For full context see here:
<https://www.docdroid.net/oraqSdS/img-20170830-0001-new.pdf>

The sentence is from 21-22:
聖人君子か大うそつきか、または自分がエラーをしていることに気が付いていないか、忘れてしまっている一番困ったひと **かもしれない** 。

First, I wouldn't have a problem with this sentence if the bold かもしれない was
か+も+知れない, but since the kanji is lacking I guess it is just かもしれない indicating
that the speaker feels very unsure about smthg..

I interprete the か after 大うそつきか etc. as the か marking an indirect question.
Since there is no question word like なに どう etc I'd expect かどうか but there
already was the case that かどうか wasn't used and instead just か has been applied
(I asked about this here and I was told that it was perfectly normal that this
could happen).

Now, here my translation: "It could be a perfect person or a big liar, or
someone who doesn't notice the mistakes he makes himself, or a person who is
troubled by forgetting (forgetfulness?) the most."

What's also confusing me is that 困ったひと **かもしれない** lacks another か between
かもしれない and ひと. I'd say that 困った人 also belongs to this long chain of indirect
questions. I've never learnt that the last part of such a chain could omit its
か. But maybe I got it wrong in the first place, thats why Im asking ^^
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-30T16:33:03.600
52854
2017-08-31T04:39:41.960
20172
question
grammar
How does かもしれない integrate into this sentence
I don't know where to start, so it'll be a cluster of many answers, which will
hopefully lead you on the right path.

First of all, as for your translation, there is a certain nuance of the word
[忘]{わす}れる I'd like to point out:

> **わす・れる【忘れる】**
>
> 何かに熱中してうっかり気がつかずにいる。
>
> 「美しさに我を―・れる」「時のたつのを―・れる」「寝食を―・れて働く」
>
>
> **Source:[デジタル大辞泉](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BF%98%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B-665154#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89)**

With this in mind, I believe the correct translation should be as follows:

> They may be a perfect person, or a big liar, they may not see the mistakes
> they make themself or they may lose themself completely in their own
> problems.

As for かもしれない being this way, not written かも[知]{し}れない, I believe it's not
uncommon practice to omit kanji.

Secondly, the grammar structure used in this phrase is bunch of thrown in
suggestions, bound with the か particle, which end with the final guessing
structure かもしれない.

Lastly, I don't think final part needs か before かもしれない, since it's already
there. To follow up on this, I've always tried to reverse-engineer grammar
structures like this one to better understand their meaning. I like to think
about this one this way: "...I couldn't know better, X may also be the case".

If there's anything else you'd like to ask, I'll be waiting in the comment
section. o/
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-30T17:37:52.143
52859
2017-08-30T18:20:59.547
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
3776
52854
answer
> 聖人君子 **か** 大うそつき **か** 、または自分がエラーをしていることに気が付いていない **か**
> 、忘れてしまっている一番困ったひとかもしれない。

These か's mean "or".  
かもしれない means "might be".

The basic construction of this sentence is:

> AかBか、またはCか、Dかもしれない。"It might be A, B, C, or D."

A = 聖人君子 a perfect person  
B = 大うそつき a big liar  
C = 自分がエラーをしていることに気が付いていない  
(he) hasn't noticed that he made mistakes  
D = (自分がエラーをしていることを)忘れてしまっている一番困ったひと  
The most troublesome/hopeless person who has forgotten that he made mistakes

「忘れてしまっている」 is a relative clause modifying 「（一番困った）人」.  
The object of 「忘れてしまっている」 is 「自分がエラーをしていること」. "Has forgotten that he made
mistakes."

"It could be a perfect person, a big liar, or someone who doesn't notice that
he made mistakes, or the most troublesome/hopeless person who has forgotten
that he made mistakes."

* * *

I think it could also be interpreted this way:

> AかBか、またはCかもしれない。"It might be A, B, or C."

A = 聖人君子 a perfect person  
B = 大うそつき a big liar  
C = 自分がエラーをしていることに気が付いていないか、忘れてしまっている一番困ったひと  
The most troublesome/hopeless person who hasn't noticed or has forgotten that
he made mistakes.

「自分がエラーをしていることに気が付いていないか、忘れてしまっている」 is a long relative clause modifying
「（一番困った）人」.

"It could be a perfect person, a big liar, or the most troublesome/hopeless
person who doesn't notice or has forgotten that he made mistakes."
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-31T02:43:56.820
52873
2017-08-31T04:39:41.960
2017-08-31T04:39:41.960
9831
9831
52854
answer