15770
I sometimes find questions that are normally ended with the question particle
か to end with かい. For example:

> いい **かい** ？
>
> そう **かい** ？
>
> あいつがどうかした **かい** ？

And sometimes with just い without か (if I understand this one right):

> なん **だい** ？

Is かい a softer version of か? How is it used?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-05-03T13:20:44.723
15723
2019-11-03T11:21:11.057
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
5041
question
grammar sentence-final-particles
Sentence (question) ending かい - how is it different from just か?
Yes, かい is softer than just か, but can also denote a yes-or-no question.

Example:

> 狂ったのかい？ _Are you mad?_

This is a yes-or-no question. I suppose that you could answer in a way other
than yes or no, but it seeks a yes or a no. It's also softer, possibly to
placate the person who is mad.

Hope this helps.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-03T20:26:33.710
15728
2014-05-03T20:26:33.710
5213
15723
answer
This usage of 「かい」, in real life, is largely limited to male speakers of the
Kanto region and even among those, they only use it with people that they know
very well and that are as old as or younger than the speaker. It must also be
made clear that it is very informal. Do not ever use it with a stranger or
someone you have just met on the street.

Regarding the softness, 「いいかい？」, for instance, surely sounds MUCH softer than
「いいか?」. In fact, 「いいか？」 sounds pretty curt or condescending -- perhaps much
curter than many Japanese-learners would imagine if I may speak from my
experience with J-learners.

「だい」 as in 「なんだい？ = "What is it?"」 is also largely Kanto-masculine-friendly.

Since both 「かい」 and 「だい」 have a couple of widely different usages, I am being
careful not to mention (and confuse people) by discussing the usages other
than as a casual question-ender. In fact, @Chocolate left a comment ending
with a mostly-Kansai usage of 「かい」 as a joke but kindly removed it lest it
might confuse the learners. S/he used the "urging かい" to say
「自分{じぶん}で答{こた}えんか～い」= "Why don't you answer the question yourself?"
CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-05-06T00:16:50.020
15770
2019-11-03T11:21:11.057
2019-11-03T11:21:11.057
15723
answer