]分かりません

And then you can do the breakdown of 時間があるか as you do in the question

  * 時間があるか -> 時間/が/ある/か (whether there's time)

And put it back with 私は...分かりません, you get: I don't know whether there's time.
And by the way the sentence can be written like this with a slight shift in
tone and emphasis

> 時間があるか私は分かりません
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2022-06-16T01:45:04.837
94967
2022-06-16T01:45:04.837
30454
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answer