67
Studying Japanese on my own, I've learned that in order to make a question,
you usually add the particle "~か", like this:

> 今何時ですか。

It's also true that a question can be asked without it, using the rising tone
of voice.

But then I found out that in certain contexts, the use of "~か" can be seen as
sarcastic. My questions are:

  1. Is this actually true?
  2. And how do we decide when to choose which alternative?

Reference sites are appreciated.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T20:42:34.860
64
2012-09-12T01:18:11.553
2012-09-12T01:18:11.553
501
37
question
grammar particles questions sentence-final-particles particle-か
Questions with ~か or without: how to choose?
You may want to look
[here](http://jaerik.tatersalad.org/japanese/Particles/particlesexplained.html)
and [here](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/question).

Outside of polite language, か should be used with care. Generally, it has a
very masculine and rough sounding atmosphere. Generally, in informal language,
it only used when being very direct or sarcastic.

Here's a good example taken from the second link:

そんなのは、あるかよ！(Do you think (I) would have that kind of thing!?)

Either way, it doesn't have a really "happy" tone to it.

Hope I helped :)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T20:54:13.810
67
2011-05-31T20:54:13.810
58
64
answer
The difference is more or less whether you're using casual forms or polite
forms. With polite forms like your example question, it's a straightforward
question. With a casual form like 今何時か it might be seen a little rude, or that
you're expressing surprise/frustration.

In casual speech if you want to ask a straightforward question you should use
the rising tone of voice or the explanation-seeking の？
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T20:54:48.313
68
2011-05-31T20:54:48.313
38
64
answer
If you drop か, your rising intonation will indicate a question.

  * 今何時ですか。- canonical polite form
  * 今何時です- slightly less formal, feminine form.
  * 今何時- casual
  * 今何時だ- demanding and rude. Doesn't require rising intonation. Just watch something with gangsters and you'll hear it :)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T21:12:27.890
73
2011-05-31T21:12:27.890
24
64
answer
Slightly different, but on topic I believe: You in should never double up and
write both か **and** a question mark, like so:

どこですか？ (bad!)

It is better to use only one. Either the question mark if it is transcribed
speech, or the か for formal texts, or even a の if you try to be less brisk or
more feminine.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T22:29:54.407
90
2011-05-31T22:29:54.407
84
64
answer